The long awaited, much hyped new EA Sports game was finally released to the public today:Â Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters
In order to play Augusta, you have to use a pro avatar or work your way up through the Tour and earn your way there using your own profile. As far as I know, you cannot bring Tour experience from an earlier game version to help get you there. So, since we all want to play the course as soon as we get our hands on the game, we’ll be playing as one of the pros at first, right? I went with Suzann Pettersen. She seems like a cool chick and I have heard great things about her fun personality.
Right away, you’ll notice a few new things besides the course.
As the game is loading, it asks to set up your balance board. I wish I had one – that would make the game even more real! (Update: Twitter friend @ToddLewiSS just told me that board only had a usable width of about 16.5″, so at 5’11”, my stance is a bit wider than that. As he pointed out, it might be fun to use for little chip shots but not for a full swing. I’ll have to think about whether or not I want to invest in this after all.)
Next, you have a caddie! Not just the Tour pros, either. When I create my own avatar (and I will), she will also have a caddie, whose own course knowledge will grow as my own experience progresses. Also, see that tee looking thingy next to my caddie in the pic above? Yep, you can re-position yourself within the teebox for better angles. Pretty cool.
Another tricky thing you may notice is that the wind actually swirls around on some holes! Careful with those shots. You may pick a club and a shot and by the time you swing the wind changed direction. Yeah, just like real golf! Only on the course, you don’t have the handy-dandy wind icon that tells you which direction and how hard it’s blowing. Just a cool little feature, I thought.
So, how did I do? Well, with swing settings on advanced, nice weather, Thursday pins and precision putting selected, here’s how “we” did:
As you can see, I had an eagle, a birdie and two bogies heading at the turn…
But then I made two birdies on Amen Corner alone! Had a three putt bogey in there and a couple good par saves. So what if the scorecard shows you going “out” on both sides? We know what they mean!
So thanks, Suzann, for being so reliable out there. And for having such a great caddy. He gave me a lot of good advice.
I recommend when you play this, you listen to your caddy! I liked figuring out my shots and THEN asking for advice to see if we agreed. Surprisingly, we usually did!
By the way, I do use the Wii Motion Plus on my controller, but that’s not all. I also have a Chicken Stick, which makes it feel much more like playing golf for real. It has a real grip and partial shaft, and the weight of the controller and motion plus in the device just about feels like the weight of an iron. Â (You activate the b button by pulling that ring behind the club.) Awesome. You need one of these:Â Bad Chicken Wii Chick Stick Golf Club
Stay tuned as I will be posting progress reports with my own player and how I progress. Going to start on Tour and earn my way to Augusta this time.
April 1, 2011 at 2:34 am
Definitely can recommend the Chicken Stick, I was afraid of using it in my new house because the ceilings are not as high as old place, but it seems to be working well. (I believe 8 Ft. ceiling and I am 6’3) If I used the balance board it be impossible to use the chicken stick. I also had to get a wireless sensor bar as I could not get old sensor bar to acknowledge my swing attempts. Chicken stick also probably helps that as it puts the controller closer to the ground. Thanks for the heads up on the Chicken Stick, I told me local gamestop about it and will tell them it worked great.
April 1, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Thanks, Bryan – good info. Glad it’s working out for you!
April 7, 2011 at 11:14 pm
Hey Golfchick!
I was thinking about getting the chicken stick for myself, but have heard about some issues with the ‘B’ button breaking.
How is yours holding up?
Steve
April 7, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Hey Steve,
Luuurve my chickenstick! No problems at all! Hope I didn’t just jinx it! (c:
Kristen
April 8, 2011 at 2:56 am
Hey Golfchick! Now that the Masters has started I am definitely in need of the new Tiger Woods game. My husband asked if I had ever played Augusta and I had to shake my head in defeat. Thanks for the review on the game and the mention of the chicken stick.
April 26, 2011 at 1:31 pm
The Diamante Dunes Course was named was named the #1 New International Golf Course in 2010 by Golf Magazine. Developed by Legacy Properties CEO Ken Jowdy and designed by Davis Love III, the Dunes course is located in Cabo San Lucas at the tip of the Baja Peninsula. Check out a course description and pictures here: http://www.diamantecabosanlucas.com.
May 4, 2011 at 2:52 am
Nice score!
I need to get a chicken stick, what a cool addition to the game play.
As I was ramping up for this season, I decided it was time to start me own blog. I will be sharing tip, tricks and techniques I have learn over the years
Come check me out.
http://www.thesimplegolfswingguide.com
September 16, 2013 at 8:41 pm
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Can you recommend a good hosting provider at a honest price?
Kudos, I appreciate it!