HB Studios Next-Gen golf game: The Golf Club

[pk500]

Thanks, John! Keep the recommendations coming. Unlike some players, I have found TGC even more sublime after the swing mechanic update.

LOVE this game!

[J_Cauthen]

Thanks, John! Keep the recommendations coming. Unlike some players, I have found TGC even more sublime after the swing mechanic update.

LOVE this game!

Paul, I'm curious... what do you do when you're faced with a shot and you're off the green 15 to 30 yards from the hole from the rough or the fairway, and there's no trap to carry? You said something above that's prompting this question and I'll tell you what it is after I read your answer.

[pk500]

Thanks, John! Keep the recommendations coming. Unlike some players, I have found TGC even more sublime after the swing mechanic update.

LOVE this game!

Paul, I'm curious... what do you do when you're faced with a shot and you're off the green 15 to 30 yards from the hole from the rough or the fairway, and there's no trap to carry? You said something above that's prompting this question and I'll tell you what it is after I read your answer.

I almost always use a flop shot and then adjust my loft to dial in the distance.

[pigpen81]

My only frustrating issue with TGC has been figuring out chips, flops etc. It is hard to judge when to use full power and when not to.

Anyway to practice it?

And F craggy links, that course it a b****. How many 494 yard and 675 yard par 4/5's can you handle on a course? Also F that two tiered green on the back nine par 5!

Great golf game though

[J_Cauthen]

I almost always use a flop shot and then adjust my loft to dial in the distance.

Okay, that's what I was doing prior to this most recent update. I have converted to a pure, default lob wedge pitch shot for 15 to 40 yard shots, where I don't have to carry more than 60% of the distance. The new more granular swing makes it a little bit more achievable, even though it still feels like I'm required to take a shorter backswing than I would use in real life. I had to spend a lot of time getting the feel for it on a practice course (an unpublished course I'm working on in the GNCD).

Now that I'm using it full time, I get a lot more satisfaction out of watching a pitch shot that looks and rolls out closer to something I'd play in real life, although I rarely play a pitch shot with a lob wedge in real life. I occasionally was getting those flop shots from heavy rough that would still back up 5 yards and wind up rolling off the green and those infuriated me. I don't have that problem when I play an unlofted pitch shot.

I still don't understand how it is that HB Studios can give the gamer a greenside bunker explosion shot that has the feel and flow of a real shot of that type, yet miss the pitch shot feel as badly as they do? Still, it is more achievable now, but I don't think the ultimate fix is going to come until the get a new pitch shot animation.

[J_Cauthen]

My only frustrating issue with TGC has been figuring out chips, flops etc. It is hard to judge when to use full power and when not to.

Anyway to practice it?

Create a course in the GNCD (just use auto-gen to create one if you don't want to bother with the details of creating one. Go in and play test any hole or any shot you want in your unpublished course, and you can hit all the mulligans you want. That's how I got a feel for unlofted pitch shots with the new swing interface tweak.

And F craggy links, that course it a b****. How many 494 yard and 675 yard par 4/5's can you handle on a course? Also F that two tiered green on the back nine par 5!

I dealt with that course by only playing it once

[pigpen81]

Thanks! I'll try it.

My other nitpick is the course filter. It seems very clunky.

I want to try PK's suggestion. Best way to find it? And best way to find top ranked/downloaded created courses?

[J_Cauthen]

I'm playing strictly with a default loft, lob wedge pitch shot now on every shot between 15 to 40 yards, where a flop shot carry isn't required and I've gotten pretty good with it. Does it feel as good as the greenside bunker explosion shots in terms of proportionality? No, but I've adjusted to the touchy range control requirements of this shot. The reward is getting to see a pitch shot that plays and rolls out a little bit closer to a pitch shot I'd play in real life. However, in real life I'd be playing a pitching wedge to play the pitch shots that I'm using the lob wedge to play in TGC.

