GOLF+ - 2024 Forum Member Review

[mynerds]

Expanding on "Novice is too easy" - I recorded a full play-through of Pinehurst #2 this weekend:

If anyone wants to compete (current top score globally, but only one other posted round), here are the settings:

Course: Pinehurst #2
Difficulty: Novice
Tees: Back
Pins: Medium
Wind: High
Green Speed: Very Fast
Score: -15 (1 Eagle, 13 Birdies, 4 Par, 20 Putts, 14/14 Fairways Hit, 14/18 Green in Regulation, 27.3 Ft Hole Out, 362.77 Yd Drive)

Image stabilization helps with the jittery recording, but also limits the field of view. I'll have to consciously try and center the ball in my headset for future recordings. The putt preview of novice is a bit of a cheat code, but it also not a guaranteed make, especially if you have a significant break. Putting speed still matters, and it doesn't seem to assist on that in Novice mode.

[mynerds]

Shoutout to @GOLF PLUS VR for coordinating a scramble with the testers yesterday. @GOLF PLUS VR and @Fongle got the best of @GregGarner and I through 9 holes. Quite frankly it was a 2v1 given how much @GregGarner had to carry me - be sure to send his back your well wishes!

I really enjoyed the scramble format, though it took an incredible hit to the battery. If you don't have an external battery pack or play plugged in, don't expect to get more than 9-holes in at this time.

The Quest does not sync files over 1gb to the cloud, so I have to back to getting access to the headset storage before I can upload any highlights (including @Fongle's beautiful impression of Bryson with a 40-foot putt). Thanks again for the match gentlemen!

[GregGarner]

1 hour ago, mynerds said:

Shoutout to @GOLF PLUS VR for coordinating a scramble with the testers yesterday. @GOLF PLUS VR and @Fongle got the best of @GregGarner and I through 9 holes. Quite frankly it was a 2v1 given how much @GregGarner had to carry me - be sure to send his back your well wishes!

I really enjoyed the scramble format, though it took an incredible hit to the battery. If you don't have an external battery pack or play plugged in, don't expect to get more than 9-holes in at this time.

The Quest does not sync files over 1gb to the cloud, so I have to back to getting access to the headset storage before I can upload any highlights (including @Fongle's beautiful impression of Bryson with a 40-foot putt). Thanks again for the match gentlemen!

SO fun. Honestly, multiplayer is probably my favorite feature so far, even if I did get briefly kicked out for breaking Meta's content standards I was reflecting with my wife about it and we were both just brainstorming all the ways that this feature could be everything Meta hoped for with its headset. If money were no object, I think a Meta Quest with Golf+ would be an incredible gift to give for anyone that you like to play golf with but don't get to see very often. Would absolutely love to tee it up with my dad in there  

[Fongle]

2 hours ago, mynerds said:

Shoutout to @GOLF PLUS VR for coordinating a scramble with the testers yesterday. @GOLF PLUS VR and @Fongle got the best of @GregGarner and I through 9 holes. Quite frankly it was a 2v1 given how much @GregGarner had to carry me - be sure to send his back your well wishes!

I really enjoyed the scramble format, though it took an incredible hit to the battery. If you don't have an external battery pack or play plugged in, don't expect to get more than 9-holes in at this time.

The Quest does not sync files over 1gb to the cloud, so I have to back to getting access to the headset storage before I can upload any highlights (including @Fongle's beautiful impression of Bryson with a 40-foot putt). Thanks again for the match gentlemen!

Yeah that was so much fun, genuinely such a great experience. 

[GregGarner]

13 hours ago, Fongle said:

Yeah that was so much fun, genuinely such a great experience. 

Worth noting, I think we were pretty easy to beat mostly because @mynerds was trying some crazy trick shots 

[Fongle]

Just received this email, pretty awesome concept and contest. While I don't think I stand a chance in the tour option, there's also a random draw from having a top 30 strokes gained shot during the tournament as well, so that's a potential chance.

 

 

Edited August 8 by Fongle

[TSauer]

49 minutes ago, Fongle said:

Just received this email, pretty awesome concept and contest. While I don't think I stand a chance in the tour option, there's also a random draw from having a top 30 strokes gained shot during the tournament as well, so that's a potential chance.

 

 

That's really cool! Sounds like you better clear your schedule and get to practicing.

I wonder just how good people are at VR golf, that'd be interesting to see.

