The Best Of Desktop Golf Courses

My opponent and I are standing on the first tee at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass. The wind is in my face on this tricky, 380-yard hole, with water running along the right of the fairway. Selecting my driver, I rear back and nail one 303 yards down the middle. I am about to let out a yell when I realize I'd better be careful; someone in the next office might hear me.

Such are the dangers of computerized golf. Over the past few years, software makers have produced a number of brightly animated golf games for the personal computer. True, they're a long way from the real thing. But on a winter weekend -- or, O. K., the occasional late Friday afternoon at work -- they can be a fun diversion.The two best are PGA Tour Golf (Electronic Arts, $50) and Links (Access Software, $60). While PGA Tour Golf comes in Macintosh and IBM versions, Links will run only on IBM and compatible machines. Links also requires a VGA monitor and a hard disk.