As your progress through the game, you will gain additional skill points to assign on your golfer’s character sheet. You can also gain and lose skill points throughout the game by making exceptional shots or playing poorly. More details about what each of these skills does can be found on the SimGolf Wikia page.
The effects each of these have are as follows;
Power Hitter For each point (10%) you put into Power Hitter, you will gain a 4 yard range increase on all hits. Power Hitter does not improve the accuracy of your shot, but simply adds length to the shot.
Long Driver For each point (10%) you put into Long Driver, you gain a 6 yard range bonus for all shots from the tee.
Accurate Driver Increases your accuracy with drivers. If a character has a high Accurate Driver stat, they will more easily be able to place their shots where they want them to go.
Accurate Irons Increases your accuracy with irons. If a character has a high Accurate Irons stat, they will more easily be able to place their shots where they want them to go.
Accurate Putter Increases your accuracy while putting. If a character has a high Accurate Putter stat, they will more easily be able to putt the ball in the hole.
Draw Shot/Fade Shot The Fade Shot and Draw Shot statistics influence how well a golfer can place a ball hit with that shot. For example; if a character has a low Fade Shot stat, they will be more prone to wild shots when hit with a fade shot. If a character has a high Fade Shot stat, they will more easily be able to place their shots when hit with a fade shot.
High Backspin Shot Affects how well your golfer can place high backspin shots. If a character has a low High Backspin Shot stat, they will be more prone to wild shots when hit with a high backspin shot. If a character has a high High Backspin Shot stat, they will more easily be able to place their shots when hit with a high backspin shot.
Luck The luck skill affects your golfer’s chance of getting a lucky bounce from a normally bad shot, or the chance your shot will rebound off trees or bounce into pot holes or sand traps.
Recovery The recovery skill increases your golfer’s chance of recovering gracefully after a bad shot, for example any shot landing in sand, rough, etc would normally hamper your accuracy and distance – with a higher recovery rating the effect of this is reduced.