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How to play Golf
- Press on the ball and pull back, like a slingshot: the ball flies the opposite way. The further you pull, the harder the shot. Let go to hit, or slide back to the ball to change your mind.
- Drag anywhere else, or press the left and right arrow keys, to turn and look down another line.
- Pick a club for the distance. From the fairway the driver goes about 210 m, the iron 155 m and the wedge 85 m; the putter rolls the ball up to 30 m across the green.
- Rough and sand take distance off every club but the putter. The wedge loses least in sand.
- Set the spin before you hit by moving the dot on the ball: down for backspin, a higher shot that stops quickly; up for topspin, lower and running on; left or right to curve the shot that way.
- The arrow and the flag show the wind. It pushes the ball for as long as it is in the air.
- A ball in the pond or off the course costs one penalty stroke, and you play again from the same spot.
- Get the ball in the hole in as few strokes as you can. Par is 4.
About Golf
This is golf in three dimensions on one complete hole: a 262 m par 4 with a rolling fairway, a pond beside the landing area, three bunkers and a sloping green. There are four clubs, and each does a different job: the driver for distance off the tee, the iron for a long approach, the wedge for a high shot that lands softly, and the putter along the ground.
Nothing about a shot is decided in advance. The ball is a rigid body in a physics simulation: it leaves the club with a speed, a launch angle and a spin, then gravity, air drag, the lift of its spin and the wind carry it until it lands. From there it bounces and rolls on the ground it actually hits, further on the fairway than in the rough, and hardly at all in sand. Backspin makes a ball bite and stop; topspin sends it running.
A few habits help. Aim a little into a crosswind and let it bring the ball back. Take one club more when the wind is against you. The driver is the longest club but the least forgiving near the pond, so an iron off the tee is often the safer play. On the green, pull gently: a putt rolls further than it looks.
Your round is saved in this browser after every stroke, so you can close the page and pick it up where the ball lies. Restart puts the ball back on the tee in the same wind; a new round brings a new wind. No account, no download.