Global Golf Tour (Pro-Am Difficulty) for PS4 on 2K21

[parbuster1962]

The Global Golf Tour (Pro-Am Level PS4 Society)


Club Profile

The GGT began on TGC2019 and we will continue to run the Society on TGC2019 for at least one more complete season. We are also now creating a version on 2K21 in anticipation of more and more players moving to this exciting new game designed by HB Studios.

The Society Tour plays only real course recreations (RCR’s) and we are truly a Global Tour as we play different courses around the world using realistic Tour playing conditions.

To join the society go to the “Join Society” page press the L3 button to reach the search function and type in “Global Golf Tour” or at least “Global”.


Membership

At this time we are limiting the membership to players with Handicaps between +20 and 36. Until the custom designed courses begin to be offered everyone playing on 2K21 will have a handicap within our range limit.

The course slope rating system on TGC2019 was improperly designed and as a result player handicaps were not realistic. We do not know if this problem has been solved for 2K21 and will not know until custom courses are added and receive ratings.

If your handicap goes below +20 (ie. to +21 and beyond) you will not be able to play events on the GGT. Once your handicap drops back within the range of +20 and 36 you will be able to play again.


Difficulty Settings

We have decided to set the level of difficulty to Pro-Am to start Season 1. The default setting will have Shot Aids on except “Putt Preview” which will be disabled. We will be making minor adjustments from time to time with the shot aids to find a good comfort level for our members.

For the Majors and season ending Playoffs we will probably increase the difficulty from the normal standard.


Course Selection

The Global Golf Tour does in fact tour the world. We will have events all over the world roughly following a realistic travel schedule. For a course to be selected for inclusion on the GGT it must be a reasonable facsimile of the real course.

TGC2019 courses have a serious flaw with their "slope rating" system this is why we see so many players with amazingly low handicaps. These are partially a result of being good players but in most cases it is because they are playing courses with slopes below 60 and/or had a higher than normal course rating.

GGT generally avoids these types of courses, if I do include them you will likely see extremely difficult playing conditions and/or the tournament will only be 1 or 2 rounds.

If you want to stay within the 36 to +20 handicap limit on GGT I strongly advise you not to play courses with low slopes (below 60) or your handicap will become very low. Many of you are members of other Societies and I recommend you check the ratings and slopes before you play in a tournament.


Course Conditions

On the GGT we believe in varying the course conditions and tees used from round to round. Our Tour is known for challenging winds and our goal is to bring the best out in our members and not be a Tour where super low scores are the norm.
Since 2K21 will be a new and more difficult for all of us for Season 1 we will not be making the course conditions as difficult as on TGC2019.


Events & Fees

Fees will be set at a nominal amount, 25% of the fees go into the Society bank account which will be added to the prize fund.


Society/Tour Format

Until people become accustomed to the new game and we have at least 50 active players per event the Tour format will consist of one event for all members.

We will then switch to a Gold and Silver Tour format where the top 50% of players will play on the Gold Tour and the remaining on the Silver Tour. Eligibility for the Gold Tour will be based on Total Points and Total Earnings for the season and the respective eligibility will be rebalanced after each event.

Season 1 will consist of the following:

     - 31 Tournaments

     - 2 Majors

     - 2 Championships

     - Bonus Point Playoff Qualifier

     - Playoffs

     - Global Golf Tour Cup


We will also be instituting a Ryder Cup style team event where players will be placed in teams based on their nationality. We are planning to have the following teams:

     1. USA

     2. Canada

     3. Great Britain (England, Scotland & Wales)

     4. Rest of Europe

     5. Rest of the World

     6. Mixed Team (made up of spares waiting to join one of the other 5 teams)

Minimum team size will be 4 members but will be increased if necessary.

Further details on the Gold & Silver Tours and Team Events will be published as we near the implementation dates.


