Questions for those fascinated by computer golf:
1) do you also play screen golf, where you actually hit a ball to determine results?
2) are courses transferable between the two mediums?
3) are there any of your friends who really enjoy digital golf but don't play the real thing? (If so, why? Cost, disability, access, or something else?)
I've actually never played a round of simulator golf before. I've done it a few times when getting fitted for clubs.... I guess in the back of my mind, I wonder if I'm really getting accurate feedback. I'm also not particularly fond of hitting off Astroturf.
2. I play the game on my PC, and some courses I've done, with my PC, are being used in simulator units, so I would assume so.
3. I'd say almost everyone I know also plays real golf. I certainly do, and much prefer it. I'd say the reason I don't play more than I do is time and money; I have two kids under age 10 and I don't have much in the way of disposable income. When I do play it is usually muni or bust. I do encounter people in the communities for these games that only play computer or simulator golf, though, which I think is peculiar. But what is interesting is a lot of them tend to be older people.... when you think of video games you obviously think of it as a younger person's medium, but I find a lot of the people I encounter in online golf communities are 15, 20, 25 years older than me.... and I'm in my early 40s!
I think more than anything, designing courses on my computer is a compensatory outlet for my personal desire as a teenager to become a golf architect and my failure at following through on that desire.