The Rules for a WorthWhile Golf Course (for use with Jack Nicklaus Golf from Accolade) Rev. B The Premise: Nearly everyone who plays computer golf wants to try an impossible course once in a while; hundreds of Mean 18 courses are nothing short of absurd. But that's only good for once in a while. Most of the time we're looking for a challenge, but not something out in left field. The idea behind the rules listed here is to establish a few conventions and a file naming system whereby you don't have to download course after course to find one you can live with. We call any course designed to these specifications a WorthWhile Course. If you follow these rules, we feel you will end up with a pleasant-looking, professional course that users will enjoy. And with the file naming system suggested, the users will know how to find more courses designed by you specifically. These are the rules by which all WorthWhile Courses for use with Jack Nicklaus Golf from Accolade are designed. The MUST BE FOLLOWED Rules: 1. Anyone can design an impossible hole; just look at the nasty bunch of Mean 18 courses. The length of a golf club WITHOUT GOING INTO THE RED ZONE governs the length of a hole. That means that a Par 3, for example, should be no longer than 250 yards from a men's or pro tee, or 225 yards from a women's tee. If you're shooting down or uphill, this can be lengthened or shortened accordingly. 2. No greens shall be excessively steep; if they must be, then at least the pin placements will be on reasonable slopes. 3. All water on the course shall be (reasonably) flat. The exception is a stream, which may flow GRADUALLY downhill. We won't supply the recreation area for water skiers who are looking for hills in the water. 4. Tees shall be reasonably flat and shall have ample clear space before them so a decent drive can be made; if you've built a Par 5, but need to use an iron to get enough angle to get over a hill off the tee, then you have an unacceptable hole. 5. The area immediately surrounding greens and water shall be close in height to the green or water; this is to avoid the "jagged" look of greens or water "climbing" hills. 6. All courses must be thoroughly play tested before "publication" on a BBS. ALL tees MUST be play tested, and with the applicable "gender." 7. A difficulty factor of 1 (Easy) to 5 (Tough) will be assigned to each course. This is to be calculated as follows: A player who knows his handicap shall play the finished course a few times, then apply his handicap to the course. ALL SCORING MUST BE DONE FROM THE TEE FARTHEST FROM THE PIN. It is suggested that this scoring be done with "women's" clubs, but that is not necessary as long as the women's tee is at least 25 yards closer to the pin than the pro tee. When scoring, the course should be set to normal conditions (i.e., not wet or dry) with the designed wind speed. Be honest about your handicaps. Mulligans can not be used. Difficulty 1: Average score (corrected for handicap) over at least three rounds of 5 below par or less. This means 67 and below for a Par 72 course. Difficulty 2: Average score (corrected for handicap) over at least three rounds of 4 below par to two below par. This means 68 to 70 for a Par 72 course. Difficulty 3: Average score (corrected for handicap) over at least three rounds of one below par to one above par. This means 71 to 73 for a Par 72 course. Difficulty 4: Average score (corrected for handicap) over at least three rounds of 2 above par to 4 above par. This means 74 to 76 for a Par 72 course. Difficulty 5: Average score (corrected for handicap) over at least three rounds of 5 above par or more. This means 77 and above for a Par 72 course. Since all courses must agree with the rules established above, a course ranked Difficulty 5 should be quite tough to (honestly) design; by definition, you have to have at least five holes that a good player would normally bogey. It may help you to grade a course if you let a computer player try it out. The best on for this is Jack himself (he's pretty good). Jack has his good rounds and bad rounds, but on a course of average difficulty he seems to come home at about three to four under. If he does that on your course, you've got a number three. 8. A copy of this file should be included in your ZIPFILE, so other users know how much work you put into your design and are encouraged not to put out careless courses. 9. If you agree to design courses which adhere to these rules, please use the following naming convention: WWXXXX01.ZIP where: WW -- Stands for WorthWhile. XXXX -- Stands for a particular code which you decide, whether it be your initials, handle, whatever. 01 -- Stands for the serial number you assign to your course design. .ZIP -- We'll bet you know what this means. For example, the ZIPFILE for our second course is named WWWLW_02.ZIP. The 40 letter description allowed on a board should have a format similar to this: WWWLW_02.ZIP Nicklaus Golf :Diff. 3: Red Maple Bluffs The "WW" in the file name clues in users that the course is WorthWhile, "Nicklaus" and "Golf" help those who use Zip Directory Scan, and the difficulty helps those who want only threes (or whatever). 10. Average total par for a golf course is 72, although 70 and 71 are found ("executive" courses are usually only 54). WorthWhile Courses shall have a total Par of 74 or less, and preferably 72. Sometimes you just can't give up a Par 5. The SHOULD BE FOLLOWED rules: 1. Holes (and courses) should be pleasing to the eye. 2. At least one original tree or object should be designed for each course. If this rule is followed, we won't all just see the same trees Accolade has provided. 3. Backgrounds should be at least moderately altered, for the same reason. 4. Sand bunkers should look and act like bunkers; most bunkers we've seen on the golf course are below the level of the fairway. 5. The original layout which the Course Designer gives to a hole should be altered at least enough to make the hole look authentic. No real hole has such smooth curves and exact widths of rough and fairway, nor such perfectly circular greens. 6. Elevated water should be minimized. That is, water should generally be at the lowest elevation on the hole. Of course, there's always the occasional pool, trap, or mountain lake or stream. Even these should be a couple feet below the surrounding area, while still observing Rule 5. 7. Try to avoid too many "Island" holes (whether the island is in water or Out-Of-Bounds). When you use them, make them reasonable. A perfectly swung men's driver under normal, no-wind conditions goes 250 yards, but the ball hits around 225 and bounces the rest of the way. So an island which begins 250 yards from the tee is unreasonable (see Rule 1). 8. Keep doglegs away from the program-enforced edges of a hole; it drives the game crazy, especially when a computer player is swinging. 9. Be aware that whatever touches the bitter edge of the screen in the hole will be continued on forever. If your green hits the edge, you could putt for miles and miles and miles and miles . . . 10. Bearing in mind all these rules, also remember that every course should have at least one signature hole, and hopefully eighteen. Go wild. Nobody wants BORING courses (leave that for adaptations of Real Courses); we just want competent and good-looking courses. The TIPS: 1. Obscenities should not be used in any of the quotes associated with the course. Use some clever double entendrŠs or quips to keep it amusing. 2. A course with a theme is more enjoyable to play than one without. 3. Design your holes to penalize greed but to reward excellent, daring shots. For instance: We all know by now that a 318 yard shot is normal if you go to the top of the red with a men's driver, so make the landing area around 318 hairy, while keeping the area around 250 reasonable. And while a sand trap which threatens off the tee on a long Par 4 is scary, the same trap close to the green on a short Par 4 doesn't daunt many long hitters. A drop of water in front of the green on a reachable (say, 320 yard) Par 4 will make anybody think twice. 4. We would suggest the use of the prefix "RC" to any zipfile of a Real Course that you adapt to Jack Nicklaus. Makes them easier to find. If you have any suggestions for changes or additions to this list, please leave a message at Channel One BBS (617-354- 8873) or drop a card in the U.S. Mail. William White P.O. Box 1297 New London, CT 06320