The Golf Club

 Xbox One
Metascore
64

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
  1. CalmDownTom
    Aug 26, 2014
    80
    The course designer adds a huge amount of depth to the game as you will never run out of new courses to play.
  2. Post Arcade (National Post)
    Aug 19, 2014
    80
    There’s no denying The Golf Club needs some sort of proper career or long-term competition to help retain players’ interest...But if there’s ever a sequel – and I hope there is – then perhaps HB Studios can add this one last missing piece of the puzzle to what has turned out to be an excellent golf simulation.
  3. COGconnected
    Sep 1, 2014
    77
    Game play trumps presentation here. Excellent swing mechanics make the actual act of playing golf in The Golf Club quite enjoyable and the social and online features are abundant and fun. These things outweigh the technical hiccups.
  5. Pure Xbox
    Oct 21, 2014
    70
    The fact that we can say that true fans of golf who are looking for a new challenge might well have found their new home in spite of those technical issues, is a testament to how brave and revolutionary the game really is.
  6. IGN
    Aug 26, 2014
    70
    With a bit more polish applied to its presentation and the addition of a career mode to keep us hooked, this could well have been a package to seriously threaten EA’s dominance in the world of golf games. As it stands, it’s still a strong foundation for the team at HB Studios to build upon for the future.
  7. Multiplayer.it
    Aug 28, 2014
    68
    Taking advantage of the Tiger Woods hiatus, The Golf Club owns the scene of the golf-sims on the next-gen console, with a pretty characteristic interpretation of the genre. With the big Greg Norman Course Designer in the spotlight, this game can become a good ever-changing, community-driven simulation even with all its technical faults.
  8. Softpedia
    Sep 3, 2014
    65
    The Golf Club can be a good investment for purists and the editor is a great piece of work, but this is also a game that lacks attention to detail at times and suffers because of that.
  9. MondoXbox
    Aug 24, 2014
    65
    The Golf Club brings to the table some interesting features, like social interaction and the advanced course editor. Unluckily it fails in providing a good shot planning and swing mechanics, coupled with unpolished visuals and the lack of a more thought-out game structure.
  10. X-ONE Magazine UK
    Oct 11, 2014
    60
    Real golfers will love the challenge, and the course design feature is a trump card. However, it won't give the average user much of a buzz. [Issue#116, p.83]
    All this publication's reviews
  11. ZTGD
    Aug 26, 2014
    60
    As it stands it is expensive, and can sometimes feel like a tech demo fleshed out with menus.
  12. God is a Geek
    Aug 19, 2014
    60
    The Golf Club promises a lot but falls down on its implementation. Golf fans will find a lot to like here, though, with the Designer and the solid gameplay providing an expansive experience. Unfortunately, last-gen visuals and a series of frustrating issues make this a hard game to recommend to all but the golf obsessed.
  13. VideoGamer
    Aug 19, 2014
    60
    The Golf Club is functional. That is a huge plus for many people wanting to do away with the flash and gimmicks found in EA's golf series, but this isn't an excuse for the presentation to be as sloppy as it is.
  14. XGN
    Sep 29, 2014
    50
    The Golf Club is a game that relies on friends and the social aspects of gaming. The golfing itself is hardly interesting, as there is nothing to collect and to be fair: a bit of a boring sport like golf does not get much nicer by playing The Golf Club.
  15. The Digital Fix
    Sep 11, 2014
    50
    Unpolished to the point of seeming unfinished in places, The Golf Club isn’t a rival to the EA Sports Tiger Woods franchise but is more of a throwback to the hardcore, simulation days of Links.
  16. Gameblog.fr
    Sep 3, 2014
    50
    The Golf Club is a little bit simple in terms of graphics and gameplay, but its procedural golf courses editor makes it interesting.

