HB Studios Next-Gen golf game: The Golf Club

[10spro]

That said...rage quit the XB1 tourney today. F*CK FIRM FAST GREENS. Seriously, this has to stop.

Trust me, you probably won't be the only one. I thought about it after shooting +5 after only 6 holes but for some odd reason I kept telling myself to stick to the plan. I can manage the fast greens, weird breaks and whatever mother nature may throw at you, but the combo of Firm and Fast greens is just deadly at Pinehurst.

[vader29]

I bettered my PC Society score by 9 strokes in the XBox One Society tournament at Pinehurst, carrying some of my school of hard knocks lessons from that round. I don't think my score will hold up though... I'm anxious to see what you XBoners do with this one

It's still early but with only three participants finishing the round, I am going to say that your -2 is a great score unless Vader says otherwise. I was facing average winds of 12mph and on certain holes even landing my shots dead centre of the greens meant chipping it from the outside. I knew the greens were fast and Pinehurst is famous for punishing you if you don't land it within 8-10 yards of the pin on certain holes but the stiff firmness of it, was what threw me off.

Finished with a 77 as I just struggled most of the day.

+3 on the first hole and finished +7 with 10-13mph winds against me most of the round, ugh.

[J_Cauthen]

It's still early but with only three participants finishing the round, I am going to say that your -2 is a great score unless Vader says otherwise.

I undersold my score, I did shoot a 68, rather than a 69, as I'd thought earlier. Gibbius Maximus shot a 65 in the DSP PC Society tournament today at Pinehearst, leaving me 13 shots behind him there. This is probably too old a reference for most of you to relate to, but I see myself as sort of the Lanny Watkins of The Golf Club 2... I can pull off some incredible rounds, on occasion, and then balloon to an 83 in the next round

A course like this needs a practice round for you to think about having a chance to break par. Since I'd already played my round there in the PC version, I carried a lot of the lessons learned there into my XBox One round. I saw 7 to 11 mph winds when I played my round there. I do wish that HBS could fix it where the winds are consistent for the duration of Society tournament rounds... I probably had a slight advantage over those who played later it seems.

I was facing average winds of 12mph and on certain holes even landing my shots dead centre of the greens meant chipping it from the outside. I knew the greens were fast and Pinehurst is famous for punishing you if you don't land it within 8-10 yards of the pin on certain holes but the stiff firmness of it, was what threw me off. Finished with a 77 as I just struggled most of the day.

77 isn't a bad score there if you just played it for the first time on the XBox One. I found that I was too aggressive on approach shots, and usually if you go past pin high at Pinehurst #2, you're going to catch the turtleback and be escorted to the run off area. I also find it's best to select a club that you can loft up just a bit, so as to get some more backspin on the ball on courses like this.

Didn't the course capture the hazy ambiance of Pinehurst #2 though? I was so impressed at how faithfully Craig recreated that!

[J_Cauthen]

+3 on the first hole and finished +7 with 10-13mph winds against me most of the round, ugh.

I have now bogeyed the first hole at Pinehurst #2, 3 or the 4 times I've now played it, in spite of hitting the green with my approach all four times. I just get too aggressive on the always downhill birdie putts I've had there.

[J_Cauthen]

In todays ps4 daily I started out bogey-double bogey-triple bogey. Only two pars on the front for a whopping 45. Brand new controller and it doesn't make a difference. Then on the back I go birdie-birdie-birdie-par-par-par-birdie-birdie-birdie for a 29 of course. 45-29! What the heck is that? And two of those pars were lip out birdies. Hate this freakin game.

I was playing along with your ghost ball in this round and I picked up on that. You were a chip shot holing son of a gun in that round! That 29 was absolutely sick! I didn't feel like I was was worthy of playing along with you as you were dissecting the course on that back 9! The Bavaro is not an easy course, and for you to post a 29 on the back 9 there is a feat of which you should feel proud!

[Leadfoot5]

I think my frustration with the firm/fast combo has been overtaken by the dizzying-effect of tree shadows on the green.

[ddtrane]

It's amazing to me that the game that brought the most of us together since the golden era of online gaming started is a Golf game.

I remember the poker nights of TOCA 2, which you all posted about. But the game that really got us together was NHL Rivals, pretty fun mp gaming on that one!

[ddtrane]

Is anyone having a problem where you line up for a 35 or 40yd flop shot and the ball flies over 70yds? This is really starting to piss me off the several times it has happened.

[DivotMaker]

Is anyone having a problem where you line up for a 35 or 40yd flop shot and the ball flies over 70yds? This is really starting to piss me off the several times it has happened.

Yep, it has happened to me and is a result of a mis-hit on a tight lie usually.

I usually have an off tempo (fast) that causes it.

[J_Cauthen]

Here's what I'm sure will be a popular bullet from today's forthcoming 1.03 patch announcement, based on recent comments in this thread:

• Wind ratings have been fixed for all events in society events to have all users playing with the same settings regardless of time of day.

I can't believe the game got released and has gone this long without having global winds from start to finish in a tournament, but this will help a lot.

On another note, they make no mention of correcting the "Spoiler Leaderboards", which are taking so much of the sap out of tournament play right now... at least for me

[J_Cauthen]

Is anyone having a problem where you line up for a 35 or 40yd flop shot and the ball flies over 70yds? This is really starting to piss me off the several times it has happened.

