Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters - PS3 - Demo - Review

[Ohio Joe]

I used to love the old T&E Soft golf games on the SNES, Pebble Beach and Waialae were the shit. This guy I hung with back then, John, would come over on Friday nights and I'd cook up a big ass lasagna or some tacos or something good, we would smoke a few fatties, pig out and then play golf till three or four am. It was great because no matter how wasted you got, you could still play. There was just these nice calming noises in the back-round and the sounds of the club hitting the ball or it falling in the cup. Every couple of games we would stop and smoke some more or eat some more... good times :D

When I tried out the PGA games on the PC, I did not enjoy them near as much, I found using the mouse in a swinging motion to be a bit beyond my grasp and I could never get any good at hitting the ball, much much harder then the SNES games. I tried one and never got another.

I got a demo of one of the PGA tour games for my PS2 from somewhere... maybe a magazine... I don't remember but I was wicked psyched because I was hoping to have a nice peaceful game to zone out with. Man.... Was I disappointed. They had this control scheme that tried to mimic the way PC's did it by having you swing and aim using the thumb sticks and again... it was just beyond my grasp so I never bought the game or even checked out any other releases. Not long ago, my buddy John told me that in later editions they allowed you to change the controls so it was much like the old T&E Soft games and I thought... oh fuck, I wish they had more demos back then, I might have given one of them a go. oh well.

So that bring us here today and I have just downloaded the latest Tiger Woods PGA, at a decent sized 1.75gig, which took a long ass time to download... again... WTF... I wonder if something has been changed at PSN that things now seem to take a long ass time to download. I know stuff on my PC and my brothers PC does not take this long... ok, whatever, lets fire this bad boy up and see what we have.

uhhhh... playstation move... do I need one of these things? It should tell you that before you download if you do... In stores 3/29... ok, I decline the terms of EA's bullshit wanting my info so I can only play offline... cool.

My options are "Road to the Masters" and "Quick Play"... ummmm, I'll take "Quick Play"... ehhhh... crap loads of options but I'm diving right in... ahhh, nice, lots of more options to set up the course, I'm going with all of the easy ones, no wind, sunny, etc :D

Nothing yet that tells me how to control this sucker... sheesh, I probably missed it... oh well, onward!

ehhhh... Long load time... huh? Start at the 18th hole? WTF?

OK... I finally figure out the controls and it is the shitty thumb stick crap. I make the green in two, not bad for me but wait... They change how it works for putting.... fuckers.... fuck, four over par on a par 4 after making the green in two... god damn it, I hate this shit, make the fucking controls the same and don't change shit up without telling me douchebags... fuck.

ok, lets try "Road to the Masters" and see if it lets me play more then one hole...

ehhhh... a video on how hard it is to get the green jacket... that it will not let me skip... fuckers.

Back to the 18th, this time I'm Tiger against Kim... Nice, 284 yard drive... Kim does not seem to go, not sure where he is... second shot 161 yards... 19yds for the green jacket... heartbeat sound going on... my controller is vibrating... it's really fucking annoying...oh... if I press the triangle button a few times it reduces my stress for some reason and stops the fucking annoying sounds and vibrations... WTF? It does not me adjust my aim and I'm way off but... I sink it any way? WTF? Was this whole thing a set up? That was stupid....

No other holes to play, it seems the demo is over.

Graphics - The game is beautiful in 1080P, it moves fast and stays sharp, no complaints here.

Game play - I'm not sure I had enough actual game play to determine if I like it or not. Quick play let me do one hole for real but that is just not enough... Is this game just the one course? I have no idea but in this day and age, with blue ray, there should be at least a few courses, if not... well bullshit... but it does not tell you if there is more then the one course. The "road to the Masters" was complete bullshit... ok, I think I legit made the green in two but no fucking way I made that putt, it was completely off... It just fucking gave it to me to play their end video of Tiger winning against Kim... WTF? I want to try play your game to see if I like it, not have it play me.

Controls - ehhhh, I might be able to get used to them if it let me find out instead of just doing it for me. No real clue here.

Fun factor - Beats the shit out of me.

Bottom Line - Fuck.... Biggest waste of a review for me yet. I can't believe they only give you one hole and then rig it... I say if you can't let me play the game then it is probably not worth playing, not even a rental from me.

[lazarus]

1. there are lots of courses

dozens, if it's anything like TW PGA 04 was for the PS2.

I've already preordered this. I stuck with 04 for the longest time, and said repeatedly I would only get a new one if they had Augusta, which they finally added this year. Woot.

The demo sounds like it sucks. FWIW, I found that the thumb control to drive works better if you use your opposite hand to do it. Weird, but it works for me. I seem to recall that you could set it up old school as a button masher, too, but they probably don't do it for the demo. When I get it, I'll post here on whether or not it allows that still.

[JonLP24]

2. Loved Tiger Woods '11

If it is anything like that you use the right joystick to swing. Also in '11 it had these aids(which eventually made the game too easy) where you could see where your put will end up. It will use up the power so on some holes I used it all. If I try to hit blind I'll miss everything. Unless the green is very slow. You had to release the stick in the green area of this vertical bar. Relax though but be careful because if you move the stick left or right during your swing you'll miss. '11 had quite a few courses, I have no doubt 12 will have more.

P.S. - I love the Nevada course Wolf Creek as my favorite. You hit off cliffs and usually downhill on that course, I love it.

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Pebble Beach and Waialae WERE the shit.

