Free Online Golf Games is your guide to the best golf games and golfing tournaments available on the internet today.  There seems to be an unlimited number, and ever increasing range, of choices when it comes to wanting to play a virtual round of golf on your computer, all of varying quality from the very poor to the utterly amazing.

With the advent of the internet, computer golf has become much more exciting enabling golfing enthusiasts to play against real opponents in a live multi-player enviroment. Alternatively they can compete at their own pace with some online golf tournaments lasting over extended time periods allowing the players to play their round at their leisure.

Of course, should you be feeling a bit rusty or if your a complete novice at the digital version of this ancient game, you can practice until your hearts content on your own or against the artificial intelligence of computer players until you feel ready to take on real human beings over the web.

In addition to the gaming possibilities presented by leveraging the internet as a games platform has been the development of multimedia software technologies used on the web to improve interactivity, graphics and animation quality.

The pioneering technology in creating a richer online experience in this regard has been the continuous improvement and development of Adobe Flash (previously Macromedia Flash and Shockwave Flash) massively improving the quality of online golf games specifically, and all web based multimedia generally, with Flash golf games currently presenting the highest quality golfing programmes available.

Here at Free Online Golf Games we think one developer has triumphed over all others when it comes to providing the best quality graphics and gameplay.  World Golf Tour is the most in-depth online golfing experience by a fairway and you can play it by clicking on one of the banner ads above or below this post.  We feel that its by far the most exciting especially considering you can win prizes even when in free player mode.

If you get good and perform well in the free tournaments you can earn credits enabling you to enter the tournaments with valuable prizes which range from Amazon gift certificates to Cash prizes and of course extra credits that you can use to upgrade your virtual golfing equipment in the pro shop if you want to reinvest your winnings back into your W.G.T. player character/avatar.  It is possible however to play unlimited completely free online golf games on W.G.T.

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It is only a recent development that computer games are considered beneficial to the player, rather than being seen as a time-wasting tool, a pastime for grown-up kids or an escape from reality for those who can’t hack it in the real world. The attitude has changed. New research shows that playing games such as online golf games, computerised tennis games etc. can hone the player’s skills in a way that board and social games never could. In his book “Everything Bad Is Good for You”, Stephen Johnson analyses computer games versus traditional games in how they affect the players’ analytical ability, as well as their adaptability and flexibility. Not only does he point out that in order to play a sophisticated computer game to any degree of enjoyment, the player must first learn to use the controls, determine the sometimes complicated objective of the game and learn how to achieve game success, players also have to come to grips with navigating complex systems and paying attention to peripheral events. This requires a high level of concentration, focus and memory.

Scientists have taken this view and transferred it to a more serious environment. A recent study has proven that laparoscopic surgeons can improve their surgical skills by playing video games. Their accuracy and speed shows to have improved by almost 30%. The bad news in the study, however, is that only regular players will benefit from the skills they learn. This seems to be the ultimate excuse for all those time-wasters, sofa-poopers and can’t-hack-it-in-the-real-world dudes to settle down in front of their screens for an uninterrupted day-long session of online golf games, tennis or space-wars. 

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Free golf games have recently entered the golfing scene.  The word free is not something that many people would associate with the golf sport.  In fact, golf has always been considered a sport for the wealthy and the super-wealthy.  Everyone knows about the green fees, which every player has to pay when visiting a golf site.  For the more regular players it would be a membership fee.  Whichever it might be, it can be a very high fee to pay.  And that’s just the beginning.  For those who take the sport seriously, there is a whole catalogue of expenses to deal with, and speaking of free golf games might sound like a joke to them.   

It starts with the equipment.  Players would certainly want to get their own shoes and gloves, suitable clothing, shades and hats.  Not everyone might want to invest in the whole range of equipment straight away, but balls, a bag and of course markers and a tee are something that every golfer would want to own.  And then there are the golf clubs, which are very expensive if you buy the right ones.  So with all the equipment paid for, the next step would be to get an instructor.  Those can be hired through the golf course directly, or some players might find them through other sources and take them to a variety of golf sites.   