Important Policy Change

"Five Victory Limit Policy"

An issue that arose in other Societies while we were on TGC2019 appears to be possible in our Society on 2K21. The goal of my Societies has always been for Society play to be challenging, enjoyable and competitive for all members. In the TGC2019 there were a few Societies where a single or pair of players dominated the Society and won the majority of the events. By the end of the season one Society that had 30+ participants dwindled down to less than 5 because of this pair winning the 75% of the events.

While the policy may not be popular for a few players my priority is to make this a Society that everyone feels that they can be competitive. Effective immediately the policy will be as follows:

1. Any player that wins 5 events during the season may no longer compete for the remainder of the season.
2. The player will be notified that he is no longer eligible to play and is membership will temporarily be changed to "banned".
3. At the end of the season his status will be reinstated.
4. If however a player achieves his 5th victory during the "GGT Tour Quarter Finals" or "GGT Semi Finals" he will still be able to eleigible to compete in the "Global Golf Tour Cup" season finale.


Member Feedback

I would love to hear from members with suggestions and course recommendations. Please feel free to email me at [e-mail]

[parbuster1962]

Opening Day has arrived. Settings will remain ProAm with most ProSim aids off. Putting meter is on.

Good luck to all.

[parbuster1962]

Important announcement Regarding Season 1

Society play on 2k21 has gotten off to a rocky start for almost every Society as most of us began our Season's this week. If you played in the Par 3 contest you were subjected to a catastrophic set up in terms of Play Difficulty and lack of playing aids.

Rest assured this was not the setup I chose for the event, as the name implies we are a Pro-Am difficulty society and will remain so until the level of play dictates an increase in difficulty. I returned home from a short trip to a series of justifiably angry posts and emails. I played a few holes and deemed the tournament unplayable. Unfortunately the game does not allow me to refund entry fees but stay tuned for my plan.

I searched the various 2k21 forums, Facebook groups and YouTube last night and our society is not the only one with a problem. There is yet another bug/glitch within 2k21 which is preventing society owners from setting the Difficulty Restrictions. Societies like ApexHound and Respawn (YouTube gds!!) have both suspended play until the problem is solved. TGC Tours is rumoured o have delayed paly until the bug has been eradicated. Some Societies are having bizarre settings like ours and others merely allow people to play at any difficulty level and as a result people are playing Beginner Level and shutting -80 for 4 rounds.

Members should be able to see the difficulty restrictions by going to the Administration tab but that is not available. It was available yesterday but now it's not so this is yet another problem.

Until the problem is solved we will still run our Tour and I will set the Tour on it's default difficulty settings (I will post this later today), there will be no entry fee to the next event and I will be adding 1500 from my personal coin account to the prize fund so you can win some coins to replenish your coins. Then all events will have a nominal charge of 10 coins and I will be adding my personal coins that I have to this prize fund.

Once he problem is solved we will either end Season 1 and start a new season or we will just continue on with my Season 1 schedule but reurn to the normally planned format.

I hope this will help re-establish the Global Golf Tour to what it was on TGC2019. It was disheartening to upset my past members and any new people with this issue that's effecting most Societies.

I will also be starting a Facebook Group where I will be posting updates and members can post as well as maintaining both version of his forum on TGCTours Forum and 2Kforums.

My next post here will list the Society default settings which I think will give us all an experience similar to that on TGC2019.

Regards
Gordon

[parbuster1962]

These are the Society Default Settings as of August 27, 2020. If the settings are changed we will be posting the revised default settings:

Swing Difficulty                    Pro Am
Swing Timing                       On
Distance Control Meter     Putting Only
Distance Control Assist    Off
Putter Preview                    Off
Course Yardage                 On
Pro Vision Wind                 Off
Pro Vision Lie Penalty      Off
Pro Vision Lie Angle         Off
Pro Vision Elevation         Off
Pro Vision True Shot        Off
Pro Vision Trajectory       Aim Only
Scott Camera                   On
Lie Grid                              On
Green Grid                        On
Pin Preference                 Out
Aim Marker                      On
Wind Display                   Wind Speed
Distance Display            Total


We have also just created a Facebook Group called "Global Golf Tour on 2K21. 

