Overview
Tee up and sink the ball in as few strokes as possible in this exciting rendition of golf! Gauge the wind and avoid sand traps, trees, and water along the course. The player with the fewest strokes will win, but you can earn bonus points for longer drives and landing on the green close to the hole.
Terminology
Aim target:
Swing needle:
The Aim Meter:
The Backspin Slider:
Pips on Green:
Terrain Types
Fairway: The part of the golf course between the tee and the green. This is where you typically want to land before getting to the green. You have complete control over your spin and the lowest swing needle speed on the fairway.
Rough: Usually surrounds the fairway. Landing on rough will limit your backspin ability and cause the swing needle to spin faster. The ball landing on the rough will roll less than when it lands on the fairway.
Light Rough: A milder version of the rough. When the ball lands here, it will roll a bit farther. Hitting off the light rough will also slightly reduce the swing needle speed and backspin penalty.
Dirt: Dirt is a much worse version of rough. Your hitting distance is greatly reduced, and your swing needle speed is much faster.
Rock: Rock makes the ball bounce a bit more than light rough, but the hitting distance is reduced.
Sand: Landing straight into the sand will allow the ball to bounce once before stopping it completely. Hitting from the sand will reduce the ball's distance significantly.
Out of Bounds: Hitting out of bounds will cause the ball to teleport to the closest playable area for your next stroke. Additionally, a stroke penalty will be added.
Green: This area that surrounds the flag is the smoothest terrain of them all. When it lands here, your ball rolls freely. Your club will automatically switch to a putter, and terrain pips appear to help you read the slope of the green.
Fringe: The fringe surrounds the green, and functions similarly. When landing here, your ball rolls slightly less than on the green, and terrain pips do not appear.
Cart Paths: Cart paths are narrow pathways where golf carts travel. The ball will bounce strongly on them. Using the cart path on certain courses can help send your ball further down the course and towards the hole.
Obstacles
Water: Water is out of bounds. Landing in it will add a stroke penalty, and you will drop back to where your ball crossed into the water on playable ground.
High Terrain: Ranges from small hills to large mountains. You cannot always shoot over higher elevations, so try curving your shots around it.
Trees: Trees usually surround the playable area but will sometimes appear on the course. Hitting through trees will slow the ball's trajectory or stop it completely. Use a draw or fade shot to curve around trees in your way.
Shot Trajectory: The multicolored arc shows an ideal trajectory of where the ball will land if you make a perfect hit, not including wind, trees, or other variables.
Blue Line: The carry or initial trajectory of the ball in the air before it hits the ground.
Green Line: The bounce after the ball hits the ground but before it starts rolling.
Yellow Line: How the ball will roll after it completes its bounces.
How To Play
The game starts by telling you the course's basic info: Course name, par number, yards to the tee, and wind mph. Then the game will go into aim mode, where you can place the aim target where you want your stroke to land. Adjust your backspin accordingly. Once you've finished aiming, you enter into swing mode, where you can pull back a reticle to release your shot with varying power and curve. The ball will land based on your timing and target position. The process repeats until you land on the green.
Once on the green, the aim and swing mechanics disappear, and the game will switch you to putting mode. A new reticle will appear on the screen. Pull back for power and move left or right to aim. The flag indicates where the hole is. Colored pips appear and move over the terrain to show the slope of the green. The game is complete once you sink the ball into the hole. A score summary screen will appear to show you the scoring of your game.
Starting Tees: Each hole has multiple tees and multiple possible hole/flag locations. Tees determine where the player’s initial hit will take place. Different tees on courses sometimes vary the courses’ par.
Pars: A course’s par is the set number of strokes it should take the player to sink the ball. The par numbers can range from 3 to 5. Holes can be completed under par resulting in a Birdie, Eagle, or Albatross. Hitting over par may result in a Bogey, Double Bogey, or Triple Bogey. A player will be disqualified after too many strokes without achieving completion.
Wind: Wind can range from nonexistent to very turbulent. Wind will affect the ball's trajectory based on its mph and direction. Use the colored rings around aim target to gauge where the ball will land.
Number of Holes (Varies depending on tournament type.)
- 1-Hole: A standard tournament that ends after completing one hole.
- Multi-Hole: A tournament style that ends after a specific amount of holes have been completed from a series of different holes. This is indicated by the tournament type (Ex: 3-Hole Tournament).
