Gamers looking to get a virtual PGA Tour fix haven’t had many options this generation, but after three long years, there’s finally a new licensed PGA Tour game on the market. The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA Tour, which recently released on Xbox One, PS4 and PC, can be rough around the edges, but solid gameplay and robust course editor makes it an enjoyable package for both simulation golf fans and amateur course architects.
The Golf Club 2019 is the third entry in the series, and fans had high hopes for the latest release after developer HB Studios announced in May that it had secured the PGA Tour license. The game features a revamped career mode, in which players create a male or female golfer, then rise through the ranks of the Web.com Tour and earn a spot on the PGA Tour. There are several official PGA Tour events included on the schedule, and six real TPC Courses – Sawgrass, Summerlin, Boston, Deere Run, Scottsdale and Southwind – have been impressively recreated in the game.
Courtesy of 2K
If you’ve never played a Golf Club game before, it can be a bit of a demanding experience, especially for fans of the old EA Sports golf games. On consoles, you control your swing with the familiar analog motion, and can choose to use either the left or right stick. The difficulty of the game is determined largely by which set of clubs you choose. There are three sets available – beginner, pro, or master – and while the pro and master sets give you a significant distance boost, they’re much harder to control accurately with the analog stick.
With beginner sticks, you’ll be hitting short drives into the fairway most of the time, but sacrificing length off the tee. The master clubs will give you PGA Tour-level distance off the tee, but your stick movements will have to be much more precise to avoid spraying shots all over the course.
After some practice, you’ll likely be hitting picturesque drives and approaches to the hole, but the short game can be frustrating experience in The Golf Club. Chips near the hole are extremely difficult to judge – you’ll often come up woefully short, or run your 15-yard shot some 30 feet past the hole. Pitches can be just as dangerous, as it’s very tricky to execute half-swing or three-quarter-swing shots. I often find myself defaulting to flop shots whenever possible, as they’re the easiest to control. The Golf Club, as a series, has always demanded that the player have a feel for the game, which may turn off first-time players.
Courtesy of 2K
You’re going to want to spend plenty of time on the practice green honing your putting stroke. The Golf Club 2019 uses an easy-to-read grid system that should be familiar for gamers, but there’s no meter to tell players how far they’re hitting the ball. You simply draw back the stick for as long as you think you should, then follow through. The system creates some uncertainty – especially during long putts – but also helps keep scoring realistic. You’ll have to accept that you won’t automatically drain everything inside of 15 feet. For players who want a bit of an easier experience, there is a swing preview function that will show you if you’ve got the right line.
The best feature of The Golf Club 2019 is the incredible course editor, which could function as a standalone game. You can build 18-hole courses from scratch on a variety of different landscapes, and if you’re willing to put the time in, the end results can be incredible. Players can then upload their creations for others to download and play, which means you’ll have access to an endless stream of golf courses to choose from. In the past, industrious designers have created breathtaking replicas of major courses from around the world.
On the multiplayer side, The Golf Club allows players to face off in real-time with matchmaking or private matches, but online and solo societies will be where competitive gamers will spend the bulk of their time. You can create your own group, called a “society,” and set up a schedule of events to play with a group of others, with each event given a certain duration for society members to post scores. You can essentially play along with the PGA Tour schedule if you like, or have a weekly tournament among your friends. There are also open societies to join, where you can duel with golfers from all over the world. It’s a far more rewarding experience than battling with CPU scores on a leaderboard, and there’s a hardcore online community if you want some serious competition.
Visually, The Golf Club 2019 fails to match the near-photorealistic standard being set by other sports simulation titles. This game isn’t a graphical showcase by any means, but that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of the actual golf. On the presentation side, the commentary is once again difficult to listen to. I’d recommend turning down the commentary volume to zero immediately. You won’t miss it.
Courtesy of 2K
For returning players of the series, The Golf Club 2019 may feel a bit too familiar. HB Studios published the game in a new partnership with 2K just 14 months after the release of The Golf Club 2, and aside from the new PGA Tour courses and a deeper career mode, TGC 2019 feels like more of the same. While the PGA Tour license was a huge get, the lack of any real-life players in the game – you’ll be facing computer generated names in career mode – is a big issue.
If you’re looking for a golf simulation and are willing to put in some practice time, or for players who want to create the course of their dreams, The Golf Club 2019 has plenty to offer to newcomers to the series. For Golf Club veterans, however, the improvements to the game may not be massive enough to warrant an immediate upgrade.
(This review is based upon the Xbox One version of the game.)
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