[parbuster1962]

Par 3 Contest recap

Due to the bugs that are plaguing society difficulty settings this season many societies have had some weird settings. Global golf Tour was no exception. The settings were Pro-Am with modifications (see post above) but what we ended up with was Master settings with all aids off including no green grid.

The course was unplayable and as a result only a handful of dedicated players finished the 2 rounds.

Congratulations to our 9 finishers:

1. rjhull1
2. reneg1986
3. call-me-mossy
4. xirishpride
5. meyer7921
6. mikedawg23
7. Merchiebhoy85
8. Raneman85
9. Thee1nolnlyzoltar

We are now playing the 4 round Inaugural Open at TPC Scottsdale. Thankfully playing conditions are much easier, most of the default settings did get used sadly Swing Timing s on OFF rather than ON which is making it easy to hit fairways and greens.

Greens and winds are still easy but that will change soon.

Good luck to all.

[parbuster1962]

Officials have posted the tentative schedule:

Global Golf Tour Season 1


Event  Rounds         Event                                        Course

1              2        Par 3 Opener                          Masters Par 3
2              4        Global Tour Inaugural           TPC Scottsdale
3              2        Lake Wobegon Open            TPC Twin Cities
4              2        Outback Classic                    Barnbougle Dunes
5              2        Norwegian Wood                  MB Kings North Final
6              2        Hurricaine Inv.                       Copperhead Course
7              3        California Championship    Riviera Country Club
8              2        London Amatuer                  Wentworth West Course
9              2        Lone Star State Inv.             TPC San Antonio
10            2       English Masters                   The Dukes @ Woburn GC
11            4       British Open                          Royal Portrush 148th Open
12            2       Arctic Championship          Loften Links
13            2       Carolina Inv.                         Quail Hollow Club
14            2       Great Lakes Amatuer         Arcadia Bluffs
15            2       Southern Classic                 East Lake Golf Club
16            2       Arabian Inv.                          Emirates Golf Club
17            2       Tennessee Blues                TPC Southwind
18            2       Air Canada Cup                   TBA
19            2       New England Champ.          TPC Boston
20            2       Cougar Classic                   Wildcat (Highlands Course)
21            2       Hawaii Five-O                      Mauna Kea GC
22            4       Masters                                Major Firethorn
23            2       San Joaquin ProAm           The Reserve @ Spanos Park (L)
24            2       Quarry Challenge                Black Diamond Ranch
25            2       Monterey Open                   Cypress Point
26            2       Cornwall Cup                      St Enodoc Golf Club
27            2       English Championship      Royal Lytham & St. Annes
28            2       Haggis Invitational            Carnoustie
29            2       Quarter Finals                    Kiawah Ocean PGA 21
30            4       Semi-Finals                        Bandon Dunes
31            4       Global Golf Tour Cup       Pebble Beach

[parbuster1962]

Inaugural Event Recap

We played our 1st official event of the season at TPC Scottsdale under perfect playing conditions that were made even better by the “bug” that plagues Societies turned off Swing Timing” to make low scores the norm.

The event was very competitive with 4 golfers within 5 strokes of the lead.

The Tournament had a 1500 coin bonus added to the pot with Mbeard91 winning our first tournament.

The remaining Top 5 finishers were:

Sedas-das
Dabriangolfer
Dablode
Rider824

We had an excellent turnout with 46 of our 69 members finishing all 4 rounds.

Congratulations to those who had Holes-in-One and there was an even rarer Albatross.

Our next event, Lake Wobegon Open, is being played at TPC Twin Cities and is scheduled for 36 holes.

[parbuster1962]

Lake Wobegon Open Recap

The GGT headed to the Midwest for it's last stop before the long flight to Australia followed by an equally long flight to Scandanavia for the following event.

59 of 73 members entered the tournament which is fantastic.

Being in the Midwest that can only mean one thing and that's windy conditions. TPC Twin Cities has a fair bit of water and yours truly put more than a few balls in "natures ball washer" over the 36 hole event.