Did you ever try the other game they did, Wicked 18? Fictitious course of pure terror but so cool. :)

[Ohio Joe]

4. Yes, I had that one as well

I never played it as much though, it was fun a few times but did not seem to hold my interest as much. It did have a few cool holes, the real long one that had concrete for fairway, heh, hit the ball 40 yards and watch it bounce and roll another 400.

[Forkboy]

5. Console golf games are fun for friends, but suck as simulations.

I'm still playing Jack Nicklaus 6 - Golden Bear Challenge. Great game, great course designer (I've done a couple courses available for download). Links has more playing options, but is dryer than a nun's...well, you figure out the rest of that sentence. :P

Pebble Beach and Waialae were really good for their time. I still toss them on every now with the Zsnes emulator. There was also Wicked 18 using the same engine.

The Tiger Woods games have sucked since 2002 for the PC, imo (that edition was awesome...the courses designed by Steve Opfer rule). When I can regularly hit 200 yard shots into the hole, and make a half dozen 50 foot+ putts per round it sucks.

This is stuff I did a couple years back for JN6. Imo, this game still beats all others.

[lazarus]

6. Okay, I've been playing with it a bit

the tutorials and instructions aren't as clear as they could be. For instance, it mentions you can put spin on the ball, but doesn't tell you how anywhere. I finally remembered it was quickly pressing L1 and using the left stick for direction.

You CAN set it up for three click operation. That's where you hit X three times to hit the ball, instead of using the analog stick. I prefer the stick, but you can go into settings and change it easily.

Putting is getting easier now that I've figured out what I'm doing, but it's harder than on 04. Less forgiving. I'm having a bear of a time doing my short game, as figuring out how to manipulate the stick to hit the ball at 40% or 60% is pure trial and error. I finally figured out how to set up my own shot (you have to use the d pad to move the target circle), and then you can manipulate various elements of the shot, including choking the club (with R3).

I'm enjoying it so far. It's about as frustrating as real golf, which means there's some real payoff, for instance when you finally sink a 30 foot putt.

You can play Road to the Masters, where you start as a rank amateur. You play various amateur events, and gain XP from things like fairway in regulation or green in regulation. You then use XP to increase your skills in various things. Right now, I'm pouring everything into putting, but I'm about to move to short game. Eventually you go to Q school and get your tour card.

The first event is a 9 hole amateur at TPC San Antonio, which my dad is a member of, and where they're having a tourney this weekend.

Oh, and you can do online play with actual PGA events, where you get mixed in with the real life leaderboard, as well as all the online players. There are also daily and weekly challenges online.

Finally, my big complaint. In the 04 edition, you could eventually unlock every item in the pro shop and gain the highest sponsorship level by performance only. As far as I can tell, in 12 you can buy sponsorship levels with real world cash, and I think there is some high level gear you can only get by purchasing it in the real world. That bites. I spent enough on this game (got the special edition for all the extra courses), I don't feel like spending any more. But I probably will. Sigh. I'm a sucker for dlc.

[Ohio Joe]

7. Thats some cool stuff

and of course, some not cool stuff.

The three button mash might get me to pick it up either when it hits the bargain bin or used. I love the concept of being able to play alongside actual PGA events, that really sounds wicked cool.

I hate to sound ignorant but what is Q school?

Some more questions :D

Do they have Muirfield? I used to live in Dublin Ohio, just a few miles from it and went there every year for the Memorial, a freakin awesome course but... of course... I never got to play it but would love to, even if only in simulation :D

How many courses in total do they have? How many more come with the special edition?

How many can you get as DLC so far?

Is there a course designer?

What does buying sponsorship do for you?

[JonLP24]

8. Qualifying School

In real life the PGA Tour holds a Qualifying Tournament and the top 25 golfers get an entry to the PGA Tour. They can skip it by winning multiple events and other things, such as winning the US Open exempts you from going to "Q School" for 10 years.

[lazarus]

9. sponsorship

gets you better gear.

DLC courses:

1.The Els Club (New)
2.Greek Isles (New) (Fantasy Course)
3.Bethpage Black
4.Turnberry
5.TPC Boston
6.TPC Doral
7.Harbour Town
8.Banff Springs
9.Sheshan
10.Oakmont
11.Pinehurst
12.Riviera
13.Hazeltine
14.Wolf Creek
15.Torrey Pines
16.Blackwolf Run
17.Spyglass Hill
18.Predator (Fantasy Course)
19.Highlands (Fantasy Course)
20.Emerald Dragon (Fantasy Course)

A few of these came with the Special Edition.

Full course list here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Woods_PGA_Tour_12

Not sure about a course designer.

[Ohio Joe]

10. OK, I broke down and bought this

They had it on sale at Kmart for 39.99 (42.08 with tax) and thats for the version with the extra 14 courses and some other crap. I laughed my ass off at the PSMove warning screen that shows the guy knocking over a lamp while at the same time hitting someone in the head with the controler... just too damn funny. It downloaded the 1.01 patch no problem, as well as the trophies but of course after that I can't get into PSN.

Well, it's off to the links :D

[Ohio Joe]

11. I've been messing with this

I jumped in and just did some play before starting my career. I started using the three button set up but either my reflexes have slowed waaaaaay down or this is much faster then what I remember, heh, it was not pretty. I decided to see if using the stick was any better and it was not... until I realized I was doing it all wrong. I assumed the speed I moved the stick translated to the power of the swing... yeah, no, it does not work that way :D I eventually figured out that I can move the stick in a slow and smooth manner and that the longer I waited before my forward movement would translate into power... much easier. I can now hit FIR on almost every shot and even GIR most of the time (in the first career round I did 5 FIR and 8 GIR). The short game is tough, as was said earlier (Lazarus, I think) getting 40% on a swing takes work. Putting is not bad... of course not great either.

