Product Reviews

Mention golf and what springs to mind? Stripy, ill-coloured socks pulled up over scrawny calves, partnered with spiky shoes, poorly chosen hats and shocking jumpers.

Well, if you've ever been tempted to pop down to your local golf course to play a few holes, but have been put off by the worry that you haven't got the right clothes or - rather more critically - have no idea how to hold a golf club, then we have the answer. This program covers all the basics and runs you through every last piece of etiquette you need to acquaint yourself with before heading off to the fairway.

Worried abour disk space? This program runs directly from the CD-ROM so it doesn't take up any! However, this does produce the

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unwanted side effect that navigating the disc can become a little sluggish.

Information is clearly presented on a wide variety of topics and the program walks you through choosing the right clothes and equipment as well as providing links to useful Web sites. Other aspects of the game, like warming up or holding the club correctly, are demonstrated by video clips, and these make the information far easier to digest.

Teaching-you Golf Skills may not look fancy, but it's full of useful information for the budding golfer. We never realised that replacing divots on the tee could get us some dirty looks, but after reading up and trying a few of the quiz questions, we were soon feeling more confident about stepping up to the fairway.

Teaching-you Golf Skills might be a little long in the tooth, but it's informative and cheap. Sure, you could probably buy a good golfing book for a couple of quid more - but that wouldn't have the benefit of the video clips, or the useful Web links for tracking down information on the Net. And when you consider that playing a round of golf can cost upwards of £40 a time, a little bit of preparation beforehand will make sure you get your money's worth.

We're going to take its sensible advice and always make sure we have a healthy supply of balls.