Golf may not be the most physically demanding sport, but it’s certainly one of the most technical. From swing path, body movement, and core control, even one small mistake can mean the difference between a perfectly placed ball on the green or an accidental bath in the lake. Though EA Sports’ PGA Tour series has been the most realistic experience, it still features elements that aren’t exactly authentic to the game.  Now we’re introduced to The Golf Club, a brand new golf simulation game that relies on the feel of your swing and golf instincts without any flashy meters or indicators. Unfortunately, the decision to remove most golf game tropes ends up being a trap that developer HB Studios can’t quite wedge itself out of.

March06

The Golf Club ditches all traditional golf game tropes by removing the HUD, shooting meters, slope indication, and any other sort of assistance seasoned golf gamers have become accustomed to. This reliance on feel is interesting, but the harsh truth is that something like this is almost impossible to do successfully in a game with current technology. Especially in my first handful of hours with The Golf Club, I was constantly either over-shooting my locations or coming up embarrassingly short. Being able to flick the joystick back and forth to mimic a golf swing isn’t anything new, but I felt as if I slightly ended my joystick push a little off-center, my ball would be hit off target

After some extended time with the game, my scores started to go down as I became more familiar with the game’s controls. That being said, I still struggled through some more complex courses, because being precise seemed to come from more dumb luck than actual learning throughout my play. Even after all the hours I played, I still have trouble nailing locations, and putting is an absolute nightmare. Without any meters for putting, even the slightest over or under extension can result in a terrible put.  The training wheels may have been taken off in The Golf Club, but they’ve instead been replaced by square wheels over a tight rope on a lava pit. Some feedback and more indicators of what I did wrong would have been helpful, but it instead feels like taking the final exam on the first day of class.

The Golf Club lacks any sort of career mode to keep you invested longer in order to improve your player. There isn’t any sort of progression or motivation, and the only choices come down to wanting to play either short set, a round, or a tournament. The lack of progression makes wanting to play The Golf Club for an extended period of time non-existent, and not being able to challenge even AI competitors a lonely, boring experience.

There’s no official licensing found in The Golf Club, so you’ll be stuck with playing as a custom character and using generic equipment. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but the customization options are sparse and offer little variety to make your golfer have any sort of individuality. The customization options are limited to changing some patterns and colors, and it feels almost like a waste of time. If getting official players was an issue, providing more options to customize characters should have been a bigger priority, because what’s currently offered seems like an afterthought and just lazy.

When you actually hit the links, you’ll notice that there are no crowds watching you play. I never thought crowds would play such a factor in heightening the experience of golf games, but after I played 18 holes by myself without any crowds, the awkward loneliness diminished moments that would have normally been accompanied by cheers or groans. You’re not completely alone with playing, however, as your entire game with be commentated by some random guy’s reactions or comments. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be your caddy is talking to you while you playing, but regardless of who it is, it’s overwhelmingly annoying to listen to. Instead of giving the feeling of having your caddy – or whoever it is – helping you out or giving more personality to the game, it feels more like awkward small talk in a blind date.  Basic comments and blatantly obvious observations made me roll my eyes on several occasions, and I eventually turned the sound of entirely to avoid it.

March01

 

Courses look okay, but those looking for a gorgeous golf game to show off their PS4, Xbox One, or PC won’t find it here. The Golf Club suffers from constant texture pop-in, grainy environments, and character models you’d expect from an early PS3 or Xbox 360 game – not something packing all the hardware with brand new consoles or a high-end PC.

One of the most compelling features found in The Golf Club is a surprisingly deep course creation mode. If the provided courses don’t excite you enough – or you’ve played through the rest – you can create custom courses to your exact liking. Not only can you decide basics like par and distance, you can also completely customize the scenery of the course by adding club houses, carts and sand traps, among other things. I actually ended up spending more time in course creation than in the actual golf game, as creating the courses brought more fun and satisfaction than playing on them.

Many of the ideas that developer HB Studios produce seem interesting in concept, but their ability to actually present these ideas is questionable, at best. The Golf Club is hampered by technical and visuals problems, and while its deviance from traditional gameplay and presentation is commendable, it doesn’t always hit its mark. Perhaps with more polish and adjustments, The Golf Club could have been a much welcomed competitor to EA’s PGA Tour series, but too many set-backs limit its potential. While it may not be the best golf game offered, it’s a decent foundation for HB Studios to build upon in the future.

 

This review is based on a review copy of the PS4 version of The Golf Club by HB Studios Multimedia.

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Time For a Mulligan | The Golf Club Review
Overall5
Positives
  • Course creator mode
  • Challenging....
Negatives
  • ...but for mostly all the wrong reasons
  • Poor visuals and textures
  • Annoying commentary
5Overall Score
Reader Rating: (1 Vote)
8.1

About The Author

Josh is a Senior Editor for New Gamer Nation. He'd love to chat with you about games on Twitter.