Full Swing
Synopsis
Hybrid
It's golf does Big Break does Bullseye. You can't beat a bit of bully can you? And Jimmy Tarbuck was as unthreatening as they came. In terms of structure and style, Full Swing was Big Break (not surprising when John Burrowes was producer of both shows.)
Three normal civilians teamed up with pro-celebrity golf players to win what they could.
Cyber-drive
In the first round, the golf players did a bit of 'virtual golf'. They whacked a ball at a sheet and the results were transposed onto the virtual course. This wasn't as good as it could have been - the ball was so small you could hardly see it on screen, so it had to be specially marked via a special effect in post-production.
If their player could answer a question correctly then they got a bonus shot. Then they had another shot. Whoever was furthest away from the pin was out, but not before Virgo's Trick Shot! Oh, wrong show.
There was very little skill involved in this, but it did use a whacky Crazy Golf machine. If the player could putt a ball from about a foot away, it would go all round the machine and go in the hole. Stunning.
Fairway or Foul
The second round was like a sort of Danger Zone. The proper player hit the ball to the player who then tried to putt the ball. However, if the ball went in a bunker or down a rabbit hole then they had to answer a question correct to get it out. When the player tried to putt the ball they had to wait until the light was on otherwise it was chucked out again. The team that did it the slowest were out but went through to Celebrity Consolidation. Where the losing celebrity attempted to putt a ball from so many feet away and the closer they got the more they won.
Putt Putt
The finalists then played for a cash prize and what did they have to do? 'You've got to putt as many balls as you can.' Sorry. The player was asked some questions, the more they got right, the more time their pro got to putt. What's more, they got to pick a Bonus Ball, a load of balls were in a pot and they chose one. They had bonus seconds ranging from 10 to 60 and it was added to the total limit.
The golfer then putted, using as many strokes as needed as many balls as he can. They started off quite short but got longer as the money went up. They had to be potted in order and if the Golden £1000 ball was putted, the celebrity won £1000 for their charity however the contestant won a luxury holiday instead.
Overall, it weren't too bad, although the set didn't do the show many favours. One series was about right.
