Tiger Woods has once again revived the world of virtual golf with PGA Tour 2K23, the latest instalment to the universally acclaimed sports saga. Like before, players are invited to swing for stardom as an up-and-coming pro golfer over a series of dynamic courses, tournaments, and global events in its ever-evolving MyCareer mode.
Luckily, PGA Tour 2K23 has a litter of in-depth tutorials and starter challenges to help you take your first steps out on the green. Learning to master the sport, though, is another story, and one that involves a fair amount of trial and error backhand swings, putts, and tee-offs. But where do you begin in a world like PGA, and how exactly do you build up a certain repertoire that puts you on par with the poster children of the sport?
You Don’t Need To Be An Expert To Golf
It’s easy to assume that PGA, being the thirty-two-year-old series that it is, players must have this long-standing history with its games to understand how it all works. This isn’t actually the case, though, and PGA Tour 2K23, in particular, does a remarkable job at accommodating both newcomers to the series, and seasoned veterans who’ve followed it since its 1990 debut. Because of this, it’s fair to say that you don’t need to be an expert with all the answers to hit the grass running.
Of course, previous experience is a major plus in a series like PGA Tour, especially if you’re looking to challenge others in its online multiplayer mode. That said, you can learn all there is to learn without having an existing wealth of knowledge already stowed away under your belt. So, if this is your very first rodeo with PGA Tour, then rest assured that 2K doesn’t expect you to be an elite golfer to make a mark on the green.
Learn The Clubs
It’s no secret that a lot of newcomers to the series fail to make their shots because of the clubs they choose to bring to the course. Make no mistake that missing a shot can boil down to a number of factors, but selecting the wrong club is a definite no-no in PGA Tour, and can consequently cause you to struggle to make par. Therefore, before you hit the green, be sure to experiment with each of the varied clubs until you’ve grasped the basics.
PGA Tour 2K23 offers a generous selection of clubs, all of which come loaded with their own purpose. The good news here is that your caddie will determine which club you need whenever you’re about to tee off. That said, just because the caddie hands you a club, it doesn’t mean you should always follow up with it. Bottom line is, the more you learn about the clubs and their capabilities, the more you can test your caddie’s knowledge out on the green by switching up the defaults. You can change your club by pressing up or down on the D-Pad.
Customize Your Clubs In The Locker
Your default clubs will only take you so far in a game like PGA Tour 2K23, which is precisely why you should build up enough coins to shop for upgrades. These upgrades come in the form of Fittings, which can be applied to any of your clubs in the Locker section. You can only apply up to three Fittings for each club, and each one is scaled by rarity.
It goes without saying that adding just one of these Fittings to a club can boost your game when out on the green. As each Fitting has a number of attributes, including shot power, timing, swing path, and shaping, applying only the rarest will definitely give you the upper hand when fending off opponents in any of the game modes.
Grind XP And Coins
To make it anywhere in MyCareer, you’re going to need a lot of top-shelf cosmetics. Unfortunately, cosmetics come at a price, and unless you’ve stashed away a whole treasury of coins, you won’t be able to equip them to help triple your A game. Therefore, you’re going to want to grind XP and coins, which can be done by competing in global events and challenges.
Of course, taking part in any round will help you gain a foothold on the ladder, but to truly make an impact, you’re going to want to physically win the events and challenges. Like in PGA Tour 2K22, the higher the difficulty setting, the more XP you will acquire on completion. Claiming consecutive wins will rack up your XP Multiplier, which will, in turn, fast-track your character to superstardom.
Allocate Skill Points To The Essential Clubs
As you shovel your way through MyCareer, you will earn XP from beating events, which can be used to unlock a variety of perks for each of your acquired clubs. However, if you dump XP into skill trees for clubs that aren’t used all that much, then you’re only shooting yourself in the foot. Therefore, it’s always best to prioritize allocating points to the essential clubs.
When it comes to building up your skill trees, you will want to focus on the driver, irons, wedge, and putter. As these are the clubs you’ll be using the majority of the time, it’s best to cram as much XP into developing their attributes and leveling up the tiers.
There is a total of 126 skills to choose from in PGA Tour 2K23, only 50 of which can be collected by leveling up your character. When it comes to picking skill trees to evolve, try and aim for the clubs you favor the most on the green.
Tweak The Settings
It may seem obvious at this point, but changing your settings to suit your personal preferences can definitely help you out in the long run. Although it is recommended that you play on a higher difficulty to maximize your chances of netting more XP, it doesn’t mean you should never settle for something a little less threatening as and when needed.
If you navigate to the MyCareer Presets, you will find three adjustable sliders: Opponent Difficulty, Conditions Difficulty, and Rounds Per Event. If you’re still learning the basics and aren’t quite ready to dive into the deep end, then you can change the top two sliders to Very Easy, which will give you more leeway when playing rounds.
You still acquire XP for completing global events and challenges on the easier difficulties.
Experiment With The Archetypes
PGA Tour 2K23 lets you choose from five different archetypes, all of which come preloaded with their own abilities and perks. You can alter your character to accommodate any of these archetypes for free in MyCareer, and doing so can help you get a feel for each respective skill tree. For example, the Powerhouse archetype is better suited for players wanting to drive the ball with speed and power, whereas the Greensman archetype favors putting over drive.
Before diving into any global event, you should aim to experiment with each of the five available archetypes, which are Powerhouse, Greensman, Rhythm, Sculptor, and Woodsman. You can change your archetype between events by going to the MyPlayer menu and selecting Golfer. From here, scroll over to the Archetypes tab and pick the one that you would like to equip.