I started my career and finished the first 9 hole round in first, going +1 and I'm now sitting here trying to decide what to improve on my character. Since I'm OK with everything but my short game for now, I think I'm going to put everything into putting for now.

To go off topic a bit for a moment... I fucking hate that Nationwide is in the game. That company was such a great place to work until the bankers took over the top spots and destroyed the place... fuckers. I do kind of wish I could be there at the end of 2012 when their systems get crushed by the Y2K bug :D Back in the 90's when we "fixed" their systems they went the cheap route and did a logical expansion instead of a physical expansion. They also insisted on a 12 year window... and for the routine to be written in assembler... and for the module to be a static link... and there is no one left there that has any idea what we did or why. They have many months of work to do to fix it and no one there even knows they are going to get hit with it... ahhh, good times to come :D

[JonLP24]

12. Does the game still have the aids?

Like "spin ball" which I never used but I almost always used the "putt preview"? Does it have that? It has been a few months since I play '11 but after buying clothes and bumping up my player's skill that game became very easy(on most courses). I could of bumped it up to the highest level which would of turned it off but I was afraid of going forward without "putt preview". On greens that are really fast it would be ugly.

What you describe about the stick is exactly how I remember. Slow and smooth, especially on putts. I remember it didn't take long to get a hang on the percentage of power. However, '12 could be very different. I'm kinda asking about the game and see if it is very similar and try to help you because if it is, I became really good on '11. :)

[Ohio Joe]

13. Well...

I've not seen anything called "spin ball", I'm not sure what that is.

Putt preview is available except on the highest difficulty level, it goes away for that. Leveling up your player seems easy at first but by 40% on a given stat it starts costing a lot of exp points, so I can see that it will be hard to get everything up real high. Getting the correct percentage is becomes easier with practice but the more I drink the easier it is to be off by 10% or more and that can really screw up a shot, heh.

I'm also a little fuzzy on why they have clothes give you stat bonus but whatever... They have lots of cool things to wear though I do not like the idea of being able to buy (with real world money) stuff that gives big bonus's... That just seems lame.

[lazarus]

14. to spin a ball

it took me a while to remember back to when I used to play '04, but I finally got it.

Press L1 repeatedly (as fast as you can for more spin), and use the left analog stick to determine direction.

I play weird. I use my right hand on the left stick to drive/putt/etc., then use my right hand to press L1 quickly, and my left thumb to direct the spin.

Works for me.

I did as you did, poured everything into putting to start off. I leveled everything up a bit, now I'm back to concentrating on putting and chipping.

[Ohio Joe]

15. I tried to do this

First a question - What does this do? Cause the ball to roll in a given direction after landing? Kind of like english in pool?

Now... I tried to get this to work and could not do it... or at least there was no visual way to tell if it was working. I was thinking that the picture of the ball on the left would spin as I hit L1 but...heh, no. I tried doing it off the tee as well as on the fairway with no result either way. Any ideas?

[lazarus]

16. it's exactly like English

and there's a visual, the picture of a ball on the left gets a red arrow (iirc).

Reading up on this, apparently they lock out spin on higher difficulties and in the Masters tournament itself, so I'm going to quit using it and get used to doing it the old fashioned way. :D

[Ohio Joe]

17. OK, this is pissing me off, what am I missing?

Three times now, I have played through and passed Q school and yet it tells me I do not qualify to play the PGA... WTF? It refuses to tell me what I need to do to continue.... Anyone have any ideas? Tell me what the fuck I need to do and I'll do it but cut this shit out of making me guess... I'm really fucking pissed off right now.

[lazarus]

18. patience, grasshopper

:evilgrin:

I haven't gotten there quite yet. I got distracted with Dragon Age: Origins. I'll be moving back to Tiger this week some time.

There are absolutely no walk throughs anywhere online that I can find, which is weird. I'll call my guy at the local Gamestop who's been playing it tomorrow or Monday and ask him, too.

[Ohio Joe]

19. heh, I'm calmer now

I still can't get to the PGA but I am calmer. When I go into "Next Event", it brings up the PGA events and the first one is open, like I should be able to select it. When I try, it just says I have not yet met the requirements. I can't go back to the previous tour, so there is just kind of nothing for me to do. I'm wondering if maybe I need something oonline in order to proceed... I don't know but let me know if you find anything out. Thanks!

[lazarus]

20. that would be weird and frustrating

if you had to be online to qualify. Which means you're hosed until the PSN gets unfucked. Sorry.

I'll go ahead and jump on the golf tomorrow and see how fast I can make it to Q school.

[lazarus]

21. almost made it

I was in Q school. first place by three strokes after 12 holes.

Finished in 35th place. I completely collapsed.

Now I have to go back and do another Nationwide and then Q school again. I'll have something for you tomorrow.

[lazarus]

22. problem solved!

and it's really stupid. You can't play the first event because you don't qualify, because you haven't won a PGA Tour event. So just skip that event. You qualify for the next one easily.

