When I first started playing golf just over a decade ago, I already had a preconception of the mechanics of the sport. Club distance and selection, how to address the ball on different surface types, even how to look for minute slopes on the green.
That's because I have spent my life playing golf games – from the most basic top-down efforts on the likes of the ZX Spectrum and Apple IIe, through Leaderboard and even the Mario Golf titles on Game Boy and beyond – and they have each taught me much about hitting a tiny rubber ball across a patch of countryside.
The knowledge hasn't quite turned me into Rory McIlroy, more Roaring-ly bad still, but the basics have enabled me to at least grasp the concept enough to progressively get a little better each round.
Ironically, my experiences on real-life courses have also helped when playing the games, and none more so than with 2K Games' series over the years.
Teeing off
First introduced as The Golf Club in 2014 and brought into the 2K stable four years later, the series has always set out to be the most accurate golfing simulation possible. It is developed by HB Studios – a team that's clearly in love with the sport – and it shows. Skills learned on a course can be beneficial to in-game play and vice versa, and so it's always been on my wishlist each generation.
Now we have the latest in PGA Tour 2K25, and that continues to be the case. Indeed, it is the most rounded game from the studio yet, with enough for beginners as for seasoned veterans. While an extra lick of polish and a few new features show enough potential for this to be the best golf game yet – for this or any other generation.
I got to play a pre-release build for a few hours recently and mostly concentrated on the new MyCareer mode, and the first thing that struck me is just how much more intuitive the interface is now. It has an extra layer of professionalism and shine, while also enables you to get to the most important bits more quickly.
MyPlayer creation has been refined and tidied too. You can opt to play on the men's or women's tour and there is plenty of variety in customisation to build your golfer.
Individualisation
There's now the option to choose between five archetypes, to really get an individual-looking (and feeling) player. You can be a powerhouse, technician, magician, greenskeeper or sculptor, each with their own starting attributes that will determine how certain shots and situations play out.
The skill system has been overhauled too, with new skill trees for different shots, including tee, approach, recovery, bunker and green. These essentially add to the individuality of your play and make the game more diverse.
In my own play session, I pretty much forgot about them, to be honest, as I knew I wouldn't get to add much to my character in the time frame I had. However, I did get to swap between different difficulty levels to try those out.
There's a new one, for starters, which is great for beginners. Select "perfect swing" and it's far more forgiving when it comes to hitting the ball in a straight line.
Using the right thumbstick (on an Xbox controller on the PC version) is a decent substitute for the real swing of a club, but on higher difficulty levels, deviations in your swipes can send the ball careening in different directions. However, with perfect swing the ball is far more likely to head the way you want, allowing you to concentrate more on power, club choice and modifiers, such as backspin.
It's a great new option to learn the mechanics of the game without the frustration. You can then switch to higher difficulty levels later.
Keeping it real
That's where HB Studios' games are at their best. There aren't just a wealth of options when it comes to player customisation, every aspect of the gameplay can be tweaked too, in order to make it as accurate or arcade-like as you fancy.
In addition, your clubs and even golf balls can be levelled up this year, with XP earned in game and the ability to add fittings and stats to fine tune them to suit your play.
Course creation returns too, so you can either build your own 18 holes or find others to download and play on. However, when it comes to real world locations, even they're improved. There are 27 licensed courses and competitions, including the 2025 US Open at Oakmont Country Club, while St Andrews will be added to the game for the first time at a later date.
But of course, none of that would matter if the game didn't play well, and I can safely say that I came away from my hands-on session with a big smile on my face.
With a new EvoSwing technology running the show, hitting the ball feels more tangible and smoother than ever. The adjusted mechanic now takes into account contact, rhythm, transition and swing path – each of which is felt more the higher up the difficulty scale you're willing to sit – and it really feels that you are more in control of shots.
That doesn't mean you won't curse the controller when a ball is shanked into the nearby lake, but you'll now know that it's more human error than the game's.
On the back nine
It felt like my session with PGA Tour 2K25 was over as soon as it started, but I'd actually played for more than two-and-a-half hours. The fact that I wanted to play more is testament to its immediate accessibility – something that's a marked improvement on its predecessors.
I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the final game, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC on 28 February 2025 – so not long now.
You can even play some of it for yourself before then – from right now, in fact, as a first look trailer is available for each platform too. Just head to your respective digital store for your console or computer and give it a go. Hopefully, you'll see exactly where I'm coming from when I say it could turn out to be the best golf game yet.
From what I've seen so far, it certainly has the potential.