The whole thing is a very costly affair, which makes free golf games all the more attractive.  There is the possibility of playing free golf at certain universities, but the real free stuff is to be had on the internet.  It is now possible to play virtual replica of real-life golf sites on the internet.  The most famous golf courses are waiting to be explored and it is even possible to create a life-like avatar player.  There is a choice of playing alone or with others over the internet.  With these sites, there is no need for green fees, membership or equipment cost.  It’s all there, waiting to be used.  Who would have thought it?  It is that easy to play free golf games. 

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The governments of China and Venezuela even went so far as to putting a ban on the game.  A ban on playing golf is nothing new to those who are familiar with the history of golf.  Even in Scotland the sport was banned for 50 years in the fourteen-hundreds, and then several times thereafter.  Of course, back then the reasons were different from todays.  King James II of Scotland was keen to preserve the skills of archery in order to keep his country strong against invaders.  He felt that his subjects’ growing love of golf interfered with the enthusiasm for military training.  In the case of modern-day China, the government’s official reason is that building golf courses is a waste of land resources, which could be used for agriculture instead.  In Venezuela it seems to be a socialist’s personal vendetta against the rich and careless.

Most people do not feel strongly enough about the sport to support a complete ban of Golf games, but its popularity has certainly waned with the increase in scandals that have been reported over the past couple of years.  In general, golf is perceived as a harmless, grown-up sport whose players know how to behave themselves.  No-one has ever heard of golf-hooliganism being a problem.  The good reputation of the sport has now been tainted by a few badly-behaved professional players who have been in the media for all the wrong reasons.  Adultery has become a recurring theme, a football player was caught drink-driving a golf buggy on the motorway and even drug-testing seems to be an issue worth discussing these days.

It is therefore no surprise that there is a certain real-life golf fatigue setting in amongst the fans.  They are fed up with being associated with the seediness that accompanies golf at the moment.  Golf clubs have noticed a decrease in membership sign-ups.  Golf course visits have dropped by a third.  Golf players have taken to playing on their computers, rather than out in the open where other people will judge them on their love of this elite sport.  For many of them, online computer Golf games have become a welcome alternative where they can exercise their skills on virtual sites without the neighbours knowing of it.

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To qualify compete in a stroke play tournament on the full 18 holes of The Old Course at St Andrews.  Play as often as you want, but only the top 156 players (including ties) will make the cut and continue on to compete in the actual Championship.

One lucky player will be awarded the sweepstakes prize, a $500 gift card to OpenGolfShop.com, and all qualifiers who make the grade will receive ‘The Open 2010 Imperial Cap’.

World Golf Tour have, in our humble opinion here at Free Online Golf Games, developed the most incredible and impressive online Golfing experience available on the digital fairways and putting greens of the virtual Golfing world.

Due to the almost photgraphic quality of the World Golf Tour games graphics, its super realistic game play simulating the real physical game of Golf (given the limitations of a computer game over its real world equivalent) and especially considering its a FREE Golf game that can be accessed and played online without a major download we are sure that you will agree with us when we say that this game has no match and is hence the best virtual golf game out there.

Being the best Virtual Golf game on the market its no surprise World Golf Tour secured the agreement with the organisers of the real Golf Open at St Andrews Old Course to provide the technology and host the 2010 Virtual Golf Open on the very accuratly simulated ‘virtual’ Old Course at St Andrews.

This is a momentous occasion in both the Golfing calender and the world of computer games development being watched and participated in by a very wide spectrum of people, from pro gamers, games developers to golfing enthusiasts.

The Green Keepers here at Free Online Golf Games can hardly contain their excitement and urge you to get involved ASAP and enter for the qualifying rounds.  Remember you can have unlimited goes at qualifying so the earlier you enter the more chances you have of qualifying and being one of the 156 who will make it through.

