PGA 2K23

Romero

Yeah the handicap put a stop to Fangee on the last event it would seem but back to dominating on this one. I think this society might be a bit to amateur for @fplfan12345.

fplfan12345

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121084858#Comment_121084858

Not sure why you think that. Yes some are off the pace but I haven’t won every tournament and tied the last tournament with fireballruss. I noticed there were a couple of others not too far behind.

Can see some of the other players have improved rapidly too.

Burlap_Sack

Does the golfer you choose make a difference, I've been using the default character you start with and haven't leveled up I think. Am I making this harder on myself?

frisbeeface

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121097416#Comment_121097416

Yeah the increased stats help a lot.

bennyx_o

I haven't spent any of the skill points or upgraded any clubs, looks like an absolute minefield

fplfan12345

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121097655#Comment_121097655

It’s worth doing and not that complicated if you do methodically.

Head to ‘my player’.

Don’t waste any time in ‘pro shop’.

Head straight to ‘locker’. Press triangle (ps4) to see a list view of your clubs. Then choose your weapons and stick to them for the foreseeable. I have Driver, 3W, 5W, 4 iron through to 9 iron and then PW, GW, SW and LW.

Then go to ‘collection’. These choices don’t really matter. Just pick your preferred brand and, again, stick to them for the foreseeable.

Then go to ‘fittings’. These do matter. Move along to ‘driver’ and choose a ‘grip’, ‘shaft’ and ‘head’. Because ‘timing’ is turned off in societies I’d suggest avoiding that attribute. ‘Swing path’ is set to a generous amateur level in societies too so maybe avoid ‘swing path’. Think I focused on ‘power’ and ‘transition’.

Now do the same for all the clubs in your bag.

‘apparel’ I don’t waste my time.

Then go to ‘golfer’ and ‘skills’. It’s a bit of a mine field. I focused on my driver, irons and putter. Again I avoided skills for ‘shaping’, ‘timing’, and ‘swing path’.

All that said, if you do want to play on a more advanced difficulty level like ‘master’ then you will need to focus on ‘swing path’.

The ‘archetype’ tab is beside ‘skills’ and I’ve mine set to ‘powerhouse’.

Hope that helps and you will definitely see a difference.

fplfan12345

Something else I’ve always done on these games and it prevents using the ‘wrong’ club on a shot.

Sometimes the club defaults to a 3 wood off the tee and I might hit it without realising.

So now I have distinct colours for my shafts. Driver has a red shaft. 3W has a yellow shaft and 5W has a blue shaft. It does help.

joficeduns1

Needed to pull some shots out of the bag to just pip earooney86 at the 18th at The Belfry. Thought I'd shafted myself with the double and single bogey on the front nine.

Now to cherish a moment at the top and wait for Fangee to finish his second round.

fplfan12345

I’m underway now. That 7th hole killed you.

fplfan12345

Never much chat on here about what we think of the game.

It’s better than most I can remember. I like that the difficulty setting really makes a difference

I find the game fairly easy to play now. I recently changed how I play my approach shots and that really has made a big difference.

I now play all approach shots with full backspin and it has really decreased my proximity to the pin and there’s a lot less left to chance. I did have to get worse before I got better but it’s definitely been worth it.

edit - strongest part of my game is chipping and putting. Weakest part is when I put my eye drops in or have too big a pipe.

fplfan12345

The worst part of the game, and by some distance, is trying to access a replay and then the awful camera angles.

I remember an incarnation of the game where you only had to press one button to watch a replay (you could press it as the ball came to a stop) and then you could press a different button to go through all the camera angles until you found the most revealing one. You could watch a replay for minutes.

fplfan12345

Also, do you guys be playing career mode and the just pop over for the societies events ?

Can’t imagine you can improve much just playing the societies.

frisbeeface

I don't enjoy it as much as 2k21. The stats and fittings system is very grindy and hard to respec. I kinda like the idea of the fittings system but it's too difficult to get the items you need. The stats system is bonkers. So difficult to figure out what boosts you're getting, when you're getting them and what overall impact they are having. Am I supposed to recognise all those tiny little icons that are on screen during a round?

The premium balls stuff is complete nonsense, I hate it.

The gameplay is OK. Swing timing is awful, I really don't understand it at all and that's after watching every youtube video on it I could find! The game feels too simple with it off though, so I'm stuck between being either frustrated or bored. Some of the physics aren't great either - like having maxed out stats but wedges not backspinning unless you whack the backspin up all the way yourself - controlling the amount of spin on a sloping green should be part of the challenge on a tough course but it's not there at all.

Best thing about the game are the courses that people create and the societies. It's really cool to basically play any famous course. Career mode was OK too but I wish it had more pre-defined difficulty settings. I know you can stick with the defaults but that is a little too easy for me. But then I'm stuck between adjusting controls difficulty vs opponents difficulty vs courses difficulty.

fplfan12345

Can’t argue with any of that.

It’s a much more considered take than mine.

frisbeeface

Judging by what 2k has done to NBA 2k I can only expect the series to keep going further down the grindy mechanics roads with each release unfortunately.

joficeduns1

Had a mare at the latest event, couldn't buy a putt in the second round. That 17th par 5 left me no change at all, the green is brutal.

Romero

I ended up on 9 under after the second round which I'm very happy with as had a nightmare on the first round ending on +2 .

bennyx_o

Awful first round, almost awful second round despite a fluke hole in one on a par 4 (10th hole maybe? Can't remember) Putting was dire though

joficeduns1

Quail Hollow Round 1 was a mess for me. +1 for the three par 5s for a -4 overall.

Round 2 I got -5 for the par 5s and -11 overall for -15 for the event. Conditions and pin placement seemed a lot kinder. Still some very tricky greens that punish wayward approaches or putts.

Romero

Ok just for this weekend's event I've turned swing timer back on to see what members think. Please provide feedback if you don't like it or think we should leave it on

joficeduns1

I'm not quite sure what swing timing does, but that course was lovely. Plenty of challenge on approach but very playable.

Romero

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121226316#Comment_121226316

Yeah I don't think it made much of a difference to be honest. Yes that was a decent course all though I messed up my second round and never got close to you guys

fplfan12345

Swing timing makes a HUGE difference.

corcaigh07

Swing timer makes a difference alright but it's definitely a lot kinder than the online matchmaking swing timing.

corcaigh07

Nice course, made a balls of the first round, second round went OK, missed a few early chances to make it better.

joficeduns1

Cormac's Bluff is nice but I left so many putts behind me for Rd 1. Need to caffeinate myself before getting started.

corcaigh07

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121257717#Comment_121257717

Same along with a triple bogey 😳

joficeduns1

We were both handsomely bested by Rooney anyway, some score!

marcbrophy

Well I guess in this world, you're either a -27 type of guy or a -12 type of guy :D

Romero

Happy to sit on -12 with the lads 😀