We have a new contributor, Steve, take a look at the first part of our two part series on The Golf Club by HB Studios. The 0.9 Early access version.

http://thegolfclubgame.com/

2014 is a great year for a new golf game to enter the arena. EA Sports has dropped Tiger Woods from their golf game as they prepare to release PGA Tour 15 next Spring on PS4 and XBox One. HB Studios is taking advantage of this fact and is releasing their new golf game titled The Golf Club this summer for the next-gen consoles as well as the PC. It’s unfortunate that the Wii U is left off the list as Wii games have always been fun to play individually and with your family with such games as Wii Sports Club.

Let’s dive in and get started. The first thing we need to do is select the course we want to play. HB Studios has included some robust filtering on their course browser screen allowing you to find your favorite courses as well as the custom courses created by your friends. I personally love desert courses so I’m going to select a course. The first thing you notice aside from gorgeous graphics is the lack of a power bar which has been standard for most golf games. HB Studios instead has you use the controller to swing your club. Pull back on the right stick for your backswing and push it forward to complete your swing. This new swing mechanic does take a little time to figure out, but I prefer it over the typical 2 or 3 click method. You get a better sense of how your swing feels. Over on the bottom right you see your swing path and the percentage of power applied to the shot. Reaching 100% power isn’t too difficult but as you can see, getting that perfect swing pane isn’t quite as easy.