HB Studios Next-Gen golf game: The Golf Club

[J_Cauthen]

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.

I think I was 1 or 2 over in my first round there on the XB1 tournament. I think I only had two birdies in that round, they are harder to come by on this course for me. The greens are tricky, but I don't think they're "tricked up". This is now my favorite course in the game. It's inconceivable that theclv24 (it's creator) could capture so much of the personality of Merion East, with his hands being tied by having to tie it to a theme that's not necessarily suited for this region of the country.

Vader29, how many chip or pitch shots have you holed out in this tournament? My ears are still ringing from all the pins you rattled when I was playing with your ghost!

[vader29]

I had quite a few that landed exactly 4 yards away for the easy chip in, ended up +3 for the tournament as the 4th round had the steady 15-17 mph winds that annoy me so much.

[Diablo25]

I ran across this guy's stream by chance and it is hilarious. He loves the game (which you will find out). Give the video about 10 minutes and tell me this guy doesn't have you laughing. Entertainment.

[J_Cauthen]

I ran across this guy's stream by chance and it is hilarious. He loves the game (which you will find out). Give the video about 10 minutes and tell me this guy doesn't have you laughing. Entertainment.

Oh yeah... El Presador, this guy has me wetting my pants sometimes I've watched him for years, playing Hot Shots Golf on You Tube. His rage quit videos there are as funny as the one you've linked. HB Studios needs to sign him to endorse their game. Can you imagine the quote from him on the game cover? "This is the greatest F'n golf game I've ever played; it's F'n biblical!" I like how he lamented that he probably wasn't going to finish at his goal of 10 under par, when he was +8 through 9 holes of his round

Oh, he's pretty hilarious playing Call of Duty and Battlefield also... just make sure the kiddies are out of the room when his videos are on; some of them would make a sailor blush!

[Diablo25]

I ran across this guy's stream by chance and it is hilarious. He loves the game (which you will find out). Give the video about 10 minutes and tell me this guy doesn't have you laughing. Entertainment.

Oh yeah... El Presador, this guy has me wetting my pants sometimes I've watched him for years, playing Hot Shots Golf on You Tube. His rage quit videos there are as funny as the one you've linked. HB Studios needs to sign him to endorse their game. Can you imagine the quote from him on the game cover? "This is the greatest F'n golf game I've ever played; it's F'n biblical!" I like how he lamented that he probably wasn't going to finish at his goal of 10 under par, when he was +8 through 9 holes of his round

Oh, he's pretty hilarious playing Call of Duty and Battlefield also... just make sure the kiddies are out of the room when his videos are on; some of them would make a sailor blush!

I just spent 45 minutes laughing my ass off at his streams.

[J_Cauthen]

I had quite a few that landed exactly 4 yards away for the easy chip in, ended up +3 for the tournament as the 4th round had the steady 15-17 mph winds that annoy me so much.

Vader29, we are so closely matched, it's scary! I played with your ghost in the 3rd round and we tied at even par. There was never a separation of more than two strokes between us. I've become a freakin' laughing stock on the greens though... I had four three-putt greens in this round, the longest of which was from 28 feet. I had one from 6 feet and another from 8 feet... I came within an eyelash of having a controller throwing, hissy fit It was still a lot of fun.

Oh, and I had my first shank of a tee shot in I don't know how long on the 14th or 15th tee in this round. I'd been hooking the ball into the rough right at the apex of the dogleg on this hole, and I guess subconsciously, I was trying to avoid that again. The ball looked, sounded, and reacted like it'd been hit off the heel of the club and darted into the left rough, about 200 yards down the fairway. On a positive note, I scrambled my ass off for what will be one of the most memorable pars of my TGC career! Damn I'm having fun with this tournament... on all three platforms!

[J_Cauthen]

I had quite a few that landed exactly 4 yards away for the easy chip in, ended up +3 for the tournament as the 4th round had the steady 15-17 mph winds that annoy me so much.

I was getting ready to play what I thought was going to be the final round of this 2013 U.S. Open Merion" tournament with your ghost player, and then I realized something looked weird. The winds and sky conditions looked awfully familiar. Then when you rattled the pin for an eagle on the second hole, I realized what had happened. When I called up the "Tour" menu for this tournament, I hit the "Advance" button rather than the "Continue" button, and it put me back to round 1.... (sigh).