[mynerds]

1 hour ago, Fongle said:

Just received this email, pretty awesome concept and contest. While I don't think I stand a chance in the tour option, there's also a random draw from having a top 30 strokes gained shot during the tournament as well, so that's a potential chance.

 

 

Huge fan of the concept here. I've been playing the weekly challenges and some of the results are incredible - there are some REALLY talented VR players out there. I'll definitely play to see if I can get a top-30 stroke, but no shot for me to be atop the tour rankings either.

[GregGarner]

11 hours ago, TSauer said:

That's really cool! Sounds like you better clear your schedule and get to practicing.

I wonder just how good people are at VR golf, that'd be interesting to see.

Spoiler: really good. Some of the global top scores on any given course are ridiculous. We're talking -17 range for a single round. I played 9 with Pro settings and shot like 37 and felt like I maybe could've picked up another 2-3 shots, but I can't imagine any scenario where I was going to shoot low 60's to even have a chance at making the first page of the leaderboard  

[GOLF PLUS VR]

2 hours ago, GregGarner said:

Spoiler: really good. Some of the global top scores on any given course are ridiculous. We're talking -17 range for a single round. I played 9 with Pro settings and shot like 37 and felt like I maybe could've picked up another 2-3 shots, but I can't imagine any scenario where I was going to shoot low 60's to even have a chance at making the first page of the leaderboard  

Yeah the players at the top of the rankings are REALLY good and put up some crazy scores. But the good part about the Mastercard Sweepstakes is you could shoot a million but if you get one great shot during the tournament you have a chance to win!

[TSauer]

2 hours ago, GregGarner said:

Spoiler: really good. Some of the global top scores on any given course are ridiculous. We're talking -17 range for a single round. I played 9 with Pro settings and shot like 37 and felt like I maybe could've picked up another 2-3 shots, but I can't imagine any scenario where I was going to shoot low 60's to even have a chance at making the first page of the leaderboard  

Dang, that's impressive. 

I'm sorry if this was mentioned before, but what all changes when you switch it to pro settings? Is that also the highest difficulty? 

[JFish350]

Good stuff fellas. Can't wait till I can actually swing a club again. 

[TSauer]

I would like to see the correlation between someone being great at VR Golf versus their IRL handicap. I know it's not something that is going to transfer 1:1, as with all video games, but it would be interesting to see. 

[mynerds]

22 minutes ago, TSauer said:

Dang, that's impressive. 

I'm sorry if this was mentioned before, but what all changes when you switch it to pro settings? Is that also the highest difficulty? 

There are three settings: Novice, Amateur, and Pro.

Novice has pretty aggressive aim assist and provides a suggested line for all swings and putting (though you still need to get handle distance control).

Amateur has some aim assist but not nearly as much as Novice. It also removes the recommended putting shot line but keeps for other shots.

Pro has no aim assist and no shot lines. "It's all you" as the game says.

[mynerds]

52 minutes ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

Yeah the players at the top of the rankings are REALLY good and put up some crazy scores. But the good part about the Mastercard Sweepstakes is you could shoot a million but if you get one great shot during the tournament you have a chance to win!

Stealing @GolfSpy SAM’s line here:

[GOLF PLUS VR]

30 minutes ago, TSauer said:

I would like to see the correlation between someone being great at VR Golf versus their IRL handicap. I know it's not something that is going to transfer 1:1, as with all video games, but it would be interesting to see. 

Good question. What I would say is looking at the very top of the Pro Difficulty rankings, the majority of them are golfers in real life and pretty good players. Our two co-founders who are both top-15 in VR are both single digit handicaps in real life. The guy who is regarded as the #1 VR player was a PGA Professional at one point. There's another PGA Pro is who up there in the rankings and the majority of top players that I've had contact with are mostly good/above average golfers in real life.

I'll let the testers speak for themselves, but if you have never played golf before and don't understand the mechanics of the swing, you are really going to struggle on Pro Mode.

[JFish350]

At some point it would be cool to learn who those guys/gals are. They want to remain anonymous tho. 

[TSauer]

8 minutes ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

Good question. What I would say is looking at the very top of the Pro Difficulty rankings, the majority of them are golfers in real life and pretty good players. Our two co-founders who are both top-15 in VR are both single digit handicaps in real life. The guy who is regarded as the #1 VR player was a PGA Professional at one point. There's another PGA Pro is who up there in the rankings and the majority of top players that I've had contact with are mostly good/above average golfers in real life.