The pitching wedge just has way too much gain in its lower percentage range to deliver a remotely analogous experience with pitch shots in TGC. I really wish they could figure out how to scale a pitch shot interface to a pitch shot animation in this game; it would make it a much deeper and more realistic experience!

[J_Cauthen]

Thanks! I'll try it.

My other nitpick is the course filter. It seems very clunky.

I want to try PK's suggestion. Best way to find it? And best way to find top ranked/downloaded created courses?

This is the best and most comprehensive source for top courses. You can sort this list a number of ways, but the number of "likes" is a pretty good indicator.

http://www.tgctours.com/Course/Listings

[Diablo25]

I've been playing this a lot lately. I was expecting RM PGA Tour to be much better but it has fallen short of my expectations. There simply is too much that TGC does better for me to give any time to RM. Little things like the sound of striking the ball and snapping to the follow cam when I want are some examples. I'd like to see better player models and some choices on clubs. Not necessarily brand name clubs just the option to fill my own bag...blade putter vs a mallet putter...etc. my complaints about the game are trivial though.

I love playing new courses. The latest beauty I played is Savage Wicked. It's tropical and stunning to simply look at. Some superb courses are being pumped out by users. TGC is a tremendous bargain.

[pk500]

Thanks! I'll try it.

My other nitpick is the course filter. It seems very clunky.

I want to try PK's suggestion. Best way to find it? And best way to find top ranked/downloaded created courses?

This is the best and most comprehensive source for top courses. You can sort this list a number of ways, but the number of "likes" is a pretty good indicator.

http://www.tgctours.com/Course/Listings

Thanks for this link. Mega-cool resource!

[pk500]

I've been playing this a lot lately. I was expecting RM PGA Tour to be much better but it has fallen short of my expectations. There simply is too much that TGC does better for me to give any time to RM. Little things like the sound of striking the ball and snapping to the follow cam when I want are some examples. I'd like to see better player models and some choices on clubs. Not necessarily brand name clubs just the option to fill my own bag...blade putter vs a mallet putter...etc. my complaints about the game are trivial though.

I love playing new courses. The latest beauty I played is Savage Wicked. It's tropical and stunning to simply look at. Some superb courses are being pumped out by users. TGC is a tremendous bargain.

Amen, on all counts. Very well said, man.

[J_Cauthen]

New Must-Play course alert: Merion East - Ardmore, PA

I just got done playing this course and she is a jaw-dropper! It's creator, theclv24, has totally captured the atmosphere of this historic course, not to mention the play challenge of Merion East! This course is a living, breathing entity. I've played both the PC and PS4 versions already today and they're both stellar. Guys, this is a different level of experience and one worth tearing yourself away from Madden 16 (which I'm in love with also) for the half hour, or so it takes to play it.

[pk500]

Thanks for the tip, John!

[Diablo25]

New Must-Play course alert: Merion East - Ardmore, PA

I just got done playing this course and she is a jaw-dropper! It's creator, theclv24, has totally captured the atmosphere of this historic course, not to mention the play challenge of Merion East! This course is a living, breathing entity. I've played both the PC and PS4 versions already today and they're both stellar. Guys, this is a different level of experience and one worth tearing yourself away from Madden 16 (which I'm in love with also) for the half hour, or so it takes to play it.

Can't wait to play it! I live NW of Philly and was at the Open last year so it'll be enjoyable . Thanks for the heads up!!

On a slightly similar note...I'll be heading to the Open next year at Oakmont in Pittsburgh. Heading out Wednesday (4 hour trip). Playing a course on the way. Staying the night. Going to day one of the U.S. Open. Staying the night and heading home on Friday. We might stop and play on the way home too. Can't wait.

[Diablo25]

New Must-Play course alert: Merion East - Ardmore, PA

I just got done playing this course and she is a jaw-dropper! It's creator, theclv24, has totally captured the atmosphere of this historic course, not to mention the play challenge of Merion East! This course is a living, breathing entity. I've played both the PC and PS4 versions already today and they're both stellar. Guys, this is a different level of experience and one worth tearing yourself away from Madden 16 (which I'm in love with also) for the half hour, or so it takes to play it.