BTW, here's a neat page on maxing out your player's stats:

http://insideblog.easports.com/archive/2011/03/29/how-i-maxed-out-my-created-golfer-in-tiger-woods-pga-tour-12-the-masters.aspx

[JonLP24]

23. I had a feeling that was it

I didn't answer because I didn't play this game but I played '11 and they let you skip events. However '11 didn't have "Q School". You only need so many points so don't have to play all the tournaments they have to qualify for the FedEx Cup.

I wonder what the first even for Woods '12 is? I can't remember the first event for Woods '11 but it seemed like an event a first year golfer wouldn't participate in(even though you can on that game) because it only had 30 or so golfers with no "cut".

[lazarus]

24. I don't remember the first unreachable event

the first event you can play is the Hawaiian Open at Waialae.

[JonLP24]

25. oooo new course

'11 didn't have Hawaii.

Can't wait to buy a new console so I can play Woods '12.

[Ohio Joe]

26. DOH!

You know... I saw that I could do that but I was thinking... That makes no sense, why would they set it up that way, heh. I should have tried because I'm now on my fifth character and I deleted the previous ones so I could use the same name.... DOH! At least I'm getting good at the early courses :D I'm almost done with the Nationwide tour... again, heh

Thats a pretty cool page on the stats. I was already doing the challenges for experience points and to help build up caddy knowledge of the courses, so it's good to know I was at least going in the right direction there :D

[Ohio Joe]

28. Cool, this worked, thanks!

I've decided to go with the full four rounds. I'm on Waialae and finished round 1, 6 under, that putting advice you gave works very nice :D I am also almost done with Silver for the course mastry and I'll tell you, just going to bronze made the caddy advice way better, it is really worth it to keep an eye on the objectives and complete them.

[lazarus]

29. I did 9 under my first round

but finished only 9 under for the 4. I think. Had a rough third round, finished 4 over in 7th place. Was in second 2 strokes back going into Sunday.

I did win, though, but have a complaint. It was a three way tie for first, and I wanted a playoff. :D

I have two goals left to finish silver, which I guess I'll get (hopefully!) next time around.

The caddy advice is really froggy, especially on putts. I've lost track of the number of times I've been told it's a straight shot with no break, when the green clearly is at an angle and the ball moves way over thataway. I've about quit paying attention to it. I'm just trying to figure out how far a foot is side to side. I knew it on '04, but since the grid changes size depending on how you spend your XP, I guess it's not so easy now.

[Ohio Joe]

30. No playoff? That sucks

I'm pretty sure they gave me a playoff on one of the challenges... I don't remember which one though.

The worst caddy advice so far for me has been on Whistling Straights. One every single one of the par three's over water, he sets up the shot to land in the drink and then he'll say "You can make this shot, I have competence in you"... You have what? The first few times I was not sure that was what he said, so I called my brother over and he agrees.

Points right now I am putting all I can into putting, which all require 1k now, so they don't go up much per round and the rest up bring everything else up. This is my current stats:

Power - 31
Accuracy - 25
Control - 36
Putting - 57

I did open up a suit when I finished all requirements for EA that gives me a +3 boost to all stats though which is nice. I snagged it and then dumped them for Cleveland :D

I am really dying for PSN to come back up so I can get my 14 extra courses and also play against real people online.

[lazarus]

31. we'll have to play if PSN

is ever unfucked.

I got everything up to "needs 500 points" level, and the rest into putting. My putting is pretty high right now. I'll get the numbers tomorrow. I needed a break, so I'm playing NCAA Football 11 the rest of the day. I may switch over to Dragon Age: Origins tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get my new mouse soon, and I can abandon all lesser activities and get back to World of Warcraft. :D

[lazarus]

27. found a video that explains putting

at least, part of it.

It breaks down like this. For distance, add or subtract one foot for every inch of elevation (obviously, add if you're going uphill, etc.). Then take off distance according to the speed of the green. For a slow green, take off 10%. Medium green, 20%. Fast green, 30%.

They didn't have much advice on breaks from side to side, just said you'd get used to how much to estimate. I know my putting has suddenly gotten much, much better. I just had 4 eagles in one round.

[lazarus]

32. update

So, I talked to my dad. Apparently, the 18th green at TPC San Antonio, the one with the bunker in the freakin' middle of it, is quite famous, and now there are a couple of other holes like that around the country. He agrees it gives the whole thing a goofy golf feel.

He lives in San Antonio, and has played the TPC there, but only the other course, which is easier.

I'm currently playing TPC Scottsdale (he just told me he's a couple of miles from there this month and next). It's fucking raining in the game, like that ever happens in Scottsdale, AZ.

The greens are classified as "slow", but the video help I got isn't working at all. It said to take off 10% for a slow green. Bullshit. I'm having to nearly double my aim when the ground is level. And there's no bounce at all on drives or chips. I was four under the first day, with good weather. I'm 10 holes through, and only 1 under on the second day, for a total of 5 under.

So far, I've completed the bronze objectives for every course I've played, usually on day one. The silver objectives are hairy, though. Birdie five par fours in one round? Yikes! I did get all but one silver objective on my first course, which I can't remember what it was right now.

I have the Masters coming up in a couple of events, so I thought I'd see about qualifying. You have to either be top 100 in the rankings or pass all the Masters Moments. After my first two tourneys, I'm up to I think #187, so I doubt I'll make it to top 100 that fast.

So I decided to play around with the Moments. You recreated a classic moment from Masters past. You can either Pass it or Master it. You only need to Pass it to qualify. I got the first three fairly quickly.

