The Best Fantasy Courses in PGA Tour 2K21

[ChaseB]

Even though PGA Tour 2K21 has established a reputation for realism dating back to when...

Written By: Kevin Scott

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[MrArlingtonBeach]

I'd also recommend the Star Wars courses (I think there are more than one, but "The Story of Endor" is really well done) and the Hogwarts course, too.

While I like realistic courses more than the fantasy ones, there are some really cool tracks out there that really show of the creativity of folks in the design community.

[baconbits11]

The course creator is exactly the thing 2K can use to compete with EA's upcoming Golf game. Make all created courses playable in a career and there you go.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Quote: Originally Posted by baconbits11

The course creator is exactly the thing 2K can use to compete with EA's upcoming Golf game. Make all created courses playable in a career and there you go.

The issue with that is, apparently, the PGA Tour won't let that happen. Getting the PGA Tour license meant that 2K21 had to release without Solo Societies, which was basically a way you could build a customized career mode in previous The Golf Club games. You could rename the AI players and customize their skill, add in whatever courses you wanted to the schedule, and name the events whatever you wanted.

As soon as 2K/HB went all-in on the PGA Tour side of things, Solo Societies were given the boot. And I understand why, but I feel that's a major reason 2K should actually drop the official PGA Tour licensing and embrace the customization side of things - especially after seeing how little they apparently care about creating a working, immersive PGA Tour career mode.

[scagwi]

Agree with above

2K/HB would be smart to punt on PGA side of things and go back to allowing users to customize all things.

Based upon what's already announced by EA re: PGA stuff and what we likely know is coming in terms of visuals...It's not going to go well if 2k tries to compete on the PGA side of things unless they massively up their spending and completely overhaul things from a technical standpoint.

That takes a very expensive long game approach to this and it's unclear if 2k are up for that.

It's also very unclear if HB staff is even capable of doing the build that's needed here.
See: "leaderboards"

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Off the rails but if you can't use the pros the pros really look very little like their real life counterparts and they all swing like a 15 handicapper what is the point?

Get a new engine and drop the PGA license it is a hinderance to the game.

[jbd345]

Quote: Originally Posted by lowpaiddonkey10

Off the rails but if you can't use the pros the pros really look very little like their real life counterparts and they all swing like a 15 handicapper what is the point? Get a new engine and drop the PGA license it is a hinderance to the game.

Why post if it’s off the rails? They still have the license which isn’t going anywhere. People saying 2k has to drop the license is laughable. We have zero info on the next installment other than Tiger signing.

[MrArlingtonBeach]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbd345

Why post if it’s off the rails? They still have the license which isn’t going anywhere. People saying 2k has to drop the license is laughable. We have zero info on the next installment other than Tiger signing.

I am sure the license isn't going anywhere, but, from my cheap seat view, having the PGA Tour license is actually taking away from the fantasy/custom course aspect that The Golf Club was built on.

When TGC 1 and 2 came out, it was all about creating courses and building societies that allowed you to play these user designed tracks. That has lessened dramatically since TGC 2019 came out, which was when 2K started getting involved and the PGA Tour license came into the picture.

Since that happened, Solo Society was removed, and you need to play the bugged PGA Tour career mode for a solo offline experience. This mode does not allow you to put any of the fantasy courses in your solo career, so you're stuck playing the "official" courses HB added in from previous TGC games, and you can't switch them out for newer ones that really use the designer to the fullest.

So I think, to me, the idea is that these fantasy courses are getting the short end of the deal because 2K has leaned more into the PGA Tour license, while limiting the use and purpose of fantasy courses like the ones in this OS article.

Granted, I know the PGA Tour branding reaches a broader audience, and adds a bit more realism. I don't expect them to drop the PGA Tour after selling 2M copies of their game that went more all-in on PGA Tour licensing. But to see them drop the ball on career mode, which replaced the Solo Societies that allowed you to play any courses you wanted in a customized career mode, makes me wish the PGA Tour licensing in the 2K game would just go away.