Can't wait to play it! I live NW of Philly and was at the Open last year so it'll be enjoyable . Thanks for the heads up!!

On a slightly similar note...I'll be heading to the Open next year at Oakmont in Pittsburgh. Heading out Wednesday (4 hour trip). Playing a course on the way. Staying the night. Going to day one of the U.S. Open. Staying the night and heading home on Friday. We might stop and play on the way home too. Can't wait.

Wow...what a course. Many of the holes looked familiar...especially #17. I sat there for a few hours at the U.S. Open. The green is almost identical to the real deal. I remember front left being severe uphill and back right pouring to the right . The greens were incredibly challenging. You simply must hit certain parts of the green to have a chance at par on most holes. There are only a few holes where you can attack the green. I worked my ass off for a +3 73. Once again great heads up JC!

[Diablo25]

This should give you guys an idea how nasty #17‘s green is. Perhaps you remember this ace at the Open.

[Diablo25]

17 @ Merion. Tough par!

[J_Cauthen]

This should give you guys an idea how nasty #17‘s green is. Perhaps you remember this ace at the Open.

I'd forgotten that hole in one... thanks for restoring that memory. I actually had a 10 foot birdie putt on that hole my first time playing it today. I missed it badly though I had a helping, quartering 8 mph when I played that hole and I also played a 5-wood off the tee. I was 10 feet past the hole... that's how much difference the wind can make on that hole. Oh, I also had a 65 in that round, but I'll admit that the wind helped me on all but two critical holes in that round.

[10spro]

New Must-Play course alert: Merion East - Ardmore, PA

I just got done playing this course and she is a jaw-dropper! It's creator, theclv24, has totally captured the atmosphere of this historic course, not to mention the play challenge of Merion East! This course is a living, breathing entity. I've played both the PC and PS4 versions already today and they're both stellar. Guys, this is a different level of experience and one worth tearing yourself away from Madden 16 (which I'm in love with also) for the half hour, or so it takes to play it.

Can't wait to play it! I live NW of Philly and was at the Open last year so it'll be enjoyable . Thanks for the heads up!!

On a slightly similar note...I'll be heading to the Open next year at Oakmont in Pittsburgh. Heading out Wednesday (4 hour trip). Playing a course on the way. Staying the night. Going to day one of the U.S. Open. Staying the night and heading home on Friday. We might stop and play on the way home too. Can't wait.

Wow...what a course. Many of the holes looked familiar...especially #17. I sat there for a few hours at the U.S. Open. The green is almost identical to the real deal. I remember front left being severe uphill and back right pouring to the right . The greens were incredibly challenging. You simply must hit certain parts of the green to have a chance at par on most holes. There are only a few holes where you can attack the green. I worked my ass off for a +3 73. Once again great heads up JC!

Yeah, I struggled also to match up to your +3 score as I was pretty much babying my putts and pitches especially after playing a lot of my career with RM PGA Tour golf. Since the putting is still twitchy with RM, I was doing the same thing here instead of just reading the line and moving the RS down and up with the putts. I guess I was lucky to hit a birdie on #17 but I thought most of my damage was done early during the first 9 holes.

Challenging course indeed with the uncertainty of the wind.

[J_Cauthen]

Theclv24 has now put the Thursday through Saturday editions of Merion East on the board now. He's also asked another XB1 user (Yeltzman) to create a four round tournament using each day's respective setup. I'm going to be playing in it. You can find it in the "Tours" section of The Golf Club's menu (it had to be considered a Tour since as far as the game is concerned, these are four different courses) and the Tour Name is "2013 US Open Merion". Currently, it's the first tour listed in the "Public Tours" menu. I've already played the first round in the PC version tournament and it's cool to see the course from different tees, different lighting, and naturally, different pin settings.

This should be fun... hope to see some of you out there later on. I'll be playing my XB1 version round later tonight.