I'll let the testers speak for themselves, but if you have never played golf before and don't understand the mechanics of the swing, you are really going to struggle on Pro Mode.

Okay, now that is actually interesting and very cool. Thanks for that tidbit, I never would have guessed that honestly. 

Have your co-founders, or anyone for that matter, noted that VR play has helped their IRL play in any way?  

[JFish350]

Question for the group/Golf+VR: is there a recommended club for the VR? I have been looking on Amazon and seems there are a plethora of options. 

Maybe this was answered earlier in the thread, I may have missed it. 

[mpatrickriley]

Just another voice here: our family recently bought a Quest 2, and since many of us are golf nuts, Golf+ was definitely one of our first purchases.

To be honest: I don't think I've played more than a single 9 hole round yet (I think I went around at Valhalla during the PGA). But what I've enjoyed immensely are the giant short game practice area and the simulated TopGolf bay. The short game area/putting will give you a specific shot to try to hit within a certain proximity to the hole; you get in-game points for getting the ball in the target that can be used for gear, etc. (My in-game putter is an Odyssey 2-ball Ten that I also have on my basement putter rack.)

For me, I find this kind of practice really relaxing. I've never (in any game) been much for online multiplayer stuff. But grabbing the headset for a half-hour after the kids go to bed and doing a bunch of chipping and putting on a beautiful (VR) practice area—count me in for that.

[GolfSpy SAM]

2 hours ago, JFish350 said:

Question for the group/Golf+VR: is there a recommended club for the VR? I have been looking on Amazon and seems there are a plethora of options. 

Maybe this was answered earlier in the thread, I may have missed it. 

I bought one off of Amazon a while back (I wanna say it was from "Glistco", but that might not be correct), and it only had one velcro attachment that "secured" the club.  Every single time I swung the club, the controller shifted (VERY minutely, but I could 100% feel it), and it freaked me out that it was slipping, and my swing legitimately suffered. I tried many, MANY times to get it to be as tight as possible, or to just learn to deal with it, and ultimately gave up on it.

For this test, Golf+ sent me the "DeadEye VR" grip, and I'm stunned at just how much better it is.  Two velcro straps (for each side of the controller), plus there are little rubberized pads inside the plastic housing that allow the controller to "stick" and not be plastic-on-plastic.  When you swing it - it all moves as one, with ZERO shifting of the controller.  It just ... works. 

See attached pics - but honestly, it's WELL worth picking it up if you're going to be playing the game.  It's completely immersive - there's a heft to the grip (some kind of iron bar inside, I believe) that genuinely gives your brain, when using the VR, the impression that you're swinging a club and not just a short stick  

[GOLF PLUS VR]

2 hours ago, JFish350 said:

Question for the group/Golf+VR: is there a recommended club for the VR? I have been looking on Amazon and seems there are a plethora of options. 

Maybe this was answered earlier in the thread, I may have missed it. 

And just to follow up on @GolfSpy SAM comment on the DriVR, I would suggest sticking to either a DeadEye or Yezro attachment. Depending on how much room you have in your play area, the DeadEye DriVR Elite is another step up as it's length and controllable weights really help to bring the real golf feel all together.

[mynerds]

2 hours ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

I bought one off of Amazon a while back (I wanna say it was from "Glistco", but that might not be correct), and it only had one velcro attachment that "secured" the club.  Every single time I swung the club, the controller shifted (VERY minutely, but I could 100% feel it), and it freaked me out that it was slipping, and my swing legitimately suffered. I tried many, MANY times to get it to be as tight as possible, or to just learn to deal with it, and ultimately gave up on it.

For this test, Golf+ sent me the "DeadEye VR" grip, and I'm stunned at just how much better it is.  Two velcro straps (for each side of the controller), plus there are little rubberized pads inside the plastic housing that allow the controller to "stick" and not be plastic-on-plastic.  When you swing it - it all moves as one, with ZERO shifting of the controller.  It just ... works. 

See attached pics - but honestly, it's WELL worth picking it up if you're going to be playing the game.  It's completely immersive - there's a heft to the grip (some kind of iron bar inside, I believe) that genuinely gives your brain, when using the VR, the impression that you're swinging a club and not just a short stick  

How is the controller secured to the club on this one? Is it just attached via the wrist strap?

[GolfSpy SAM]

26 minutes ago, mynerds said:

How is the controller secured to the club on this one? Is it just attached via the wrist strap?

