Highlights

• Let's Golf! 2, a mobile-only game, stood out with its impressive visuals and received a high Metascore of 91.
• Golf Club: Nostalgia offers a unique post-apocalyptic twist on golf games, incorporating puzzle elements and challenging gameplay.
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Nintendo Wii made excellent use of motion controls and was considered the best golf game on the console.

The roots of golf can be traced back to Scotland sometime in the 1400s. The goal of hitting balls into a series of holes using clubs has become an explosively popular sport worldwide since then. Video game golf is less popular today than it was in the '90s and 2000s, but there have still been a handful of standout titles released sporadically over the years in recent times.

Many of the following games are considered the best because they offer the most realistic experience. However, some golf games are more whimsical and are played purely for fun. Synonymous with golf, Tiger Woods has headlined many of the top golf video games, while the other most notable name in golfing video games is, bizarrely, the platforming hero Mario. Let's see which games landed on the green and which sank in the bunker.

Updated on October 15, 2023 by Mark Sammut: The best golf games generally fall within two franchises, although there are a couple of outliers. While these types of releases are not extremely popular, the sub-genre tends to produce a new project every other year.

10 Golf Club: Nostalgia

Formerly known as Golf Club: Wasteland, Nostalgia is a wildly different experience from the average golf game. For one, the indie title is set in a post-apocalyptic climate that is divided into short stages. While humanity has settled down on Mars, Earth has been turned into one massive golf course, and players take control of a man who is steadily trying to work his way through its complicated holes.

Golf Club: Nostalgia offers a fascinating twist on these types of games by incorporating ideas from the puzzle genre. The campaign is not particularly long, but it is fairly challenging and contains some replay value.

9 Mario Golf (N64)

Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 was released in 1999 and was the first entry in the Mario Golf series. Nintendo's mascot character is well known for his sporting ventures today, though Mario gathering his friends and enemies for some friendly competition was still a relatively new concept in the late '90s, so many people were doubtful that a Mario golf game would be a success.

Fan concerns were soon alleviated, however, when they finally got their hands on the game. It's hard to deny that Mario Golf's visuals have aged poorly, though the gameplay has held up tremendously well, to the point where it's still the go-to golf game for many players.

8 Hot Shots Golf 3

Hot Shots Golf 3 (also known as Everybody's Golf 3) was developed by Clap Hanz and was first released in 2001 in Japan before arriving in North America the following year. The game offered an arcade alternative to the simulation-style Tiger Woods PGA Tour series, which was thriving in the early 2000s.

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Like Mario Golf on the N64, players shouldn't let Hot Shots Golf 3's released date put them off trying the game today, as it's still great fun to play with friends.

7 What The Golf?

For golf enthusiasts and people who just care for the sport alike, What The Golf? is a must-play! It's not a typical golf game, as What The Golf? will surprise players at every hole. The ridiculous physics in the game provides a hilarious experience; expect to hit plenty of objects that are not golf balls.

For the record, this is not for players looking for the usual golfing experience. It follows the premise that "everything is golf" and aims to offer a silly, comedic experience. Players can also build levels with the game's level editor, adding a great layer of content to the PC, Switch, and Apple Arcade game.

6 PGA Tour 2K21

Finally, there is a recent golf game that lived up to its expectations. As the name suggests, PGA Tour 2K21 was published by 2K Sports. Development was handled by HB Studios, a Canadian company that has worked on games for numerous different sports over the years, including Cricket, Rugby, and Football.

PGA Tour 2K21 features many fantastic fictional courses, as well as some iconic real courses, such as East Lake Golf Club and Riviera Country Club. PGA Tour 2K21 stands out with its great mix of realism and accessibility, with plenty of options for players to toggle to suit their needs and preferences. PGA Tour 2K23 is also a good entry in the series for anyone searching for the franchise's most recent project.

5 Links 2003

Avid golf gamers likely remember the Links franchise. The golf series was predominantly a PC exclusive, excluding the final game in the franchise, Links 2004, which was exclusively released on the original Xbox. There were many excellent Links games, but the franchise's best was the PC-exclusive Links 2003.

The game was developed by Microsoft and offered some of the most realistic available at the time, with the game's physics being a particular standout. The level of golfer customization seen in Link 2003 was also a highlight.

4 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (Wii Version)

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is the first, but certainly not the last game on this list from the iconic Tiger Woods PGA Tour series. The game was released on all major consoles at the time, but it's the Nintendo Wii version specifically that makes this list.

Following the ridiculous amount of fun that players had with the revolutionary golf game in Wii Sport, people were desperate to play more golf with the Wii's motion controls. Of all the many golf games that were released on the Nintendo Wii, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was the best. The game made excellent use of the Wii MotionPlus, which helped elevate the game above anything else on the console.

3 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

Released for the Nintendo GameCube, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour is widely considered to be the best Mario Golf game. Mario Golf: World Tour could be viewed as superior because of the downloadable content that adds additional courses and characters, and Mario 64 has tremendous nostalgia value; however, Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour has a superior range of motion for golfers and a more intuitive feel that gives it a decisive edge.

Furthermore, the game features some incredible courses that are a joy to look at and make the game a delight to play even today.

2 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004

The PGA Tour gaming franchise began in 1990, but the world's most famous golfer didn't have his name inserted into the title until Tiger Woods 99 PGA Tour Golf. Shortly after this, the franchise had an incredible run of games, with every yearly entry from Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2002 to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 impressing fans and critics.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 nailed a fantastic balance of fun and realism, which is what the majority of golf video games desperately try to achieve. Despite the game's age, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 is still great fun to play today, which is a testament to how well the game was developed.

1 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

One of EA Sports' crowning achievements is that they - albeit only narrowly - managed to improve upon one of the greatest sports games of all time, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004, with the very next game in the series.

The game's standout feature was My Legend Pursuit, which let players compete against various legendary golfers on some of the world's best courses, with the tantalizing reward of unlocking them on offer. For having one of the most robust golfer lineups and for being feature-rich, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 wins the green jacket.

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