Depending on the tee box, this can be a straight shot to a big A1. Here’s a driver hole-out from the middle-left box, and here’s one from there with a 3-wood. Here’s a great 3-wood A1 backspin shot from the middle-right box. From the far right box, you can take an A1 driver around the […]

As you might expect coming down the stretch, this long par 3 has a horribly-shaped green like a 4-leaf clover and is very hard to stick.  Not only that, but the shape of the green means that even if you stick the green, you might not have a clear putt at the hole.  Your skills […]

This is a tough eagle, especially being a par 5 on the front 9!  You’ll want to get your tee shot out far and left towards the end of the fairway, but that’s not so easy to do.  The best way is to play a C3 shot so that you’re heading to your landing area […]

HOLE-OUT FROM THE MIDDLE BOX HOLE-OUT FROM THE BACK BOX

The shortcut here is pretty obvious — you need to stick your drive on one of the grassy pods in the middle of the sandy area straight ahead.  Thus far, I haven’t found any reason to aim for any other spot than the 3rd pod from the back.  If you stick it there, you should […]

A big risk/reward hole, this one challenges your accuracy but rewards you with an eagle putt if you thread the gap!  You’ll actually have to take a bit off your drive because it plays slightly downhill, and your ball may fly farther than you’d expect. The worst thing that can happen is ending up behind […]

You’ll want to play this shot almost identically to how you played #7.  You’ll need a low-lofted club and a bunch of curve — anywhere from a C2 to a C3-type shot.  From the back box, here’s an example of rotating right twice and hitting a C2 3-wood with backspin that got a nice kick […]

From the front box, you may just have a small curve around the mountain into the green.  Here’s a perfect hole-out with a 5-wood. And here’s another one that needed more hook because of the left pin. From the back boxes, you see a tee shot similar to #7 and #14.  This one is much […]

You’ll see many looks into this tough green, and the tee shot could be a problem if there’s a gap in your club set where you could really use that extra wedge.  You might be dealing with another 3/4-strength wedge shot with lots of wind into a tough green, so feel fortunate if you can […]

Monument Valley finishes with a par 5 that features a very intimidating shot into a canyon that has a little green in the middle, sloping backwards into the abyss! The tee shot is nothing, but your approach will be a nightmare.  With a cross-wind, you can manage the distance and hit a club with no […]

From the front box and middle boxes, this hole is always driveable.  Here’s a driver hole-out from the middle. From the back box, it depends — it might not be driveable for you.  If you’re playing the balls that give you extra distance off the tee, it can help you drive this green from the […]

I usually lay back behind the sand and water, allowing me to come into the green with anything from a 5-wood to a 3-wood.  It’s about the same distance right of the sand, too, or if you’re brave you can cut over all of it for a shorter approach! EXAMPLE HOLE-OUT FROM LAYING BACK EXAMPLE […]

Before we continue with the guys who average well below -20, let’s take a step back and learn about our friend Don, who frequents the LTG Forum and was among the first to provide me with his Golden Tee background!  Like me, Don loves the game and yearns to get better but can only afford […]

Well I’m back from the 3rd official Golden Tee Tournament in which I participated! Following is a summary of how things shook down for me, and then I’ll list off some new lessons learned from tournament play! This event took place at Teachers Billiards, a sports bar/pool hall in the suburb of St. Peters, west […]

I arrived at Flounder’s bar in the Lincoln Park area of downtown Chicago around 6:00 Friday night, and it was already hopping with Golden Tee action! I think there were 11 GT machines set up in the back, including 8 pedestals with the big, wide screens and stand-alone console. Those things are AWESOME — it […]

There’s a new shot being talked about, and it might add an extra holeout or two to your round with enough practice!  It’s called “The Chush”!  There was an article on this but it was removed…basically you pull back to your knees or so and push the ball straight forward with the middle of your palm (or […]

This is a fun par 5 that will almost always challenge your ability to maximize distance!  About half the time you’ll be able to carry down to the second fairway with a huge A1 or C3 off the tee, and then you’ll have a great shot at eagle after your approach. If you can’t carry […]

Here’s another creative par 4 that’s tougher than it seems!  There are lots of tee boxes to keep you just unfamiliar enough that you’re guessing what to do your next time out. The ideal shot carries the lip of sand and lands right on the green, holding with backspin.  This isn’t always so easy though, […]

If you’re too far back on the tee box, you can pretty much forget about hitting the green in one.  Depending on the wind, you can either hit it long and straight, or cut the corner to the right of the trees on the other side of the lake, leaving you a shorter shot into […]

Here is an updated link to my semi-complete clothing inventory in Golden Tee, so everyone can see what outfits I’ve won (at least by name). I’ve won all I can win for 2008, and it’s everything except the old Top Flite clothing. If you started playing after the 2008 courses came out, you might not […]

Most of this information was borrowed from a thread on the ITS games forum — thanks to SkipperRipper, Dannyboy, bigdog423452, Thor, and the other guys on the forum for the information! Your player rating is actually your number on the ELO rating system, a system used to rate players in two-player games like chess. It […]

The safe play is around the trees and hill, but you’ll almost certainly need 3 shots into the green this way, and what fun is that anyway? I’ve found a couple options for getting there in two, and they require some luck.  If you have a closer tee box, aim at the elevated hill across […]

Welcome to The Falls!  I almost wish this hole hadn’t won the “Design a Hole” contest, because although it looks really cool, it’s really tough!  I’m still finding myself in the waterfall way too often, and that water is lethal — it sucks your ball right down into the river, and you get a penalty. […]

The safe play is to lay up out to the right, far enough where you have a clear shot into the green.  But what fun is that? There’s usually room to play a small C3-type shot with a 5-wood over the trees, if the 5-wood looks like it offers the right distance to get to […]

From the right tee box on this par 5, there is a fairly big landing area along the river that offers you a shortcut into the green in two, but it is REALLY tough to stick!  It’s very hard to get around the trees and carry the landing area without getting caught up in the […]

This hole offers a lot of looks from two tee boxes set up perpendicular to each other.  If you’re closer to the barn, a 5-wood does not always clear the silo rising up in the middle, so work around that if you can.  From the front right tee box, a 3-wood clears the bar just […]

Another par 3 with drastically different looks from multiple tee boxes.  If you’re got the wind and the slope going the same direction, it’s extremely difficult to hold this green, and if you don’t, it might be wet.  You can pray that the wind is blowing opposite the slope so that you can play a […]

Woodland Farm finishes with a driveable par 4, but you’re going to have to maneuver one of the most difficult greens in the game, both in terms of shape and slope.  If your drive is short, it’s wet.  If it’s long, it might bounce back down and be wet.  If you hold the green, you […]

As an amateur player, I’ve come across some more questions regarding the trackball and how its behavior affects your ball in certain circumstances. I’ve addressed some of these questions in this article so that all of us can come away with a better understanding of exactly why the crappy shot we just executed was so […]

This post is dedicated to the fun creatures that the Golden Tee folks have thrown into the game for your viewing pleasure if your ball happens to end up some place far from where you need to be! Borrowed from an original post on the ITS Golden Tee Forum, here is where you’ll find all […]