The velcro straps come up and over the round part of the controller (see pics 2, 3 & 4), and then the wrist strap of the controller just fits down through the opening in the grip. I wrapped mine around it just to be doubly-sure if the velcro failed it wouldn't go flying, but the velcro is VERY tight, and doesn't allow the controller to move at all, which is ideal. 

[mynerds]

8 hours ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

I'll let the testers speak for themselves, but if you have never played golf before and don't understand the mechanics of the swing, you are really going to struggle on Pro Mode.

Seconding this - Novice makes it so anyone can play. Pro makes it clear whether or not you know what you're doing with a club.

@GOLF PLUS VR One option that I'd like to see (assuming it isn't in place already and I'm not aware of it) is individual skill settings in Multiplayer. As I understand it, the skill level is set for the room. If I want to play a round with my 11-year old niece for instance, it would be nice if she could play on Novice while I play on Amateur or Pro.

I would be totally fine forgoing leader board eligibility or XP in that scenario - there just are times when the competitiveness is fully turned off for me and I'm looking for a truly casual environment.

[GOLF PLUS VR]

4 minutes ago, mynerds said:

Seconding this - Novice makes it so anyone can play. Pro makes it clear whether or not you know what you're doing with a club.

@GOLF PLUS VR One option that I'd like to see (assuming it isn't in place already and I'm not aware of it) is individual skill settings in Multiplayer. As I understand it, the skill level is set for the room. If I want to play a round with my 11-year old niece for instance, it would be nice if she could play on Novice while I play on Amateur or Pro.

I would be totally fine forgoing leader board eligibility or XP in that scenario - there just are times when the competitiveness is fully turned off for me and I'm looking for a truly casual environment.

Oh yeah you can do that! When you set up the room there’s an option that says something like: “allow players to choose difficulty” and then everyone can choose their own difficulty.

In all multiplayer other than Scramble, you can also set the turn order to “unrestricted” which allows everyone to be hitting simultaneously rather than waiting for each player. Makes games go by much quicker. Unrestricted Scramble should be coming very soon.

[mynerds]

2 minutes ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

Oh yeah you can do that! When you set up the room there’s an option that says something like: “allow players to choose difficulty” and then everyone can choose their own difficulty.

In all multiplayer other than Scramble, you can also set the turn order to “unrestricted” which allows everyone to be hitting simultaneously rather than waiting for each player. Makes games go by much quicker. Unrestricted Scramble should be coming very soon.

Fantastic! I just jumped on and found it as a checkbox item in the difficulty for the room:

3 hours ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

The velcro straps come up and over the round part of the controller (see pics 2, 3 & 4), and then the wrist strap of the controller just fits down through the opening in the grip. I wrapped mine around it just to be doubly-sure if the velcro failed it wouldn't go flying, but the velcro is VERY tight, and doesn't allow the controller to move at all, which is ideal. 

It just occurred to me that you're on the Quest 2 - my brain didn't register the big rings as being part of the controller. I was seriously concerned at the prospect of launching the controller into the wall but the velcro looks super secure now.

6 hours ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

And just to follow up on @GolfSpy SAM comment on the DriVR, I would suggest sticking to either a DeadEye or Yezro attachment. Depending on how much room you have in your play area, the DeadEye DriVR Elite is another step up as it's length and controllable weights really help to bring the real golf feel all together.

Do you have the same brand recommendations for both the Quest 2 and Quest 3? Or are there different attachments that you'd recommend for each controller type.

@JFish350 Here are all of the recognized controller attachments listed in GOLF+ at the moment - note that some attachments are only compatible with certain versions of the Quest:

[Fongle]

One issue I've been noticing more is that I can't seem to hit a nippy low chip with spin, opening the face seems to just forcibly hit a flop every time no matter how much I try down and through the ball, so it's either that or watch the ball roll out halfway across the green every time when playing Pro mode, with Pro greens. With the slower greens it's not as much of an issue, but on St Andrews especially with Pro greens I'm having to flop virtually everything, or putt from 5m off the green. Have the other testers noticed this at all? 

[GregGarner]

21 hours ago, TSauer said:

I would like to see the correlation between someone being great at VR Golf versus their IRL handicap. I know it's not something that is going to transfer 1:1, as with all video games, but it would be interesting to see. 

20 hours ago, GOLF PLUS VR said:

Good question. What I would say is looking at the very top of the Pro Difficulty rankings, the majority of them are golfers in real life and pretty good players. Our two co-founders who are both top-15 in VR are both single digit handicaps in real life. The guy who is regarded as the #1 VR player was a PGA Professional at one point. There's another PGA Pro is who up there in the rankings and the majority of top players that I've had contact with are mostly good/above average golfers in real life.