For instance, one of them is recreating an incredible shot by Tiger. He chipped in from 120 feet to birdie. So, if you chip it in, you Master it. If you get within five feet, you Pass. I can't get within ten feet so far. I guess I need to put some XP in my accuracy now.

I think Mastering all the Moments is going to involve a lot of luck, to be honest.

One thing I've noticed. On one hole, which, iirc, you had to birdie to Pass, eagle to Master, every time I restarted it, the caddie was offering me different shots to start off with. Very strange. I can only assume that's a function of not even passing the bronze level on Augusta yet.

My putting is pretty good right now, except for this slow, soggy crap I'm playing on, so I'm putting XP into accuracy for a while. Try to shrink the circle a bit, I think.

[Ohio Joe]

33. I'm kind of waiting on this right now

I finished Waialae and even managed to take first but since I have not been able to download my free 14 courses, I do not have Sheshan yet and do not want to skip another event.. Soooo, I'm waiting for PSN to come back up and trying not to get my panties in a bunch :D

I've done a few of the masters moments and passed 2 of them but mastering them is wicked hard and some of the later ones look damn near impossible... though someone did it in real life, it must be do-able.

I'm looking forward to getting my ass kicked by you once we can play. I even have a head set now now you can hear every one of my DOH's, heh.

[lazarus]

34. no headset here

I may get one, I just don't play online very much. Actually, I haven't played an online game of any kind since '05, when a buddy and I played NBA 2k5.

I only need an eagle to get my silver qualification on TPC Scottsdale, but I haven't even been close to an eagle yet. I was 8 under for day 3, though.

[Ohio Joe]

35. Battle Golf

So while I'm waiting for the PSNStore to come back up so I can get the rest of the courses and continue with career mode, I've been messing with some of the other play options.

I started one of the live tournaments, the Colonial at East Lake (it is still open for about another day and a half) but... I'm not doing very well, probably won't make the cut. There are also a ton of daily and weekly events but I really need to level up my golfer before I can really compete.

I figured out that you still level up your golfer as well as your caddy when playing Quick Play mode, not just in Road to the Masters. It's a good way to get your course skill up for better starting shots. I have like 8 courses to silver now.

Anyway... to Battle Golf. This is a two player mode that I've been doing against various pro's and it's a laugh riot :D The idea is that if you win a hole you can either take a club away from your opponent or if you are missing a club, you can put one back in your bag. The only club you can't take is the putter. I like to do this with the Random 18 course option (random 18 holes from all of your courses) and the "Live Weather" option on (it gets the local weather for the course and uses it), makes for awesome variety. It's funny as hell when you have your opponent teeing off with a 7 iron on a par 5... of course not nearly as amusing when it's you hitting that 7 iron on the par 5. I really wish they allowed four player in this mode. Great fun though for a quick and dirty game.

Still no holes in one and still no double eagles :(

[lazarus]

36. yeah, that's hilarious

I played a battle golf sponsor's challenge, it was a riot.

Still no aces or double eagles here. Hell, eagles are hard to come by this time around.

[Ohio Joe]

37. ohhhh and I'm such a liar

I just fired up the game and realized I put in here that I have 8 courses at silver and really meant bronze... heh, oops :D

[lazarus]

38. I've got one silver

that's waiting on an Eagle to be gold. Can't remember the course (I think it's in Atlanta), but I know an eagle seems impossible there.

I talked to my dad, who's a big golf fan (and player), and he says double eagles are much rarer than holes in one. He's gotten one ace in his career, and a few eagles, but never a double eagle. Those tend to be pure luck.

Edit: It's not the Atlanta course, as I'm playing it now (East Lake GC).

Just got my first ace on #6. Didn't move it from the caddy suggestion, but I was supposed to hit at 95% and hit 100. I thought it was going to shoot over and hit the water (it's sort of an island green), but it fell short and bounced twice, then into the hole.

:D

I just moved my difficulty up, as I'm walking away with this tourney. Helped that I started with 9 under on the opening day. Followed that up with 3 under, iirc. Through six on day three, I'm 8 strokes over second place, so I need to boost the difficulty. Plus, it'll give me more XP. The only drawback is I lose spin and power boost, but I wasn't using those anyway. I save my focus for two things: putt preview, and to get the bar back when pressure hits on a big putt.

[Ohio Joe]

39. Focus

I got tired of waiting for the PSNstore to come up and skipped Sheshan and went on to Scottsdale. I had also by this point completed EA sponsorship and gone on to Cleveland Golf as my sponsor. On either the first or second round, after I completed the sponsor challenge, I got a new pro-shop item... Cool yellow grips that give +1 to focus regeneration. I took them because I thought they looked cool but holy crap! They now give you tons of focus. I use focus mainly for shooting, though I should start trying it for put preview. Focus is not exactly unlimited but it regenerates a ton more then it did before.