[J_Cauthen]

I mentioned yesterday about the 2013 U.S. Open Tournaments that have been set up as "Tour" competition types on all the platform version of TGC. I saw that vader29 had joined the XB1 Tour event so I decided I'd play my first round with him. The experience turned out to be an absolute blast. I switched over to turn based enabled play on the 3rd hole and we were neck and neck throughout the round.

I played my second round with his ghost ball this morning and that son of a gun was 3 under after birdying the first hole, posting an eagle on the second, almost acing the 224 yard par 3, 3rd hole! We again fought tooth and nail for the rest of the round as he settled down with a bogey on 4. He's one up on me after 36 holes, as we're -3 and -2, respectively. The leader is at -14, so we've got some ground to make up.

[DivotMaker]

Just popping in to comment on this course, then back to lurk mode....

Very nice course as usual from this designer. However, the courses are all starting to look the same with the exception of Tropical courses. Just played my first full round of TGC since the first week of July and shot -9 on Sunday pins on Xbox One. PS4 swing is fubar'd beyond belief. Could easily have been -13 except for the same wonky putting engine issues I have had with this game since day one. The game simply does not handle sidehill lie putts properly as they carom off the putter head at an angle, not the direction your putter head is going and not reflective of the putting feedback. Tee to Green, FIR% 100. GIR% 94. Nice course, incredibly easy game tee to green. Hope they fix the putting engine issues (I am not the only one complaining about this on their forums) and the PS4 swing. But even if they do, the game atmosphere is so blah and stale and the gameplay tee to green is just too easy with no true mis-hit penalty yet there IS a mis-hit penalty for hitting it straight (go figure). After 500+ rounds, I will continue to watch development, but I hope they step up and make some real improvements to the game that users are asking for.

[J_Cauthen]

Just popping in to comment on this course, then back to lurk mode....

Very nice course as usual from this designer. However, the courses are all starting to look the same with the exception of Tropical courses. Just played my first full round of TGC since the first week of July and shot -9 on Sunday pins on Xbox One.

Dayum.... that's killing it! I've played over 10 rounds on all versions of Merion East and my lowest score is a 65 (-5), and a high of 72 (+2), and I still play this game almost every day. I've already come to realize that this game is pretty much tailored for average, to slightly better than average players (where I'd place myself) in terms of scoring challenge. I can see why you could become bored with this game if it comes that easily to you.

Even with my scoring average being a relatively modest 68'ish, I agree that it's too easy to hit the ball straight. I hit 81% FIRs and 74% GIRs, but most of my GIR misses are due to non-receptive greens, not because I didn't hit the ball relatively straight. The tactics I have to use because of the medium-fast and above greens is not realistic, but when they work, I somehow feel a misplaced sense of gratification about it. When I miss long (as is usually the case), I enjoy my new house rules practice of forcing myself to play a default loft pitch shot. Yes, the pitch swing interface is hypersensitive, particularly below 60% pitch swing, but I do see progress and when I pull it off, it at least looks right, even though I've taken what feels like a short jab with the club.

PS4 swing is fubar'd beyond belief.

Agreed, I don't like where it's at right now and if I didn't have a wired XBox 360 controller that I could use with my PS4 right now, I'd still be trying to find a way to hit a 100% shot with the left thumbstick of my DS4 controller. HBS better get this right with the update, or there will be some really angry PS4 users.

The game simply does not handle sidehill lie putts properly as they carom off the putter head at an angle, not the direction your putter head is going and not reflective of the putting feedback.

I've been on this bandwagon since the closed beta on the PC version. It's not acknowledged to be a problem to this day. I don't see any hope of it ever being remedied. I've conceded to just add an extra 5 to 10% of break to the putt to account for it. It looks like it's the only way to deal with it, and I can understand why it would turn some folks off... I'm surprised that I've come to tolerate it, but there's still something I like about the putting in this game that offsets it.

[Diablo25]

I shot a +1 in the first round of the Merion U.S. Open event. Could've had a few more birds but still had a solid round. Loving the course.