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Not being a golf fanatic perhaps I am not the right one to review this latest offering from Ocean but having said that I suppose areal golf fanatic would be out there playing the real thing and not playing it on his Spectrum, unless of course he couldn't afford to play at Royal Birkdale or hadn't got a good enough handicap.

The first thing the computer asks is your name, which is then announced at every tee and your score card signed. You are then allowed to determine wind effect with direction and force or let the computer produce a random wind effect, the maximum force being 32 which is gale force!

Having got to the first tee the first thing to decide is the direction you want the ball to go in, a feature which I am sure would be useful on a real golf course as a non-expert like me finds direction and elevation the two features most difficult to control. After selecting the direction you have to choose a club option 1-10 covering from your 'driver' to 'sand iron' (whatever that is). One good feature is not allowing you to use a club that would be inappropriate to the terrain. You are represented on the screen as a flashing 'T then you hit M to swing the club, then, and this is where the skill shows, you have to judge the right time to hit 'M' again to strike the ball.

As in real golf if you hit at the wrong time you are in trouble as your ball will end up where you least expect it to. But luckily you don't have to search for lost balls as you automatically will receive a new ball and a penalty of one shot.

The game is very well written, with obviously a great deal of thought having gone into the construction, and unlike a lot of simulation sports programs allows for a great deal of individual skill (or lack of it in my case). It is not just a question of bashing everything in sight!

If you are an aspiring golfer but cannot afford the club fees then this is an ideal compromise and again an example of the high standard of games one has come to expect from Ocean.