Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters Blog - Challenging Augusta National

[Steve_OS]

EA Sports has posted another Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters blog talking about the challenging Augusta National.

Quote:

"For those of you who’ve hooked and sliced your way through TPC San Antonio and the 18that Augusta National, surely by now you’ve encountered the differences between “Holly” at The Masters and those first five holes at San Antonio. The single hole at Augusta National is so much tougher that it’s the perfect appetizer for what awaits you when you get your hands on Tiger Woods 12: The Masters on March 29th. The Masters is the ultimate challenge in this latest game and whatever headaches Holly gives you, just know there’s plenty more where that came from. When you fire up Tiger Woods 12: The Masters, The Masters is the only five-star rated course in the game. Every shot, from every position is intended to make you second guess your strategy. If you’re confident enough to firmly decide on a club, grip and swing then execution is your next obstacle. Should you be skilled enough to nail the power and accuracy of the shot, all you’ll have to worry about then is what the golf ball is actually going to do. On the 18th, you’re driving up hill to a blind green 460+ yards away. You don’t want to sacrifice either loft or distance in this case. If you come up short off the tee you still might be shooting blind with an iron. If you crush it off the tee, you learn the hard way that there are no “nice” landings on the other side of that hill."

[Seymour Scagnetti]

Good read but I disagree with Augusta being the only 5 star course in terms of difficulty at least in terms of other courses in the game. While obviously one of the top courses the world, the devs make it sound like it's next to impossible to shoot a good score when there has been tougher courses in the TW series. Bethpage Black and Pebble Beach with US Open placements are both markedly harder courses to play than Augusta in real life, at least if you go by scores. Last year Mickelson won the Masters with I beleive a -15 and most winners are between -10 and -15. While probably the best looking course and with the most character, it doesn't seem like the pros find it that difficult. Augusta is revered more for it's tradition and atmosphere.

I wonder if they are tricking up the course, at least with the pin placements, to guarantee it plays the hardest in the game at Augusta's insistence because they don't want gamers shooting -20 on tourney difficulty and shooting -5 at Pebble Beach.

One weird thing I noticed with the demo was that the 18th hole with the caddie suggestion was always off with what my custom shot showed. I didn't notice this with any of the San Antonio holes. When the caddie suggested a 92% 9 iron approach shot to the flagstick on the Holly it wasn't the same distance as my own 92% 9 iron custom shot. When I hit the caddie recommended shot, it fell way short of the green as expected. I was thinking maybe it was a demo bug but maybe it was done on purpose.

All the caddie shots at San Antonio were almost right on. It gets me thinking that they make the caddie dumber, by suggesting the wrong club, on the Augusta holes to amp the difficulty up which is pretty cheezy.

[K_GUN]

having the privilege of walking Augusta back in 2000 and getting to play Pinehurst #2 as well as Bethpage Black I'd rank THOSE 3 courses as:

1. Augusta....didn't see a flat lie the entire course..greens included!
2. Pinehurst.....toughest course from "100 & in" I've played
3. Bethpage....toughest overall course I've played....greens were surprisingly flat though.

[rolltide1017]

I love how the blog plays up the "blind shot" angle knowing full well that you never have a blind shot in the game because you can zoom in and see your target. In real life, yes it is a blind shot but not in the game. I think that blog was a little ridiculous and over the top. I've found Holly to be a pretty easy hole in the demo, no where near as tough as the blog makes it out to be. If the blog was talking about real life then I'd agree with everything in it but, that toughness will never translate to the game. Sawgrass is a tough course in real life but has always been one of the easiest in the game, same with Pinehurst IMO. I'm sure Augusta will have it's challenges in the game but this blog was playing it up a little too much for my taste.

[ShivasIrons]

"The Masters is the only five-star rated course in the game."

The Masters is not even a course. It's a tournament.

With such knowledge at EA, no wonder we're getting what we're getting.

[Triggerfish]

" how the blog plays up the "blind shot" angle knowing full well that you never have a blind shot in the game because you can zoom in and see your target."

yes! which is why they should make the hardest mode the most realistic! Forget markers except the ones that are Actually on the course..no zoom...place yardages on the tee box..like it really is.