I'll let the testers speak for themselves, but if you have never played golf before and don't understand the mechanics of the swing, you are really going to struggle on Pro Mode.

I'm a 3 IRL and in the middle difficulty setting (Amateur) it's got me as a plus handicap. I haven't played enough on pro settings to really let it level out my handicap, but it wouldn't surprise me if it has me close(r) to my IRL handicap, based on my limited game play so far. The biggest boon to the Amateur settings, for me, is that you cannot miss in terms of strike depth. There are no fats, thins, toes, or heels. The only miss is face angle. (More on that below)

 

20 hours ago, TSauer said:

Okay, now that is actually interesting and very cool. Thanks for that tidbit, I never would have guessed that honestly. 

Have your co-founders, or anyone for that matter, noted that VR play has helped their IRL play in any way?  

In terms of transfer (from the psychological sense), the movement pattern is close enough that you absolutely will affect your real-life golf swing. My recommendation is that you need to do enough work setting up your clubs in the game to make sure that you don't have to significantly alter your swing for gameplay because it will then transfer to the actual golf course. I experienced this the first time I played. It was a Friday night and TL;DR my Saturday morning range session was... not good. I think I spent about an hour or so on the virtual range getting my clubs dialed in so that I didn't have to make such drastic changes to my swing in the game.

HOWEVER -- I absolutely cannot, cannot, cannot swing 100% in the game with anything except driver unless I want to hit the biggest block/block-slice of my life. At the range, you can use an advanced mode to get detailed launch monitor data and my face angles on full-swing irons are like 20-30 degrees open to path! I still can't get that figured out as to why it's happening, but at least I can make an 80% iron swing and it goes on my intended line. But if I'm between clubs, I now know that I cannot take the shorter and hit it harder without missing my target by 30+ yards.  

 

19 hours ago, GolfSpy MPR said:

Just another voice here: our family recently bought a Quest 2, and since many of us are golf nuts, Golf+ was definitely one of our first purchases.

To be honest: I don't think I've played more than a single 9 hole round yet (I think I went around at Valhalla during the PGA). But what I've enjoyed immensely are the giant short game practice area and the simulated TopGolf bay. The short game area/putting will give you a specific shot to try to hit within a certain proximity to the hole; you get in-game points for getting the ball in the target that can be used for gear, etc. (My in-game putter is an Odyssey 2-ball Ten that I also have on my basement putter rack.)

For me, I find this kind of practice really relaxing. I've never (in any game) been much for online multiplayer stuff. But grabbing the headset for a half-hour after the kids go to bed and doing a bunch of chipping and putting on a beautiful (VR) practice area—count me in for that.

Low-key the range and practice areas are one of the best features for sure. I like playing 9 at Butler Pitch and Putt for example, or reliving my recent round at the Ocean Course, but after a rough day, just vibing to some tunes (shout out to the incredible in-game music options!) and hitting some chips or some 7-irons is a great way to unwind. I have been known to head to the course after work for just this reason, and I think I'm getting the same or at least similar effect from throwing on the headset for 30 minutes. (That being said, we def gotta get you in on a scramble. It's 100x more fun than I expected.)

[JFish350]

19 hours ago, GolfSpy SAM said:

I bought one off of Amazon a while back (I wanna say it was from "Glistco", but that might not be correct), and it only had one velcro attachment that "secured" the club.  Every single time I swung the club, the controller shifted (VERY minutely, but I could 100% feel it), and it freaked me out that it was slipping, and my swing legitimately suffered. I tried many, MANY times to get it to be as tight as possible, or to just learn to deal with it, and ultimately gave up on it.

For this test, Golf+ sent me the "DeadEye VR" grip, and I'm stunned at just how much better it is.  Two velcro straps (for each side of the controller), plus there are little rubberized pads inside the plastic housing that allow the controller to "stick" and not be plastic-on-plastic.  

I'll attach a few pictures momentarily (in case you read this before I get them posted), and will edit this sentence out so you can see what I'm talking about - but honestly, it's WELL worth picking it up if you're going to be playing the game.  It's completely immersive - there's a heft to the grip (some kind of iron bar inside, I believe) that genuinely gives your brain, when using the VR, the impression that you're swinging a club and not just a short stick  

Perfect thank you.