UPDATE 19/07/2010 - Qualifying rounds for the 2010 Virtual Golf Open Championship on The Old Course at St Andrews are now closed and the tournament is under way but you can still play rounds and other tournaments on the Old Course and many of the worlds other best Golf courses aside from The Virtual Open.

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Some may be free and some may charge but the point is anyone wanting a game of internet golf can do, so long as they have a computer connected to the internet, they simply go to the website and everything happens there rather than having to perform a large download etc or installing from purchased CD’s or other media type.

These games are usually served via Flash software since, due to Flash being multiplatform, allows users of all computer types to acces it so users are not restricted to playing other users on the same computer type enabling Mac and PC users to play against each other for example.  This opens up the number of potential players exponentially presenting the developers of such games with a vast market.  This massive potential market has fuelled the success and further development of such games since this makes the game very attractive to advertisers and marketers.

Previously computer games developers and publishers would make their money by charging for, traditionally the boxed product, but more recently for a download.  With the internet enabling much larger potential users and markets (being so attractive to advertisers as discussed above) developers of internet golf games specifically, and all games generally, have experimented with whole new business models and many have even been able to give the game away for free using advertising revenue generated for their profits instead of charging a fixed price for a boxed product.

This new generation of internet Golf games has lead to the development of some really great free online Golf games the best of which in our opinion is World Golf Tour.

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In addition to what most other golfing games offer, the World Golf Tour game lets players choose their individual personalities within the game, their outfits, clubs and other equipment.  A variation in surface is taken into consideration by the system when calculating the shot.  The computer’s version of the shot is within less than 1.5 inches deviation from the real world golf course.  A direct replication of how a golf ball would react with each variation of impact, material, direction and surface is calculated to work out the behaviour of each ball as it is being hit across the putting green or fairway (or indeed the rough).

The use of real world golf course layouts makes this game particularly interesting for players wishing to prepare themselves for a go on the real site.  Players can familiarise themselves with the terrain online and take their new skills into the real world.  The way the ball reacts to the terrain, material and impact on-line is directly related to what will happen on the real time golf course.  Even professional golf players are using this technology to hone their skills and to gain additional practice.  The scientific approach of this online game makes the World Golf Tour stand out from the rest.  For the less serious go


lf player, the state-of-the-art visuals, combined with a fun and cheerful selection of avatars and equipment make this game a fun alternative to going out to a real course.

To experience the world’s most renowned golf courses on-line, visit World Golf Tour for a free taster of the latest development in golfing games.

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Prof. Ling Hongling of Lanzhou University, however, discovered that even 500 years before that, a game similar to golf as we know it today was played in China.  Back then it was called “Chiuwan”.  Their golf clubs were inlaid with gold and silver, which leads us to believe that playing golf was a privilege of the Chinese upper classes in these times.  New evidence implies that the game was brought from China into Europe by Mongolian travellers. 

Whether this theory is true remains to be proven, but most historians will agree that the modern-day golf game as we know it stems from Scotland.  It is a long way from the golf-like game the ancient Chinese played to the variations we know today, including the latest addition Online Golf.

In the late 19th century, the UK golf sport experienced a boom, which seems to be directly linked to a number of factors.  Scotland suddenly became fashionable as a holiday destination when railway tracks between England and Scotland were laid and improved around the 1860s, and Queen Victoria bought Balmoral, her very own holiday castle in Scotland.

Golf became more and more accessible and by 1880 there were 12 golf courses in England, the number of which had risen to 50 only seven years later.

 All across the British Empire, Golf became an obsession to many Britons.   

Nowadays, Golf is a sport played by many and often.  Over the years, however, the sport has developed many faces.  There was the introduction of mini-golf in the 1880s, and the latest invention is computer-based golf games.

If you are interested in finding out more about the history and development of the golf sport, you might want to visit The British Golf Museum in St. Andrews in Scotland.  A good way to experience the latest version of golf, is trying out a free online golf session on World Golf Tour.

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Computer golf games are still fairly new on the market and quality varies greatly between the providers. An excellent on-line golf experience for players of all levels is World Golf Tour.

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