Yep, it has happened to me and is a result of a mis-hit on a tight lie usually.

I usually have an off tempo (fast) that causes it.

Same here, and I equate it to 'blading' a flop shot when you get too quick on the tempo. I get bladed shots even more frequently when I get perfect/fast and particularly, perfect/very fast playing a flop shot out of a greenside bunker.

[TCrouch]

Is it just me...or is that not one of the coolest things that have ever been included in a golf game?

I mean, I don't want to top balls as often as I do out on the course, but especially around the green, blading a shot is one of the most realistic depictions of my screw-ups that I've ever seen.

That is, assuming it's actually coming out with a low trajectory and not just skyrocketing the thing for 70 yards instead of 30.

[J_Cauthen]

Is it just me...or is that not one of the coolest things that have ever been included in a golf game?

I mean, I don't want to top balls as often as I do out on the course, but especially around the green, blading a shot is one of the most realistic depictions of my screw-ups that I've ever seen.

That is, assuming it's actually coming out with a low trajectory and not just skyrocketing the thing for 70 yards instead of 30.

I know for a fact I get a lower trajectory on a "bladed" flop out of a greenside bunker. When it happens, it's such a cool analog for what happens in real life when I blade a bunker shot that I marvel at it rather than curse it.

[Danimal]

It's amazing to me that the game that brought the most of us together since the golden era of online gaming started is a Golf game.

Don't know about you all, but I'm pushing 50 and have lost the ability to compete in FPS games, as well as stick-jockey sports games like NHL and Madden. Golf is about all I've got left.

Take a look at Lawbreakers, realize we are too old to compete in a game like that.

[10spro]

Here's what I'm sure will be a popular bullet from today's forthcoming 1.03 patch announcement, based on recent comments in this thread:

• Wind ratings have been fixed for all events in society events to have all users playing with the same settings regardless of time of day.

I can't believe the game got released and has gone this long without having global winds from start to finish in a tournament, but this will help a lot.

On another note, they make no mention of correcting the "Spoiler Leaderboards", which are taking so much of the sap out of tournament play right now... at least for me

Much anticipated, really. Is this patch just for PC and consoles later on?

[J_Cauthen]

Much anticipated, really. Is this patch just for PC and consoles later on?

Yeah, HB Studios new strategy is to release the patch on the PC, as soon as it's past their testing, and submit the patch to Microsoft and Sony for certification at that time.

[J_Cauthen]

Take a look at Lawbreakers, realize we are too old to compete in a game like that.

All I had to do was see the title screen to know it was beyond my capabilities!

[Teal]

It's amazing to me that the game that brought the most of us together since the golden era of online gaming started is a Golf game.

I remember the poker nights of TOCA 2, which you all posted about. But the game that really got us together was NHL Rivals, pretty fun mp gaming on that one!

Psh, the original GR and the sequel had damn near the whole forum either playing or waiting to play back in the day...

[J_Cauthen]

To those who may be interested in playing the PC Society Daily today, I screwed up and set the tournament to four rounds to be completed today. You'd have to be a bigger cybergolf zealot than me to take that on. I didn't realize it until I'd finished my first round

[Danimal]

To those who may be interested in playing the PC Society Daily today, I screwed up and set the tournament to four rounds to be completed today. You'd have to be a bigger cybergolf zealot than me to take that on. I didn't realize it until I'd finished my first round

So I have a chance to win a tourney?

I won't be around much the next 5 days, have a big tournament coming up this weekend that i need to place 4th or better to make our version of the Ryder Cup team so I'm spending all my spare time practicing.

[vader29]

Changed the weekend tournament to Quail Hollow-PGA Championship.

[ddtrane]

Changed the weekend tournament to Quail Hollow-PGA Championship.

If its the same one I played yesterday, oooh boy. I drowned a whole lot of balls on that course.

[10spro]

Changed the weekend tournament to Quail Hollow-PGA Championship.

If its the same one I played yesterday, oooh boy. I drowned a whole lot of balls on that course.

At least the greens are showing as slow, so we'll see...It's a nice change from the firm/fast greens we've been playing though.

[J_Cauthen]

At least the greens are showing as slow, so we'll see...It's a nice change from the firm/fast greens we've been playing though.

I just played my first round of the tournament there and the slow greens really challenge you to put enough strength into your putts. I left a lot of mine well short of the hole in round 1. I live just 20 miles down the road from Quail Hollow, and have been there numerous times for the Kemper Open (in the 70's) and the Wachovia/Wells Fargo. I think a better mix for the greens this week would be medium-firm and medium-fast, but that's up to the designer.

My familiarity with Quail Hollow probably makes me an overly harsh critic of this recreation of it. In the game it looks more like it's set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge mountains... there's not a hint of even a small hill anywhere on the horizon of the actual course. The mounding is much more subtle than what is presented in the game. I can't wait to see how many people threaten to rage quit after playing the first round pin placement on #4

Still, it's a mostly playable course and I mostly enjoyed the round there, but if it didn't call itself Quail Hollow, I wouldn't have suspected I was playing Quail Hollow until I reached the 17th hole. I'm curious to see some of the later round pin placements.

[Danimal]

I donated 2000 to the PC Society last night but I think it's going to be a long time until we raise the level.

I'm tempted to get the XB1 version to have a larger group to play with but I'm sure once I get it the fever will die down, I'm the KOD for these things.