TGT Official Q&A with a Dev

[HANDSWARD]

HANDS,

Please take this with a grain of salt but after seeing your "math comment" over on the official forums, I am starting to see why Phil wants nothing to do with the game.

If you guys continue to dumb down the game, you might as well call it Darts. Sorry but it is really hard to digest the tempo, tempo, tempo, mantra. Far more to golf than just is tempo. I can have a perfect tempo in real life on every swing but if I can't judge distances, what good does that do?

What concerns me most is the removal of green speeds, which is a big part of golf and especially at a course like the Masters, where green speeds and large breaks make the Masters what it is. You guys just eliminate it. Then you go another step and have the club and distance selected for you. To top it off you do this when a player is in the rough or sand, etc by selecting a proper club for the situation.

Oh I know, you gotta have them stick kills and good tempo. Still, that is not exactly the golf I grew up with and watch on the TV. I know you have to cater to the mentally lazy and kids who just want to hit holes in ones on ever par four but there is still a few of us left who actually want a game that simulates the game we go out and play. I am not trying to be a prick but after the caddy fiasco of 12, you would think a bone or two would be thrown to players who want to play actual golf. Honestly I am considering cancelling my pre-order, buying a Vita and the new Hot Shots game. At least the guys at Clap Hanz realize that "math and such" are still part of the game.

So the main question is, will there be an option to play on Tourney Mode without the preselected clubs and removal of the clubs yardage, etc, in the retail copy?

No there is no option like that.

Also, the math is far from completely removed from the game. You still have to account for the wind and elevation, which is the main math required in golf. What other math do you do? There's no math done to figure out the speed of the green. It's all feel. Even though the math is done for you on the speed, you still have to know what a 10 foot putt feels like on tournament conditions, and what it feels like on average. They are 2 different strokes.

Ultimately, a majority of the skill in this game is in actually hitting the shot. What you do before the shot is still important, but it means nothing if you can't actually hit the shot. I have been playing golf for 25 years and I was scratch by the time I was 13. So ass far as knowing the sport and what is true to it, I feel I have a pretty good grasp. I feel like this game represents golf better than the series ever has before. I am proud we made the game this way. I am sorry if you don't see it the same way.