FORE! A Shot Online Dynasty

[Airhog]

For those of you that don't know, Shot online is a neat MMORPG golf game. Right now the game is in beta, and is free so I am taking advantage of the situation. You can find the game here at http://www.shot-online.com

This will read like a diary of my daily games and such.

Character Name: Airhog
Level 21
Handicap +1
Strength 25
Impact 16
Skill 13
Stamina 6
Using the Beginner clubs, and the 3 piece balls. Can't tell any difference from the 2 piece balls.
350k NG in cash


Best 18 holes on Alfheim +3
Best 18 holes on Fenheir +10
Longest Drive 313 yards
Airhog's Average Handicap +7
86/13
(This is figured by adding the holes scores up. 9 hole games are calculated by multiplying the score by 1.5 A bit low yes, but I think it accounts for variance more than 2x.

[Airhog]

So let me talk a little about my strategy first off, and how I plan to build my character. I finally decided on a 3:2:1:0 ratio. Those numbers are Strength:Impact:Skill:Stamina. Stamina has no importance yet and it may never have much, because you can buy drinks that will wipe your Fatigue back down to 0% Impact causes your misses on the swing meter to count less, and also makes your balls go higher so its easier to stick a lower club on the green. Skill is how well you are able to draw, fade, and place backspin on the ball.

When I play, I tend to use draw or fade on every tee shot, and most second shots also. It seems to give you about 10 extra yards, and every little bit helps. I havent really noticed hooking or slicing being more severe when I use the shots, and as the people I play against can attest to.

Chipping and putting are about feel, so there isnt any advice I can give you there, except that I prefer to use backspin on all of my chips, unless Im shooting uphill.

Just remember that clouds take 10% off. Rough takes off 0%-30% and sand takes off 30%-50% Sun and high temps can increase your distance, but I rarely find that I have to adjust any for it. Also, the lie of the ball can really take off the yards if it is uphill even moderately. A left to right slope on the lie, just doesnt seem to affect it that much. Clouds have no affect on putting BTW.

Well thats about it for the strategy I use. How about my thoughts on progression.

Save you cash until you hit 900k. You will need it for the level 25 clubs. There are some different opinions, but here is my opinion. Get the lvl 25 irons, and wedges. This works well since most people have some extra power to spare, but are probably short on impact. Unless you have a 4:3 ratio of Strength:Impact I wouldnt reccomend the lvl25 drivers. You really need a decent amount of impact, because the drivers are alot less forgiving. You might consider the level 21 drivers because they will hit the ball farther, and the penalty for a bad shot is not as severe.

[Airhog]

Now here is where I will actually detail my games.

Thursday the 14th of April
Signed up for the game. Played around awhile

Friday the 15th through Sunday the 18th.
I played quite a bit, and finally got to play some FOFC'ers. I played a match with CoffeeWarlord, and he kicked my butt, along with some other players I forgot.

Monday the 19th.
Played a round with Marmel, Mirkilla22, and Chinaski. Mrkilla and Chinaski left after 10 holes, and Marmel easily beat me by 8 strokes on Fenhair

Tuesday the 20th.
Play another round with Marmel, MrKilla22, and BrianD. This match went much better, and Marmel ended up winning by 1 stroke. I finished second, and Mrkilla22 finished 3rd I believe

[Airhog]

Wednesday the 21st
Me, Marmel and MacroGuru tee'd off for 9 holes today. I shot several par's to start the round and put Marmel behind by several strokes. Towards the 5th hole, Marmel mounted a charge on me. By the 8th hole the gap was closed to 3 strokes. Marmel was able to par the last hole, but I bogeyed it, and finished with a 2 stroke win. I shot a +6 I believe.


Later that same night, I played another round of 9 at Fensair. I shot a +6 which isnt too bad, and I certainly could have made that a +4 with some putts going in. I really think the part of the game I most need work with is my putting, and to a lessar extent, my short game. I should hit field sometime, and just put and chip.

[Airhog]

Thursday, April 27th

No-one was on but Chinaski when I got on just before 7. So I hit him up and we decided to get our skins match out of the way.

Hole 1 Chinaski Explodes on the green, and I handily win this hole. A sign of things to come?

Hole 2 Neither of us play well, we both bogey this hole, but it was to be my only bogey of the day

Hole 3 I get the win here after chinaski misses a long putt.

Hole 4 Another win here and I can smell victory, but Chinaski can rally and beat me if I play poorly the rest of the match

Hole 5 I lost this hole. I landed in the sand here, and the proceeded to overshoot the green. Chinaski played well here

Hole 6 This hole was a win for me, and meant I need to win just one more out of the three holes to secure the match.

Hole 7 Chinaski played his heart out on this hole, but it just wasnt enough as I won this one to move on

Hole 8 and 9 With the tension of the match gone, we both just had fun here. The result was 2 draws.

Chinaski just couldnt putt to save his life this match. This game would have been extremely close if some balls had dropped.

[Airhog]

Friday April 22nd

Nobody from FOFC around, so I randomly joined a threesome on Fensalir for Double EXP and away we went. Only 9 holes which I have found is just the right length for me with 3-4 people. I shot very well here upto the 8th hole. Par on every hole. On the 8th hole I got a bogey, which wasnt too bad. On hole 9 I had some great luck and put the ball 1.7 yards away from the hole and grabbed an easy birdey. My great play raised my exp bar about 49% and I am very close to leveling up now. Finished the round with an even score.

About the only thing I needed to improve today was my putting. I hit 0% outside of 6 yards.

[Airhog]

Saturday April 23

I love the weekends. Allows me to play quite a bit of golf, and since I took of on monday I should have 2 good days to play.

Round 1 - 18 holes at Alfheim
I shot okay here today. I was -3 after the first 3 holes, but it was all downhill after that. I ended up shooting a +2 on this 18. I did set a new distance record at 270 yards. And I got my first chip in. It was out around 20yds, which I consider to be my sweet spot for chipping.

Round 2 - 18 holes at Alfheim
I knew I could shot a round below par so I was very determined to do just that. I blazed up and down the course. I was -3 going into the 15th Managed to bogey the next two holes. My determination didnt end though, as I birdie the last two holes, and ended up with a -3. A great round of golf, and I think if my putting improves some, I could have easily shot a -6. I also managed to break my previous driving record of 270 with my first shot over 300 yards. Came in just at 313. Neither shots had too much wind maybe a +3 or so, but I just overdrove the shot by 5 percent or so.

Round 3 - 18 Holes at Fenhalir
Problems plagued me Chinaski and Marmel from the beginning. My game crashed after hole one, and we restarted. 7 holes into the game Marmel had to leave. 16 holes into the game Chinaski had to leave and I finished the game alone. I shot a +13, which isnt terrible, but I can do better there.

Round 4 - 18 Holes at Hela
I was anxious to play on an intermediate course. So I walked over to the intermediate course, and selected hela. What a tough course, a few of the holes I though were kinda lame, but overall it was nicely done. I managed to shoot a +13 here also, which I though was good for a first try.

Round 5 7 holes at Fenhalir
This was a short match, since one of the people wanted to start another round before the time limit was up on double exp. I played pretty poorly, and I think I just shot to many holes of golf already to really focus.