I now have a silver for Waialae and only need a 25 foot putt on Scottsdale to complete silver. Still no golds but I'm close to a bunch more silvers. Still no aces but I've been playing a lot on Augusta Par Three looking for one :D

[Ohio Joe]

40. I'm number 7730!

Yeah... not so good :D

I played in a few online tournaments last night in the daily match ups. The first was an amateur match and played without focus but holy shit... The caddy was suddenly god on the green (I'm using my character, not Tiger) with a tiny window that hit 16 out of 18 times on the first shot and the two missed were because my power was wrong. I played 14 under and was ranked 965 out of 1055 who had entered the tourny... There were people with 38 under scores.... unreal. The second tournament I entered was another amateur but this time I realized I could use focus around the third hole. I decided that since I had ignored focus and was doing really bad, I would start over... It was then I found out these are single entry only games, if you quit or complete them you cannot try again... oh well :D Then I decided to try an Ace tournament, thinking it meant you were trying for aces... No. It has you play without anything, no shot circle, no meter, nothing at all, you have to go completely by your characters visual cues and guess the meter on all shots. I finished 24 over and was not that disappointed, the leaders were in the -3 to -6 and the bottom was +60-+65, so not too bad. My last game said it was pro level but focus seemed to get eaten up wicked fast, faster then when before I got any boost to it, so I'm not sure there. It was the Augusta Par 3 and only 22 people had entered, I finished up in 5th which I was pretty happy with.

There are a crap load of game types and they could really do a better job explaining the various rules for each tourney but it was still a lot of fun. Aside from being ranked 7730, I also seem to have earned $40k. I'm not sure what, if anything I can do with it but... I got that going for me :D

[Ohio Joe]

41. Eagle Pack

With the store back up, I decided to go for the Eagle Pack, which includes:

The Els Club
Banff Springs
Emerald Dragon (fantasy)
Sheshan
Oakmont CC
Pinehurst #2
Riviera CC
Hazeltine
Wolf Creek
Torrey Pines
Blackwolf Run - River course
Spyglass Hill
Greek Isles (fantasy)

A good amount of courses for $34.99

At some point I'll probably get the Birdie Pack ($14.99) as well, that one has:

Harbour Town
The Predator (fantasy)
Highlands (fantasy)
TPC Blue Monster at Doral
TPC Boston

It also looks like there is one course ($3.99) available and I expect more on the way to build an Ace Pack or some such:

Turnberry Resort

I'm such a sucker for this shit, I hate it :D

[JonLP24]

42. No Wolf Creek on the disc?

If so... :cry:

Wolf Creek was my favorite course on Woods '11 and it came on the disc.

[Ohio Joe]

43. No, you have to get the eagle pack

I played it though and it is an excellent course.

[Ohio Joe]

44. Some more bits

Masters Moments - Man... These are hard. There are two levels of finishing each one, "Pass" and "Master". Pass, is if you come close ("close" varies from challenge to challenge but they tell you what you need to do) and master, is equaling whatever the "moment" was. So far, I've mastered one and Passed three others.

Sponsors - Each Sponsor, of which there are 6 (EA, Cleveland Golf, Taylor made, Ping, Callaway and Nike) has four levels. To go up a level you need to complete a number (3-5) of sponsor challenges listed in the "sponsor screen", not to be confused with the sponsor challenges at the start of each tournament (these unlock other items in the pro shop). These challenges are are completed by playing rounds in My Career and can be anything from - Chip in from 100yds or more with a Ping iron to equipping "X" number of sponsor items and playing a round. By the time I got to Ping, I realized that you could complete a challenge even if you cannot see it yet. Right now I'm on Ping level 2 but I've gotten messages that I've completed Ping level three challenges. After getting to level 4, you have technically completed that sponsor but if you want the Trophy, play one major tournament at level 4. Keep an eye on what you need to do to complete your current level of sponsorship, especially for things like "Play a major with "X" sponsor's clubs" so you do it when the time comes.

Course Mastery - With the Eagle Pack I bought, I have a total of 29 courses, of these I now have 1 gold, 12 silver and 11 bronze. I've mostly been playing on-line lately (I'll get to that) and career mode. Bronze is pretty easy to get to and can often be done in a round. Silver is a lot harder but in career, I usually get it in a four round tournament. Gold is really really hard, the only course so far I have it on is Royal Melbourne but I'm am close on three or four others and hope to get them in year 2 of career mode.

Skills - I've maxed out putting points in "my Skills" and it was easier them I thought it was going to be. I've played in 16 of the 25 total events in a year (skipping two so far) and playing them at four round per tournament, I've already maxed out. My skills can still be improved a bit with items from the pro-shop and will all be at 100% when I get the high end suits and unlock the proto-type clubs but there is little more to go and the difference will not be much I don't think.

Stats - I'm doing pretty good as far as I'm concerned :)

Average Score - 63.4
Average Putts - 1.6
Driving Average - 283yds
Longest Drive - 362yds
Driving Accuracy - 78%
Greens in Regulation - 82%
Longest Putt 82ft
Holes in one - 2
Double Eagle - 1
Eagles - 119
Birdies - 1483
Pars - 1770
Bogeys - 297
Double Bogeys - 64

Currently ranked 18 on the EA sports leader board - This is your ranking only against computer players.

Online - There are a crap-load of ways to play online. I like to do the Live Tournaments. This mode is really single player except that your score goes on a leader board against other players. So you have the thrill of your score going up against others without the assholes ruining your game.

There are a bunch of different tournaments to select from in Live Tournaments:

2011 Masters - This will open during the actual Masters.

Historic Masters - Not sure, this has never opened.