I don't know why they would even give an option to restart a competitive tournament to begin with!? My name shows up twice now in the standings. I went ahead and played the round out, but ironically, shot a 73 this time, where I'd shot a 72 the time before. I guess I'll slog back through the rest of if because I do want to finish the tournament, but this really took a lot of the fizz out of this event for me. To add insult to injury, it makes me look like a cheeser on the leaderboard because my name is up there twice

[MUTTS]

Finally got around to downloading the collectors edition and also gave Merion a whirl. Wow what a course! Shot three over the first time and three under the second using the Sunday pins.
Fun stuff.
Tony

[J_Cauthen]

Finally got around to downloading the collectors edition and also gave Merion a whirl. Wow what a course! Shot three over the first time and three under the second using the Sunday pins.
Fun stuff.
Tony

You've access to all the themes if you downloaded the Collector's Edition. Merion East is still amazing me with its brilliance! If you shot a 67 there with Sunday pins, you're doing well, although some dude named scruffy37 has a 53 there . The best I've done is a 65, but generally, I do well to break par on this course, on any day's conditions. The putting is what usually is usually my downfall in this game, but this course in particular.

I played an interesting Delta theme course yesterday; Eighteen at Strawberry Plains. It's a deceptively difficult course. Doesn't look all that difficult to the eye, with wide fairways and receptive greens, for the most part, yet for some reason, I just kept stubbing my toe there. The designer has carried the rough out to wide distances so that the dry grassy/sandy surroundings that tend to be overly prominent on Delta courses are toned down to a more believable terrain.

[J_Cauthen]

New Must-Play course alert: Oceanic Athletic Club

Put your Forza 6 demo on pause for 30 minutes, go to The Golf Club and search Oceanic Athletic Club. I'm now convinced that the course's creator (Arctic Fury) has a professional edition of the Greg Norman Course Designer that this game uses. I'm absolutely stunned by the quality and naturally rustic appearance of this course. It's made be the same designer who built Freshwater Golf Club, which I alerted you guys to a while back. I'm still in awe over what Fury's done with this... it's in another realm

It's not an overly difficulty course, so don't expect a U.S. Open type golf challenge. The greens are all gently sloped, but there's still some interesting risk/reward choices to make here. I gambled on some of them and they all paid off for me, but I was playing in 1 - 5 MPH winds, on my way to an all time record tying low score of 57. Don't miss this course though; I think you'll agree it's a cut above the norm

[Diablo25]

New Must-Play course alert: Oceanic Athletic Club

Put your Forza 6 demo on pause for 30 minutes, go to The Golf Club and search Oceanic Athletic Club. I'm now convinced that the course's creator (Arctic Fury) has a professional edition of the Greg Norman Course Designer that this game uses. I'm absolutely stunned by the quality and naturally rustic appearance of this course. It's made be the same designer who built Freshwater Golf Club, which I alerted you guys to a while back. I'm still in awe over what Fury's done with this... it's in another realm

It's not an overly difficulty course, so don't expect a U.S. Open type golf challenge. The greens are all gently sloped, but there's still some interesting risk/reward choices to make here. I gambled on some of them and they all paid off for me, but I was playing in 1 - 5 MPH winds, on my way to an all time record tying low score of 57. Don't miss this course though; I think you'll agree it's a cut above the norm

I love Freshwater GC so I am all over this. Thanks for the heads up!

[pk500]

Thanks for the tip, JC!

[pk500]

Why are there certain courses, such as Oceanic, that I'm not allowed to play? I receive a message saying the course is not available for me until a future upgrade or update -- I can't remember the exact wording.

Do I need the Collector's Edition to play these courses?

Thanks.

[Diablo25]

Why are there certain courses, such as Oceanic, that I'm not allowed to play? I receive a message saying the course is not available for me until a future upgrade or update -- I can't remember the exact wording.

Do I need the Collector's Edition to play these courses?

Thanks.

Yes. Certain themes, like Tropical, are included in the Collectors Edition so any course made with those themes won't be available on the original game. The CE is worth it for all the new course with the new themes. A number of the Delta themed courses are superb.

[pk500]

Thanks. I'll probably spring for CE. It's only $10 -- worth every penny for such a fun game as this.

[J_Cauthen]

Why are there certain courses, such as Oceanic, that I'm not allowed to play? I receive a message saying the course is not available for me until a future upgrade or update -- I can't remember the exact wording.

Do I need the Collector's Edition to play these courses?

Thanks.

Oceanic Athletic Club is a Highland theme couse, which does require the Collector's Edition DLC. I wasn't sure that Highland required the DLC until I checked this morning... it does. The DLC adds Delta, Highlands, and Tropical theme courses to the slate, and for that alone, I think it's worth the $10. Right now I'd say that Highlands is second only to Boreal in terms of versatility and object quality.

HBS is also adding two new seasons to the Season mode, which is part of the Collector's Edition pack, for those who are interested in offline season modes. There will be an Advanced Season mode as part of the forthcoming additions, which include some of more recent community built courses, which might make me at least take a dip with it. They go on to say that they will then add two to three more "Seasons" (these seasons only have seven events in them) with each subsequent update.