Disqualifications (Reasons the game would end before completion.)
- Ending Early: The game can be ended early by going into the settings and selecting the “End Game” button. Your current score will be awarded without a completion bonus.
- Too Many Strokes: If you reach 4 shots OVER par it will result in the game ending.
- Timeout: Although there is no in-game timer counting down, the game will end after a certain time period. Check the remaining time by visiting the settings screen. Complete the course within the time threshold allocated.
Controls
Aiming: Access aim mode by selecting the aim button on the bottom left of the screen.
Aim Target: After selecting the aim button, an aim target will appear. Move and adjust the target around the course to determine where your ball will land.
A thin white ring appears around the aim target when zooming the camera in and out to indicate where the target can be manipulated with finger input or mouse.
Camera Manipulation: To pan the camera around the map, tap on the screen or hold down the left mouse button outside of the white ring around the aim target, and drag across the screen to move in different directions.
- Use two fingers to pinch the screen or use the mouse wheel to zoom the camera in and out.
- To rotate the camera view, tap on the screen with two fingers and rotate in a circular motion or hold the right mouse button.
Max Distance Aim Target Indicator: The target can only go as far as the player can hit the ball with 100% power and varies depending on where the player is located. A multicolored band will appear when the target extends too far to indicate the boundary.
Wind Gauge: The flag shaped arrow around the aim target indicates the wind speed and the direction it is going.
The colored rings around the target indicate where the ball will land based on where the flag arrow is pointing. Numbered circles appear on the rings in the direction the arrow is pointing.
In this example, the wind speed is 12 mph moving left. This means that with a 100% perfect swing, the ball will land on the orange ring labeled 12. Move the aim point to compensate for the wind effects. In this example, move the aim point to the right so the orange 12 ring is at the desired aim position.
Backspin Slider: Use the slider on the right of the screen while in aim mode to give your ball spin. Before each stroke, the slider will default in the middle for a standard spin. Landing in bad terrains such as rough and dirt will limit the ability to use backspin.
Moving the slider up will give the ball less backspin. The ball’s apex height will be lowered, and the wind’s effect will be reduced. The ball will also roll further.
Moving the slider down will give the ball more backspin. The ball’s apex height will be higher, and the wind will affect your ball significantly. The ball will not roll as far.
Swinging: Access swing mode by selecting the swing button at the bottom right of the screen. The golfer will be ready to swing, and a round reticle will appear in the middle of the screen. Tap or click the reticle and drag it to set up your swing.
Swing Strength: Determines the power with which you hit the ball. Pulling back until the meter reaches 100% and releasing with perfect timing will make the ball land in the center of the aim target, assuming there is no wind.
Swing Needle Accuracy: Releasing the ball when the swing needle is in the center of the meter will yield you a perfect shot. Hitting a perfect shot will cause the ball to go its maximum distance relative to the aim target. Releasing the needle too far left will cause the ball to hook, and releasing the needle too far on the right side will cause the ball to slice. Hooking and slicing the shot will reduce the distance and accuracy of the shot.
Swinging Functions
Overpull: Hitting the ball farther than the set aim target. Maximum overpull is 110%. The swing needle will move much faster the more you pull it back.
Underpull: Hitting the ball less distance than the aim target. The minimum is 50%. The swing needle will move slower the less you underpull.
Curving
Draw: Releasing the swing in the center of the aim meter while pulling to the left will perform a draw shot. The ball will curve to the left in the air and rolls to the left once it hits the ground
Fade: Releasing the swing in the center of the aim meter while pulling to the right will perform a fade shot. The ball will curve to the right in the air and roll to the right once it hits the ground.
Putting
Landing the ball on the green (or fringe) will cause the player to go into putting mode, where a gray circle reticle appears in the middle of the screen.
Camera Controls: Dragging up or down on the screen with your finger or holding down the left mouse button will change the angle at which you view the green, allowing for a better read of the slopes and where the hole lies.
Putting Controls
Pull back on the reticle to begin your putt. When pulling back, a green arrow will appear to show the direction in which your ball will roll. The arrow length only goes a certain distance but will still point in the direction the ball will roll. The green circle shows the distance the ball will travel on flat ground. Release the reticle to putt the shot.
Putts can only roll on the ground and have no airtime. The green is covered with a grid with colored pips to indicate the elevation of the terrain. Stationary pips show flat terrain. Moving pips show that the terrain is sloped downhill in that direction. Putting uphill will slow down the ball.
