For those who have been keeping tabs on the new golf game from HB Studios, The Golf Club, you know that the game has entered into the early access phase on Steam. It's a glorified open beta test, but the idea is to allow any and all users who are interested to try the game in its current state, and relay back to the studios what they like, or don’t like.

As someone who has been lucky enough to play the game from its initial closed beta stage to the most current open access stage of 0.31, I am happy to report the improvements keep coming. While the general individual improvements are smaller in nature, when one adds them all up, they show what this game is capable of when the final retail build drops later this spring.

Some of the key improvements that were made address some issues with the robust in-game course creator, improvements to the club selection suggestions for certain shots, and changes to the green grid and color variation. Again, nothing that is genre defining, but with each and every new build these little improvements are starting to add up, and bode well for what fans will see in the game’s final retail build. The tweaks that are being made are obviously still to the core gameplay, as they have yet to unlock either the tour or tournament options.

While a lot of our readers are waiting for the game to drop on the PS4 and Xbox One, you can take solace in knowing the gameplay is starting to come together rather nicely, and some of the user-created courses that are being made are of high quality and realism. Initially I questioned whether I could fully embrace a game that has no real-life licensed courses included, but as each new course rolls out, that is starting to become much less of an obstacle for me. The one concern I have on a personal level is not being able to see any of the other golfers as we play in a group. With that said, there is a system in place that allows one to see their opponents ball being struck and its flight path, but there is a very large part of me that would love to see my digital counterparts physical replication on the course.

There are still some other issues also that hopefully the developers are working on before the final release, with accuracy being one of the larger ones. They have tweaked the accuracy meter/cone drastically since the original closed beta session, but I still find it too easy to hit the ball straight down the fairway, and approach shots also fall into the category of too easy, but not quite as pronounced as one’s tee shot. For all the concerns, which honestly, aren’t really that many, I have full faith in the developers in trying to create a golf title that the masses can enjoy. They have shown the innate ability to listen to the consumer, and adjust the game accordingly. This doesn’t mean that everything they have tweaked has been for the better, but the effort and understanding is there, along with the ability to be flexible, and willingness to be open to community ideas and feedback.

It’s a very thin line that the developers are walking here in trying to create a realistic golf simulation, but keep it accessible to people who are looking to just pick up and play the title. While there seems to be a contingency of people who think that’s a simple task, that's not the case. That problem is compounded even further with the developer’s decision to not include any difficulty levels in-game. Immediately, everyone will have access to the same clubs and abilities, meaning that there are no skill or club upgrades. While this seems like a good idea to start everyone of the same level, it basically means that the game's challenge will come from the courses themselves. Initially, I thought this was a really good idea, and I still do for the most part, but there is a bit skepticism that has crept into my mindset on this idea.

The bottom-line is that the game in its current shape plays a very fun game of golf, and has elements of a true golf simulation woven into its fabric. As we mentioned earlier, the game is available on Steam’s early access program, but understand that it’s still in beta form, so not every function of the title is available right now, and the developers are still working on eliminating bugs, and optimizing it. If you do decide to make the jump and buy the PC version, we highly suggest that you take strong look at the system requirements, as the game has the tendency to be a resource hog, and will push even a very good gaming rig to its limits. There is still no street date for the console version, but we have been informed that the developers will release a blog in the very near future.