A familiar name was once again on the top of the leaderboard as once again with MBeard91 collecting the winners cheque and the handsome crystal trophy.

Top 5 finishers were:

1. Mbeard91 .24
2. Byrd1009 -19
3. Butteredtoast27 -17 (you have to love that name!!)
4. Unrealhave -16
5. ChrisGreg10 -15

ChrisGreg10 was a force on the GGT Tour on TGC2019 and it's great to see him on the leaderboard on our 2K21

On a more serious note the Global Golf Tour is invoking Section113(2)b of the Rule Book and will be inspecting Mbeard91's equipment for any possible rules infractions. For those not aware of this rarely used rule it states:

"Winners of tournaments are subject to an inspection of their equipment by Tour Officials".

I'm sure his equipment will pass the test but rumour has it some Tour players are planning to ensure Mbeard91's clubs for some reason miss the flight to Australia.

Suggestions and comments are always welcome. Email me at [e-mail]

[parbuster1962]

Kangaroo Klassic Recap

Our first overseas tournament was a great success with 49 participants and a 3 way tie for First Place. Talk about a competitive field we had 11 golfers finish with 3 shots of the lead.

Our Top 5 golfers were:

1. Panhitoleal05         -20
1. ChrisGreg10           -20
1. Mbeard91               -20
4. Lerrdaddy24          -19
5. MJchej123            -18

Society President continues to struggle with his putter and was well back.....again.

For the next 2 days we are in Norway for the Oslo Open at MB Kings North Final designed by our very own member Pal Henriksen.

Stay tuned for news on 2 important announcements:

1. Society course layout strategy
2. Implementation of the "5 Victory Fair Play" policy

[parbuster1962]

Important Policy Change

"Five Victory Limit Policy"

An issue that arose in other Societies while we were on TGC2019 appears to be possible in our Society on 2K21. The goal of my Societies has always been for Society play to be challenging, enjoyable and competitive for all members. In the TGC2019 there were a few Societies where a single or pair of players dominated the Society and won the majority of the events. By the end of the season one Society that had 30+ participants dwindled down to less than 5 because of this pair winning the 75% of the events.

While the policy may not be popular for a few players my priority is to make this a Society that everyone feels that they can be competitive. Effective immediately the policy will be as follows:

1. Any player that wins 5 events during the season may no longer compete for the remainder of the season.
2. The player will be notified that he is no longer eligible to play and is membership will temporarily be changed to "banned".
3. At the end of the season his status will be reinstated.
4. If however a player achieves his 5th victory during the "GGT Tour Quarter Finals" or "GGT Semi Finals" he will still be able to eleigible to compete in the "Global Golf Tour Cup" season finale.

[parbuster1962]

Oslo Open Recap

Our Champion was a brand new member and definitely made his mark in his first Tournament. Loki521975 took the lead in Round 1 and hung on inspite of a last round charge by Dungarvoner_12 and Call_me_mossy who both carded 61's in the final round. Largest turnout so far with 58 entrants.

Here are our Top 5

Loki521975                    -21
Dungarvoner_12           -19
Call_me_mossy            -18
MomDuhMeatloaf       -18
ALkitts81                       -18

It's the start of hurricane season along the Gulf Coast so we are in Florida for the aptly named Hurricane Invitational @ Copperhead.

After that we head to California for our first Championship event of the year. 54 holes at the Riviera Golf & Country Club.

[parbuster1962]

Hurricane Classic Recap

Scheduling a tournament in Florida during hurricane season can only mean one thing and that's windy conditions at the aptly named Hurricane Classic.

Since high winds were forecast tournament officials shortened up the course in Round 1 then returned the course to normal for Round 2.

Our winner was GoPack2017 who has been a long time member of the Global Golf Tour dating back to our inception on TGC2019. GoPack2017 took he lead with an amazing 62 in the wind then hung on as Sedas-das made a charge in Round 2 but fell 1 shot short. ChrisGreg10 had the best score in Round 2 with a sizzling 60 but the winds got the better of him in the opening round and he fell a few shots short of claiming the title. Congratulations GoPack2017 and good to see you back on the Tour.