- Green pips are slight deviations in slope
- Yellow pips are slightly more pronounced deviations in slope
- Red pips are steeper deviations in slope
Gauge the pips on the green. For instance, if the pips are moving to the right, the putt should be aimed to the left to compensate for the slope and vice versa. Release the reticle to putt the shot.
When the shot is released, it will hopefully land in the hole, or at least close to it. Continue putting until you sink the ball or get close enough for a gimme.
Gimme Putt
Landing within a foot of the hole will give you a gimme putt. Selecting “Gimme” will automatically make the golfer putt the ball into the hole. This will count toward your strokes.
Additional Heads-Up Display Functions
Scorecards: Select the middle button on the bottom screen to access the scorecard throughout the game. This will show you the stats of your previous stroke.
Settings: Settings can be accessed by visiting the hamburger menu on the top right corner of the screen. Here you can access the sound and haptics settings, or end the game early.
Scoring
Strokes: Strokes taken to finish a course determine the majority of the scoring. The fewer strokes, the higher the score.
- Hole in one: 20,000 pts + (10,000 pts per par over 3 on holes higher than a par 3)
- Albatross (3 under par): 16,000 pts
- Eagle (2 under par): 14,000 pts
- Birdie (1 under par): 12,000 pts
- Par (on par): 10,000 pts
- Bogey (1 over par): 8,000 pts
- Double Bogey (2 over par): 6,000 pts
- Triple Bogey+ (3+ over par): 4,000 pts
Drive Distance
The initial drive from the starting tee gives points based on the distance. The farther the ball travels the more points are awarded.
- Drive distance score = 1 pt per yard traveled
There is an additional bonus if your drive comes to rest on a good surface
- +200 pts for fairway or better
On Green
Landing on the green gives a bonus based on closeness to the pin. The closer you are, the larger the bonus.
- On Green score = 400 - 4 pts per ft away from pin
There is an additional bonus for getting on the green in fewer strokes.
- +400 pts Green in Regulation bonus if on green in 2 under par
- +800 pts Early On bonus if on green in 3 or more under par
Scorecards
Scorecards can be accessed using the bottom middle button on the screen, otherwise they will appear after a stroke. Scorecards will give you the stats of your previous stroke. You can cycle through the scorecards after multiple strokes.
Results
After completing a hole or course, a results screen will appear. This will inform you of your total score and all the ways the score was derived. Par tells you how many strokes you took to complete the hole relative to the hole’s par. “Drive” is the score from the distance you traveled on the first hit. “On green” is how close you first landed on the green relative to the flag. The bottom of the screen will inform you of your highest score for the day and what your highest score ever is.
Putting Green Mode
Play through a series of putts with varying difficulties on a wide variety of courses. You get one shot from each putt position. Like normal putting, players pull back on the reticle while reading the pips on the green to see where the elevation will take the ball. Releasing will send the ball down the path it was aimed towards before moving the player to the next putt position.
Camera Controls
You can also drag up and down with your finger or hold down the left mouse button and drag up and down on the screen to adjust your viewpoint to get a better read of the slopes and the positioning of the hole before pulling back on the reticle to putt (as shown in the right image above).
Scoring
Your score is based on how close each putt gets to the hole and the difficulty of the putt.
Distance to Hole
- Base Score:
- 0-1,000 Points -> Closeness to the Hole
- 1,500 Points -> In the Hole
- Difficulty:
- Difficulty 1 -> 1x Points
- Difficulty 2 -> 2x Points
- Difficulty 3 -> 3x Points
- Difficulty 4 -> 4x Points
- Overall Score Calculation:
- 1000 x (1 - (closeness/distance))^1.5 x difficulty
Tips
- If a tree or mountain obstructs your aim, try a draw or fade shot to get around it.
- Shooting off the rough sometimes gives your next shot a better vantage point.
- Reduce backspin to help minimize the wind’s effects.
- When you get to the green, study the direction of the dots to read the slope.
- Bounce the ball off the fairway or rough to minimize the ball’s roll onto green.
- Taking a risky path might increase your chances of landing in sand or water.
- There’s no time bonus, so take time to plan your strokes.
- The more backspin you add, the higher your ball will go and less distance the ball will roll..
- Avoid water and out of bounds areas at all costs.
- Use hills to add extra roll and distance to your strokes.