b0geybuster: When all said and done its a game, it takes the ability to aim, judge distance, and click a mouse. Real life golf swings have 100's of mechanics involved
Terbal ( and everyone else that complains about this not being "realistic"),
Bogey is absolutely right.
A little math & eye-hand coordination and learning the courses is all this really takes. Your avatar NEVER looks up, always has a perfect swing plane, never seems to hit a little fat, or thin, never tries to flop a shot on the green and blade it all the way across. His/her form is perfect.. elbow is nice & straight, doesn't break the wrists.You just don't get that IRL, and I don't see how all the little variables could possibly be programmed into a game... and that's just concerning the swing.
Add in real life winds that gust or die or swirl around or are just different from tee to green. Throw in some truly variable rough( fairways & greens for that matter). Yes, they all get mowed to the same height, but grass doesn't grow evenly...sometimes not at all, judging from a couple of my local courses.
What it takes to shoot low here is just practice. The really good players can tell you pretty much exactly how far each club in their bag will carry & roll (depending on the wind) for a full swing, or minus 2 avatar moves, with full/ partial backspin or topspin.
I'm sure the "other methods" you refer to are cheat programs .... very PC way of saying that anyone better than you MUST be cheating. That's a total BS way of looking at things. IMO, there's absolutely no program out there that would help you to shoot in the 50's/low 60's. Big deal if there MIGHT be something out there that will let you ding every shot. Dinging your shot is pretty small percentage of what it takes to shoot low.