Daily - These tournaments are one round and have a 24 hour life time limit to play. Only one submission allowed, so if you quit, you are done. There are a fuck load of different types and to be honest, I've not figured them out but in general, the easier the "shot label" in the title, the easier the tournament. For instance, a "Par Open Amateur" will be far easier then an "Ace open Tour Pro". Do not be afraid to play the much harder tournaments though, it is true you may well suck ass and end up with a +25 to +30 for the round but still end up with a high ranking because so few people play. Last night I played a "Tour Pro" round on Celtic Manor and finished with a +22, leaving me in 8th place with a 34k "money" prize (total money determines your rank overall). I finished 8th out of 8 but still got money on a shitty round. I've played others where I've done -16 on a round and finished 450 out of 900 and got nothing. Money moves you up the ranks, good play does not always do so. So, check out not only "can I do decent here" but also look for "how many players". I have been awarded money in as high a place as 160 but I came in 202nd place once and got nothing, so money ends somewhere around there (I can't find the rules that say where it ends). Another big benefit of playing tougher rounds is that it is the best way to learn putting without any aids (shot meter, shot circle). Being mediocre without aids makes you almost expert with them and that enables you to do even better on the easier tournaments and maybe get money on tournaments with lots of players (the more players, the more money you will get if you get any).

Daily Tiers - Pretty much the same as daily but your Rank determines which tier level you can enter, anything you cannot enter is locked so it is easy to see what you can play and what you can't.

Weekly - Again, much like the daily except this is a four round tournament and you have a week to complete it. It starts late Sunday night/early Monday morning and goes the whole week. There are also many tournaments to choose from at different difficulty levels. I like to wait until Friday or Saturday to enter so I have a good idea on how many players are in a given tournament. If I'm going to have a few hours to play, I'll wait until Sunday.

Play the Pros - I love these as they are an easy way to get money. You are not playing against other online players but rather the pros at that weeks tournament. It is four rounds and starts Thursday and ends Sunday. The pro scores are what they actually score on that given day and the course is the real course if it is available for the game, otherwise the pick a different course and just post the pro scores. If you do not have the course, you cannot play that week.

All money goes to-wards your ranking on the same leader board. I've not seen it reset, so I expect it resets at the end of the golf season... Anyone know when that is? Currently I am ranked 1258th with 2.9 million - First place is 153.9 million and 100th place is 39.5 million. Unfortunately, you can only look at the top 100... I would like to be able to view those around me.

Putting - From playing in very hard tournaments, I have figured out some of putting. When going up hill, move the "shot pointer" two squares back for each foot going up hill. Down hill is a little trickier and I break it into three type of down hill:

Down at the start and then flat
Flat and then down at the end
Down all the way

For the first two, I follow the opposite of going up hill, move the shot pointer two squares closer for each foot. For the last I move it about 1.5 to 1.75 squares closer for each foot depending on the length of the shot, the closer the shot, the closer I move it to me.

Break is tough and I just eyeball it, I don't think I could describe it in words as there are so many different speeds the ball can break at. It is something you get the hang of though. If you have a "shot circle", you will almost always be very close if not in by placing the shot pointer dead center at the edge closest to you and giving it just a very small amount on the power meter over what is recommended. On occasion, it is far off but you can usually see it easily so don't just do it blindly.

whew... That was a lot :D

[Ohio Joe]

45. What playing the harder online games can get you

Yesterday I played four of the "Live" games and scored great in one of them and crappy in three of them... What did it get me?

The Greenbriar - Easy - -18 - 375/743 - $0 - Thats what I got for playing an easy game. Shit.

Emerald Dragon - Medium - -2 - 61/62 - $68.508 - Not bad
TPC at Sawgrass - Hard - -1 - 160/184 - $120,322 - Nice
Atlanta Athletic Club - Medium - -7 - 104/172 - $194,499 - Sweet :D

Having a great round on easy difficulty got me squat while having so-so rounds on harder difficulties got me some good scoring.

Also, always go for the "Play the Pros", it appears not many people are doing it. You can play two rounds each week (medium and hard usually) and pick up some good scoring where almost no one else is. I'm currently ranked 211th in "Play the Pros" and expect to get into the top 100 next week (assuming I have the course... Not sure which one it is this week yet).

[lazarus]

46. what do dollars do for you?

I haven't played in a while, is that how you buy new gear?

[Ohio Joe]

47. No

As far as I can tell, they are just a way of keeping score. You only get them for the "Live" tournaments (Daily, Daily Tiers, Weekly and Play the Pros). Anything played in any of the other on-line modes (Gamernet or Matchmaking) have their own scoring. Matchmaking uses straight up wins and losses and a leveling system (that I do not understand yet but better stats equals better level). Gamernet is challenges people put up when they make a good shot in any other mode (hit R2 and it gives you the option to post a shot to gamernet), you must equal or better the shot to get points. The harder the shot (or round) the more points you get and they keep a leader board for total points.

All of this is just world wide ranking though and you get nothing but bragging rights I guess.

Speaking of... I just broke into the top 1000 in live tournaments this morning :D I'm #953 with $5.167mil, heh.

[Ohio Joe]

48. On Course Mastery

I thought it was my imagination for a while but it's not. The better your mastery on a given course, the more your caddy sucks. In real life, I would not only have fired this asshole by now but probably killed him with my 9 iron... Yes, he sucks that bad. By the time you get to gold mastery he is consistently off with the angle and the speed so much that the shot circle is almost useless, at least three times per round your putt does not even lie within the circle. On top of that, every fucking time you have a hard shot, he does not even offer advice any more... 60 feet away while putting on the side of mount Vesuvious... Fuck you, I don't give a shit, you don't even get shitty advice much less what the game says it will be giving you.... Fuck you, we the game "designers" have spoken.

I don't know if this shit is just a serious bug that they don't want to fix or it is by design but I would much prefer if you did not tell me the rules at all rather then out right lie to me about them... Douchebags.