Top 5 finishers were:

1. Gopack2017         -16
2. Sedas-das            -15
3. Loki521975           -13
4. UFgatorkyle          -12
4. ChrisGreg10         -12
4. Juperjp6                -12
4. Mbeard91              -12

The California Championship at Riviera Golf & Country club is our first "Championship" event of the season and one of our few 54 hole tournaments. The course is narrow and if you are hitting out of the rough all day into the small greens par will be a good score.

From Los Angeles it's a long flight to London for the London Amateur where the pros have been invited to play alongside the top amateurs in Great Britain. The course will be set up shorter and easier than they are accustomed to on Tour so the scores will be low and eagles are probable on almost every short Par 5

[parbuster1962]

California Championship Recap

We had our first Championship event of the season with a similar result. Four time winner Mbeard won again and he is now won win away from winning his 5th and final event of the season. With that comes an all expense paid trip to another Society where he can attempt to dominate that Tour as well.

we are beginning to see some European golfers on the leaderboard which means that our upcoming Ryder Cup style event should be a hotly contested Tournament. The USA is the early favourite while the bookies have dropped Canada down to 3rd after a strong showing from members from continental Europe. More details to come in the weeks to come.

Top 5 were as follows:

1. Mbeard91                   -29
2. alkitts81                     -26 new comer to the Society
3. Loki521975               -25
4. Omme800                  -24 another newcomer
5. MomDuhmeatloaf   -21

We are in London for the London amateur where players are having a grand time with the short course and windless conditions. The British Open is coming up soon and conditions will be anything but inviting.

[parbuster1962]

London Amateur Recap

Talk about 2 different courses!! Round 1 was played from the middle tees and low scores were plentiful. We had minimal winds and moderate greens. Day 2 we returned to the back tees while wind and green conditions remained the same. On average the scores were more than 6 shots higher on day 2 and only 4 golfers had lower scores on Day 2 than on Day 1.

The Global Golf Tour set a record with 62 entrants and we are now well on our way to having a dual tour which will begin in October.

Congrats to Mbeard91 for winning his 5th event in 6 starts. Our "5 Victory Limit" rule apples which means Mbeard91 can no longer participate in Season 1. He is more than welcome to return in Season 2.

Top 5 finishers were:

1. Meard91                   -27
2. BarryLavety             -26 long term GGT member dating back to TGC2019
2. Fcgree4545             -26 strong finish for new member
4. Windy-City-Snipa   -23 another long term member back on the leaderboard
5. Superjp96                -22 newcomer and fellow Canadian

Next up we are at what I consider my favourite of the official courses and we will be playing it on harder than default conditions. Members are going to be shocked at how much harder this course is with hard greens and high winds.

[parbuster1962]

Lone Star State Invitational Recap

People think Pro Am Swing Difficulty is too easy but what members learned at this tournament is that "course conditions" can make the game very challenging. TPC San Antonio is an easy course if you play the "default conditions" but an absolute beast when the winds are up and the greens are hard.

This was our largest event ever with 92 participants!!

Round 1 was set up very short but the winds were high and the greens were very firm while Round 2 was back to full length and softer greens.

We had a first time winner this week. Congratulations to Sedas-das.

Top 5 were:

1. Sedas-das                -15
2. Loki521975               -12
3. Bossofthegrass       -11
4. Meyer7921                -10
4. X-Bretwalda-x          -10

The GGT is back to England where we play "The Dukes @ Woburn". This is not your typical English course as it is set in a forest and has very small greens. As long as you can avoid overhanging branches and keep your ball on the fairway you should score well.

Our first Major "The British Open" is next and golfers will face Royal Portrush for 4 rounds. The conditions will vary wildly from heavy rains and soft, slow conditions to windy and very firm with everything in between. A 500 coin bonus will be added to the Prize Fund.