Game Is Too Easy

First I'd say that whatever changes they would make to make the game harder should be configurable by the user.  Everything should be able to be turned on/off in order to let people play the way they want to play.  Some people love arcade golf. Some people like sims.  Lets not restrict anyone.

All that said.  The game is too easy (unless you turn off wind/elevation/putting beads and or grids).  I personally don't like turning these things off.  If I'm outdoors I can use a range finder to tell me what the elevation plays like.  I can use the feeling of the wind against my face, the flag flapping, and throwing blades of grass to tell me if its a 1 club wind, a 2 club wind,etc. Outdoors I can actually tell what direction a green breaks (more power to you guys who turn the grids and beads off, but I can't tell which way anything wil move unless its an extreme movment).

For me Tee to Green is solvable with a few items (that could be ignored in arcade mode.)

1.  Distance needs to be reduced across the board by probably 25% or more.  You can put power to 5 out of 10 on your golfer and have an average driving distance longer than Rory.   This allows you to stack all your points in other areas of the game.  By requiring significantly more points in power to still achieve ~315 yard average drives, one would have to sacrifice approach accuracy.  The alternative is hitting more long irons into long par 4s and maybe not reaching all par 5s in 2.

2.  Even if #1 is implemented,  I feel dispersion circles are too tight even at lower point levels for most non-wedge clubs.  I'd increase dispersion circles across the board.   For the driver I'd bump by at least 50% (keep in mind the average PGA tour pro is only hitting around 47% of fairrways, not 80% or 90%).   Woods/Hybrids/long irons could probably use a 30% increase.  With mid irons around 20%.

3.  Hack needs to have required points reallocated given the giant benefit it conveys.  I think unlocking this shot should require being specced into approach recovery of  8 with subsequent levels of at 9/10.  I'd likewise increase the power requirments for silver/gold by one each.

4. All types of rough/sand/dirt need to have significantly increased penalties for both distance, dispersion, and where I feel they are really lacking... SPIN.  The ball physics overall seem decent for the game when its a fairway shot.  Everything coming out of bad lies just has way too much spin though.  We shouldn't be able to hit from rough behind a severly downhill sloped green and stop the ball on a dime with a flop shot .

5.  Stop spec escalation at around 300 points max.   I can see where were headed with the Tony Finau stuff, and its not a good direction.   Not even Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus were perfect in every facet of the game, so lets not head there.  It's best if people choose a strength and weakness vs having everything be a strength.

Putting?  Not sure how to make that harder, but I don't see it as nearly as big as a problem as tee to green.  I miss pelnty of 10-20 footers in this game.  The main problem is my average approach is at like 9 feet.....

I agree thd game is far too easy and that giving people the opinion to define their environment is important. As you said not all of us want a challenge, some like shooting 20 under par.

I'm in favour of the ability to turn off wind, percentage loss due thd lie and elevation. Like you the green grid I don't feel is well represented in a 2D environment, so I leave it enabled.

Wind could be remedied with an animation of throwing some grass in the air, it would provide a sense of direction and speed. Being able to zoom into the ball to see your lie I believe would be an improvement. Rather than being given a hard number you would need to determine it yourself... and with the addition of how the grass is lying or how plugged the ball is..  decide if a flyer is possible or whether you can spin the ball out of the bunker.

While I understand the use of a range finder, they are not permitted in the PGA as far as I know, and caddies are basing yardage on their experience. And it is not an exact number they are providing.

I think the game is too easy acrosd the board, and the short game is more important than the long or mid. Putting is a huge part of the game.

1. I'm okay with the distances, as you are choosing to add more power to your character through skill points. Though I would like the option to create a noncompetitive character that plays to my own personal yardages.

2. I think the dispersion zones are fine for the mid/short game but need to be tightened up for the longer clubs. In my opinion the issue is with the game mechanics. I like that tempo only affects distance control... but a perfectly straight swing should be 1 pixel wide..  and deviate from their. The swing path should be the main parameter deciding where the ball ends up, with dispersion being a secondary one.

3. I have no dog in this fight.

4. Totally agree, the ball mechanics are terrible in this game. Ball reaction from the rough is not realistic. You should not get as much spin from the rough, and certainly not from deep rough where the grass gets between the ball and grooves of the club. Same with plugged lies in the bunkers... though without seeing the lie I don't know how you know you have a plugged lie.

5. To late to fix leveling... but I agree it should have been better implemented. You shouldn't be able to cap out in a few weeks. And even worse there was no thought as to what benefit XP points would be after maxing out.

As mentioned earlier PUTTING is an important part of the game. The current model is much too easy. I would like to see the removal of the reticule for those that want it. And putting in place a putting model based of length speed of the back swing determing the distance the ball rolls like IRL. 

Doing this with the regular swing would improve realism as well. Since you couldn't just place the reticule where you want thd ball to go. You would need to hit partial swings from a known distance of a fullswing. 

Where adjustments would be based off swing length, speed and loft.

Also the green speeds are much too slow... the ball stops much to quickly even at the highest levels. The ball needs to roll out more so judging distances on the green are more challenging. And again tightening the swing path will make putting a lot more challenging, especially when you are under pressure. A slight push for anything under 5 feet will probably be a miss now.

Again I would make this an option only for those needing more of a challenge than the game offers now.

For me, this game, right now, is perfect for me for scoring.  I'm always hovering around par, and have an occasional good round.

The only aide I use is elevation.  I use the hardest swing and normal putting.

The other big deal with difficulty is to not go crazy on player golf attributes or specs.  I play with about 6 ticks on driving distance, and no ticks on driving accuracy or control.  On the recovery sections I have no ticks, and about 6 ticks each for accuracy and control.  I've made it a point to make sure that I have only a silver on Finesse, and only use that attribute when it comes up as the default type (I think with only degree wedges, which seems to be the most realistic way to use them the Finesse.)

I do not use the Flop type at all.  And I'm about to outlaw the pick shot, too.  

It would be nice (and fanciful) if we could have a section where we could select what attributes and spec types will be allowed, before teeing off.

I can get a straight-planned swing probably about 65-70% of the time.  If users are getting a straight plane all the time, then it's time for a new controller.  

I do think that for the most part if you start a new player, add a little to the distances (driving, and a spec, say, for all clubs) and play without! aids (or add nothing and play on the Red tees), then that might not be considered too easy.

But once this happens and the old random element returns, then no one will be happy.  

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@MadTiger64 wrote:
@blue4eva77Yes, that true. However, we don't know the exact wind speed because it varies. Like 8-12 MPH. The elevation is good to know because how else are you going to be able to tell. As for the blue ark, I don't use that either because it makes it to easy. I agree with you though.

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You should be able to turn all the aids off in the game. The game is currently far too easy and will be the death of it. They seem to have designed the game for the casual player, and I think it has become pretty clear that anyone with any understanding of golf is posting ridiculously low scores on a regular basis.

As far as knowing the elevation difference... use your eyes like in real life. This is how we play both EA and 2K... just take your best guess. It adds a randomness to the game that improves the experience in my opinion.

Being able to dail-in every yardage in a math equation takes away a lot of the fun and challenge in the game. Not that there is much challenge in this one.