[Ohio Joe]

49. People who kicked my ass

Getting a loss is not the worst thing that can happen. The following people beat me fair and square and then sent a good game message to me... and also got one back.

navburn: wp tuvem

I had to look this up on the intetubes - Well played. Thank you very much.

This was a four player game that one person dis-connected from after a few holes. navburn had me after I fucked up on the fifth hole and chased him for the rest of 18 but never caught him. A lot of fun here.

DARKHELMET1212: gg wp

Good Game, Well Played

yeah... I had to look that one up as well :D

This guy beat my ass on another close game that I fucked up on... He did not fuck up.. heh

Tngolfgod : gg

Good Game.

Now on my friends list, another one who kicked my ass fair and square.

Getting a loss is OK, it is the player that is as tense as you are and having as much fun as you are that counts.

Thank you all!

[Ohio Joe]

50. More

You know... I'm enjoying getting beat by people that are not douchebags and appreciate a good game :D

Hottdamn1979
Tim_M_1980
DARKHELMET1212

DARKHELMET1212 beat me twice now and both times sent a thank you message because it was close. A lot of people that appreciate a good game here, no reason to shy away from on-line play :D

[Ohio Joe]

51. Some more random tips

Live tournaments - I'm up to just over 600th place now and the last week or so has been a big jump, up from over 800th place. I stopped trying to do the easiest tournament of the day... For several reasons. First, I can get up around -16 to -18 on it but still never get in the money, too many people scoring -22 to -29... It's sick. Second, the time... Why bother to play an easy round that gets me nothing rather then a hard round that gets me 60-90k. Few people play the rest of the tournaments though. The Ace tournament (the hardest, no shot circle or meter) usually only gets 30 to 50 people play, so I just rush through it, I really do not even try and can bang it out in about 15 minutes. Even if I come in last (and I am often ahead of ten or so people), I still get 150k to 175k for the round, very good. The rest of the tournaments get me anywhere from 200k - 600k. Add in the weekly tournaments and the play the pro's tournaments and I am now really racking up bucks :D

Putting - A few things on putting. Some of these may seem like common sense but really help when you always keep them in mind. Always check your hands on anything but a short putt to make sure your thumb is going to be going straight up and down. It sucks to line up a long putt and then blow it because you move the stick off. Speed - The harder (over the recommended power) you hit a putt, the less the break effects it. Break - The closer a break is to you, the greater the effect it will have on the putt, the further away it is, the less it has. On normal putts, this is easy to deal with but is really good to keep in mind when you have putts that break first one way, then another, remember the first break will have the greater impact.

Career - The first year, it worked out really well to have four rounds per tournament. It allowed me to level up my golfer to max (barring equipment) and take first from Tiger. It becomes a real slog after that though as you try to finish getting your sponsor objectives finished. so after you finish your first year, it will offer you the chance to change how many rounds per tournament, change it to 1. As you advance through sponsors and change equipment, remember to adjust your stats so that everything is as high as it can be, if something is over 100, it still reads 100 so lower it one notch to check. You are refunded all points when you lower it, so it costs nothing to check. Also, be sure you have the right item equipped to complete a challenge. A sponsor may want you to do something specific with their brand of club and if you do not have it equipped, you will never complete the challenge, check each time you advance a level or take on a new sponsor. You really want to get through the sponsor challenges in order to have the best equipment... I'm almost there :D

[Ohio Joe]

52. Hitting the Wall

I have been working on moving up in the Live Tournaments and I seem to have really hit the wall unless I want to invest a ton of time. I've been doing 2-3 dailys and 2 tiers every day for weeks now... Plus, both Play the pro's (another 8 rounds a week) and at least 2 of the weeklys (yet another 8 rounds). Thats a fuck load of golf. I'm up in the 170's for overall, which is not bad but at the rate I'm going, I am just maintaining my rank. To keep upward movement, I would have to up my play to include all daily's, every day (another 2-4 rounds per day) and also do all of the weekly's (another 3 tournaments or 12 more rounds a week).

I just can't do it. Especially with the number of people "cheating" in the game. I put that in quotes because my brother and I disagree on if they are cheating or not. Seems you can get a modded controller so you can turn of all left to right movement on the swing stick, giving you a perfect straight hit every time. Never mess up a shot, must be nice. I consider it cheating when used in ranked play.

I got far enough through single player to get the hammerhead prototype equipment and max out my character, which was nice. I've also figured out how to use overdrive to add extra power to my shots... That was very nice as it allowed me to get that extra yardage I needed to have a chance at eagle on those wicked long par 5's and short par 4's. The instructions are a bit off on how to use it. They tell you to tap "X" on your drive... What they do not tell you is that you have to start tapping just as you start your swing or it does not work.

Anyway... I'll be cutting back to just a few rounds a week and maybe one or two weeklys and just do the hardest ones to maximize money intake and see if I can hold where I am. I wonder if they ever re-set the rankings? Anyone know if they did that on older versions?

[lazarus]

53. yeah, that's cheating

perfect shots every time? Cheating.

I don't mind unusual controllers. I use a Logitech G-13 gamepad to play world of warcraft. Just does the same thing as a keyboard, only with a better layout.

I've been so into WoW I haven't played golf in months. I need to put it back in the PS3 and go at it again, see if I can get up to your level so we can play some. I finally got a good headset, so chatting will be easier.

Never did any online play, so i dunno if they reset the rankings at all.