'The Golf Club Featuring PGA Tour 2019' Review: Swing and a Miss

Know what we don’t see much on the market anymore? Golf games. It seemed like, for a while [...]

By ComicBook.com Staff

Golf

Know what we don't see much on the market anymore? Golf games. It seemed like, for a while there, EA Sports couldn't miss with their golf simulations, as the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series dominated with its perfect physics, smooth presentation and wildly enjoyable features.

Then came Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, which replaced the lead star with someone new, and interest in the series was generally lost. That's a shame because this game felt like the most accessible yet from the company. But lackluster sales forced it to move on from golf games in favor of other sports endeavors.

That left a rather big divot in its place, with HB Studios, a company that had been making The Golf Club for a little while now, to fill it. It managed to strike a deal with the PGA Tour for licensing, and with the help of newfound publishing partner 2K Sports, it vowed to provide golfers with something to chip away at with The Golf Club 2019. Unfortunately, it's a club that very few members will get some joy out of, due to the lack of one major component -- accessibility.

Gameplay Hits the Sandtrap

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That's not to say the game can't be played. It certainly can. But there are a lot of factors to consider when it comes to putting said game together. HB Studios has always been about creating a "realistic" golf sim where every factor goes into your swing, be it the contact point and the wind and what have you. But that shuts out a lot of folks, something I've said about Codemasters' F1 series for years. If you focus on a particular crowd, I'm sure it'll please them -- but it kind of leaves other players out in the cold.

There is a tutorial for The Golf Club 2019 that walks you through most of its mechanics, but it's not really as helpful as I would have hoped. Its lessons seem sort of half-brained in terms of execution. For instance, if you get one of the steps wrong (like with the tempo of the swing), you're simply told to try it again instead of being told what you can improve upon, or even encouraged to try something different. I understand HB Studios wanted you to learn something, but there's a better way of teaching than this.

And even if you do nail down the fundamentals of what The Golf Club has to offer, that doesn't mean they're always guaranteed to work. I remember nailing down the physics of a perfect swing and, in some cases, the ball flying off the green like it's got a mind of its own. Even if the wind isn't working too much against it. For all the work that HB Studios put into the realistic physics of the swing, it forgets the follow-through every once in a while. As a result, it makes you feel like everything you learned doesn't even apply in some cases.

Customization Can Only Go So Far

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What's worse, the putting feels unnatural. Let me draw up an example. I have a three foot putt in front of me in what appears to be a pretty straight shot, with barely any hills getting in the way, right? And yet, even if I think I'm using the right amount of power, the ball goes sailing over the hole, costing me a precious stroke. There's no real putting system that teaches you anything here, just the "give it a shot and see what happens" thing. This game's really good at instructions, but ultimately fails in teaching you the right way to go. It's like a teacher that years for that summer vacation without focusing on what the students are learning during the finals.

That's a shame, because The Golf Club 2019 has a robust customization system that really takes you places. The create-a-player options are pretty sweet for a game such as this, letting you create someone as real (or unreal, if you prefer) as you want. Seeing them take action on the course isn't too bad either, even if their facial features leave something to be desired. But hey, something to improve upon next time around.

And I admit, HB Studios did amazing work with the course creator. You can actually build your dream course from scratch here, complete with hazards and sand traps and what have you, and then share them within the Golf Club community so others can give it a try. It adds replay value to a game that doesn't really deserve it, because in order to play these courses, that means putting up with the problematic gameplay. A game of have and have not's, if you will.

The Golf Club 2019 also doesn't use the PGA Tour license to its fullest extent. There are courses here licensed by the league, but there aren't too many pros to select from, leaving you to your amateur selection. What's more, you can't really face off against your dream players in a match, like you could in Rory McIlroy PGA Tour. Instead, you post a score and then see how you compare. That's not really a level of competition; it feels more like a leaderboard feature.

Coming Up Short In the Final Round

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While The Golf Club 2019 has some intuitive course design (to go along with its creation system), there are times that they come across as a little bit iffy. The technology here goes a long way, but some of the aspects of each course can come across as fuzzy or almost incomplete. That's not to say HB Studios didn't try, it just looks like they have some work to do when it comes to patching.

Also, the audio is grating at times. The commentary just sounds like it's really going in circles instead of diving deep into the game. Granted, Rory McIlroy's commentary wasn't exactly a winner either, but they talked about key plays here and there, whereas The Golf Club just has a team that's...barely there. There aren't that many musical cues either, though the sound effects are about on the money when it comes to the sport. But how can you really screw up golf noises, anyway?

In the end, The Golf Club 2019 just feels uneven to me. You've got HB Studios attempting to overflow the game with ambition with its impressive customization tools, but then doing very little when it comes to providing an accessible gameplay system, as well as proper use of the PGA Tour license. Granted, this is its first year with said license, but I expected something more.

The Golf Club 2019 Bogeys When It Should've Eagled

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That, and the game's presentation is a bit lacking, especially compared to later PGA Tour games from the EA Sports camp. It's alright, but considering that this is the only real golf game on the market anymore, extra effort has to be made since it needs to be a good one.

But the real factor holding the game back here is the lack of proper gameplay. HB Studios needs to overhaul this system with options, not to mention the kind of etiquette that rewards players for trying, rather than attempting to let them learn on their own and still run into problems. A little guidance goes a long way, and teaching the advanced tools after they grasp these techniques is the way to go. I hope the developer understands that.

If you absolutely need a new golf game or you're just curious as to what the customization tools provide, then sure, The Golf Club 2019. Is worth a shot. But otherwise, you're better off hunting down a copy of the discontinued Rory McIlroy PGA Tour and enjoying that instead. It's older, but it provides the kind of golf experience that won't make you feel like storming off the course after throwing your golf bag in the water.

WWG's Score: 2.5 (out of 5)

(Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.)

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