The Golf Club has taken over the reigns as the premier golf video game on market over the last few years, and now, HB Studios will once again be teeing it up. The Golf Club 2019 was announced last week, and as you can expect, the game’s community is getting excited about it.

Probably the biggest thing about TGC 2019 is, it will be self-published by HB Studios, just like with the original TGC back in 2014. When TGC 2 was created, HB had teamed up with Maximum Games to help publish the title, and release it out to retail.

Maximum Games is known for popular games such Farming Simulator, Rugby, and Styx. However, the partnership with MG was limiting HB Studios from doing certain things, hence a big reason why they are independent once again, despite the successful release of TGC 2.

Some of the things that TGC 2019 will bring include a deeper career mode, more online modes, and deeper golfer customization among other things. The Golf Club has been noted for its pro-am style approach in a golf game in that, there is no PGA Tour license or LPGA nor are there licensed courses as the game relied heavily on its now iconic course designer.

With this iteration of the game, however, there will be real-world courses as well as golf brands. There is no word yet on which courses will be featured in the game, but one brand that has been announced is Under Armour. UA, as we know, has skyrocketed in the ranks of the athletic apparel world, grabbing big names such as Jordan Spieth and NBA superstar Stephen Curry.

Having real world courses and brands can really help boost a golf game’s popularity. Combine this with a ton of excellent created courses, and you have an extremely deep golf experience.

I thought TGC 2 was great, and the fact that there are so many features that are going to be added to TGC 2019 that weren’t in TGC 2 is why I feel this game can be put over the top as the elite golf game out there. The game will also feature Speed Tree technology which will help improve visuals and gameplay.

It’s rare to see a golf game incorporate so many elements that people love in a good gaming experience on the links. To be able to mix real-world courses and still have the 170,000 plus designs by the community is huge. To have licensed and non-licensed apparel is a plus so there’s something for everyone.

What I’m looking forward to is seeing how much they improved the swing, and how balanced the challenge will be for all players. I also look forward to seeing which real-world courses will make the game’s roster (keep in mind that you will likely not see uber famous courses like Pebble Beach or St. Andrews) as well as the improvements to online gameplay.

Online, we know that there will be matchmaking which was absent in TGC 2. So now, you will be able to tee it up with anyone in the world, like in previous golf games. With online becoming quintessential in almost every game, having online matchmaking in TGC 2019 will be a very welcome feature to fans of online gaming.

Also, being kind of a media/journalism nerd, I would love to see a quality broadcast presentation during the career mode. It doesn’t have to be PGA Tour quality, but good enough to make me feel like I’m taking in a high stakes golf tournament.

From peeking around on the forum, it’s my understanding that there will be some changes for the broadcaster/caddy/friend known simply as “John” who you may be familiar with if you played either TGC 1 or 2. He usually gives you encouragement and tells you how many yards you have to the hole. He’ll also poke you with a stick by making jokes about your bad shots (darn you, John).

Turning John into a broadcaster in career mode or giving him a partner will help add to the immersion of the experience. This is one area I look forward to seeing.

Another thing I’m curious about is the swing animations. I’m big on things like ball physics and animations for any sports games, and It’ll be interesting to see how much the swing animations improve in TGC 2019 or if they will keep the animations from TGC 2 which are superb.

A game like NBA 2K has near perfect ball handling, shooting, and general player movement animations as well as ball flight when released. It helps you fall in love with the gameplay, and I look forward to seeing how HB handles these things with TGC 2019.

Overall, if you’re a fan of golf video games, you should feel pretty excited about what’s to come. We already have TGC 2 and Everybody’s Golf to enjoy among other games, and now, TGC 2019 will just add to the collection of golf gaming goodness.

You can learn more about The Golf Club 2019 at TheGolfClub2019.com.

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