My love affair with golf games was sparked by the release of Microsoft Golf back in 1992. Our computer had two games – Wolfenstein 3D and Microsoft Golf. I played a hell of a lot of golf on that 386.
Flash forward through time, Tiger Woods dominating the video gaming world of golf (I played a crazy amount during college), later replaced by Rory McIlroy with his own title (which I poured hours into – was too easy a game), and we arrive at August 2020.
This month sees the release of 2K’s PGA TOUR 2K21 and it looks an absolute peach.
The kicker – for me at least – is the included course designer, which should turn out to be an absolute dream for golf nerds and those who’ve always wanted to bring their local courses to life.
From the trailer above, the sky looks to be pretty much the limit as you build the course of your dreams.
There are already 15 officially licensed TPC courses in the game (hello 17th at TPC Sawgrass), but making your own mark should be mighty craic. As it’s being sold “if you can dream it, you can build it with the PGA TOUR 2K21 Course Designer”.
The trailer lets you get carried away – add a few lighthouses, boats, rabbits all over the green, crazy bunker mazes and more – but if the tools stack up, there’s some real potential there for fan-made courses and resources given you can publish and share them once you’re done.
While I’ve been more accustomed to golfing on the PS4 for years, the designer element might have me hunting for the PC version when it drops via Steam later this month.
Note: Course Designer will not be available for Nintendo Switch at launch. The game releases on 21 August on all platforms.