Test Skills In ‘British Open’ Cd

Thu., May 29, 1997

Ric Leyva Associated Press

A major is a major is a major, except when it’s the most major major ever.

Such is the reverence afforded the British Open, the granddaddy of golf’s four “major” tournament championships. Founded at The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, the Open boasts champions including 20th-century heroes Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Tom Watson.

Technically, the famed links are open to any weekend duffer who can muster the air fare and greens fee, but the Open surely isn’t, at least outside cyberspace, until now.

“British Open Championship Golf” (Looking Glass Technologies, CD-ROM for Windows 95, $49.95) offers hackers and low handicappers their first shot at the game’s greatest event.

Presenting the only digitized version of The Old Course and Royal Troon, site of the 1997 British Open in July, it’s the only golf simulation game to put players smack-dab in the middle of a “major.”

“British Open Championship Golf” also features state-of-the-art simulation gameplay. It’s almost as difficult to make a good computer golf shot as it is in real life, and all of golf’s specialty shots can be duplicated on the PC links.

The British Open is renowned for its nasty weather, adding new tests to the trial. Its computer cousin ensures meteorological authenticity by letting players program course conditions like wind, fog and rain.

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