[J_Cauthen]

Yes. Certain themes, like Tropical, are included in the Collectors Edition so any course made with those themes won't be available on the original game. The CE is worth it for all the new course with the new themes. A number of the Delta themed courses are superb.

Let me know your thoughts when you get to the 5th green at Oceanic Athletic Club, provided you're facing the split rail fence behind the green. If not, you'll see it eventually.

[Diablo25]

Yes. Certain themes, like Tropical, are included in the Collectors Edition so any course made with those themes won't be available on the original game. The CE is worth it for all the new course with the new themes. A number of the Delta themed courses are superb.

Let me know your thoughts when you get to the 5th green at Oceanic Athletic Club, provided you're facing the split rail fence behind the green. If not, you'll see it eventually.

Yeah I saw it . I actually recorded it. It's on the Activity Feed. Pretty cool.

[Diablo25]

Yes. Certain themes, like Tropical, are included in the Collectors Edition so any course made with those themes won't be available on the original game. The CE is worth it for all the new course with the new themes. A number of the Delta themed courses are superb.

Let me know your thoughts when you get to the 5th green at Oceanic Athletic Club, provided you're facing the split rail fence behind the green. If not, you'll see it eventually.

Yeah I saw it . I actually recorded it. It's on the Activity Feed. Pretty cool.

Oops, I thought I knew what you were talking about but now I'm not sure.

[J_Cauthen]

Oops, I thought I knew what you were talking about but now I'm not sure.

"If you build it; he will come"

[Diablo25]

Oops, I thought I knew what you were talking about but now I'm not sure.

"If you build it; he will come"

Yeah that's it. I saw it

[J_Cauthen]

Must-Play course alert: Eighteen at Strawberry Plains (Pin 2)

I discovered the predecessor to this course last week, Eighteen at Strawberry Plains. It's a Delta theme course that features extended grassy regions to offset the stark, grass to white sand/white grass transition. It played great with one exception, its frame rates were 25% less than comparable courses in other themes using mountain backgrounds. Someone figured out that the two mountain backgrounds were inexplicably causing a 25% frame rate hit in this them. I confirmed it with my own Delta course I'm working on... drop the background to low hills or ocean, and you're back to normal performance.

The designer of Eighteen at Strawberry Plains went back and changed the pins and the background to low hills, and it is now an extraordinary play experience. This course won't bowl you over with stunning vistas, but what a golf course. You'll play every club in the bag here.

I've also set up a 36 hole "tour" for both versions of the course in the "Tour" menu of the game, on all three platforms. It will help you appreciate how much of a difference that extra 25% frame rate improvement makes, particularly on the XB1 version. Using FRAPS on the PC version, I saw 34 FPS on the first tee in the original version, and 42 FPS on the "Pin 2" version. Once you get used to 42 to 45 FPS, you have to adjust your senses a bit when you drop that much though.

The Tour name is "Strawberry Plains Mountains & Hill Extravaganza" on the PC and PS4 and "Strawberry Plains Mountains & Hill Bonanza" on the XB1 (it saw Extravaganza as being a profane word on the XB1 ). I've already completed play in the PS4 and XB1 version Tours, and there's plenty of room at the top.... this course owns me in the most humbling ways, but I keep playing it because I need discipline

[pk500]

I splurged $10 for the Premium Edition so I could get all of these courses. Money well spent. Gorgeous, incredible replay value.

I play TGC arguably more than any game, period. What an incredible value for $40 overall.

[J_Cauthen]

I splurged $10 for the Premium Edition so I could get all of these courses. Money well spent. Gorgeous, incredible replay value.

I play TGC arguably more than any game, period. What an incredible value for $40 overall.

Yeah, just write off that season mode that's part of the DLC, it's the additional themes that make it worth the while.

I also recommend the Kiltlifter golf course that was just released by coruler2 yesterday. It's a low object Highlands theme course that's a blast to play. It's a low object course and the frame rates are out the roof, even on the XB1!

[pk500]

I've been playing TGC like these are my final days on Earth, averaging anywhere between 36 and 54 holes per day. Especially this week, as I'm on staycation.

My mission is to enjoy as many of the recommended courses I've found on TGC Tour sites on the Web and Twitter, with about 50 still on my list to play. Two recent gems:

Kobeoshi Royal
The Victory Golf Club

I see a handful of you have played Kobeoshi Royal. Great challenge without being too fantasy or too cheap. The Victory Golf Club is just a tremendously challenging, realistic track.

TGC is the best golf game I've played, and the rest lag far behind. This is easily one of my 10 favorite video games of all time. The swing mechanics are fantastic. The variety is wonderful. The seemingly limitless number of quality, user-generated courses offers incredible variety and value.

I have zero desire to return to EA golf. None.