Awards & Rankings

68
#68 Best Xbox One Game of 2014
37
#37 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2014
25
#25 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2014

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 63 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 63
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 63
  3. Negative: 26 out of 63
  1. speedtrucker
    Aug 20, 2014
    9
    This game IS NOT Tiger Woods. with that out of the way, you have to know what you are buying. think SimGolf meets Minecraft with a simpleThis game IS NOT Tiger Woods. with that out of the way, you have to know what you are buying. think SimGolf meets Minecraft with a simple approach to the mechanics of golf.

    The Course Creator(10/10): it is why a majority of buyers will jump on board. you can spend as little or as much time as you can imagine on any given hole. always wanted to tweak TPC Sawgrass' 17 island green? you can recreate it and modify it until your heart is content. tired of everyone hitting the fairways with ease, narrow them down, put 50 bunkers, put a stream down the middle, put trees jutting out into the fairway. if you can imagine a hole design, then you can create it. what is great is that as you are building a hole, you can quickly play the hole and then jump right back into the editor, helps when testing out yardages and the likes. you can even quickly play from a specific spot on your hole so you don't have to tee off on the hole, just place your ball at point X and play from there.

    Gameplay(9/10)now the game play is smooth and basic. no swing meters, no landing circle telling you that your driver will land in this specific area or that applying X amount of loft will make the ball trajectory clear the tree line. you have a camera fly-over that gives you the general area you are aiming towards and you have an overhead map that provides yardages on the hole you are on. putting is probably the most true to feel of all the aspects of gameplay. you can read the green and generally decide your aim, then its about providing a smooth clean putt. there is no putt meter or "putt preview". my missed putts usually felt wrong the moment I made contact... rather than "oh man I only hit it 68% instead of 80%"

    the graphics(6/10): they are not great, they are early last-gen. things look pretty from a distance and as a whole but when you are playing a round you will see the flaws. this game was never about being the best looking golf game out there.

    replayability(10/10): this is the key, you don't have licensed anything much less courses so you have to understand that you will be playing user created courses. that being said, by launch there were already thousands of courses created. you can search by top rated, style, difficulty, courses friends have played, courses friends have created, etc. so you could play a different course everyday and never repeat. it also helps that the course publishing is cross-platform so you can share courses with PS4 and PC players, I imagine the PC players will create the best courses over time. unfortunately scores do not cross platforms.

    so understand that you are not buying a game competing with EA Golf(Tiger Woods), you are buying a game that brings you a robust course creator and a solid golf simulator with last gen graphics.

    for $34.99, this game is a 9/10 but you have to know what you are buying. if you just want to jump in and play 20 courses with a real golfer and real clubs and outmuscle every designed hazard, skip this. if you want to create your own golf course where par is actually par, or play other peoples creations that are growing by the thousands across 3 platforms daily then pick this up.    … Full Review »
  2. Shaft62702
    Aug 19, 2014
    9
    I am basing my score on a $35 dollar game. First golf game that loads the entire course before you start so there is no loading time betweenI am basing my score on a $35 dollar game. First golf game that loads the entire course before you start so there is no loading time between holes. Graphics are not top end most likely due to the entire course being loaded at once. Realistic putting and endless possibilities with the course creator. Few bugs here and there but nothing that cannot be fixed with a patch or 2. Not a lot of customization but plenty for a $35 dollar game. I can see a great future for this game if it gets the support it needs.… Full Review »
  3. Royerrulz
    Aug 20, 2014
    0
    Embarassing. Everything about this studio is a complete joke.

    RUNS TERRIBLE. STEER CLEAR. NO ONLINE FEATURES THAT FUNCTION LIKE THEY    Embarassing. Everything about this studio is a complete joke.

    RUNS TERRIBLE. STEER CLEAR. NO ONLINE FEATURES THAT FUNCTION LIKE THEY SHOULD.

    Someone PLEASE start a petition to get our money back. PLEASE!

    I think this would be acceptable if it were coming out on the n64. Seriously.    … Full Review »
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