Jack Nicklaus famously identified golf as 90 percent mental. Now playing the game between your ears has taken on an entirely new meaning with GOLF+, the official golf virtual reality game of the PGA TOUR.
Just how transformational is it? Bracing for a tough winter without actual golf, Kurt L. in Massachusetts recently purchased the new $299 Meta Quest 3S VR headset to exclusively play GOLF+. “When I fired it up for the first time, I was blown away with how immersive and realistic it felt,” he says. “Adjusting the clubface angles and shaping shots on the practice range has me excited to spend time exploring all of the virtual courses.”
After reading loads of online reviews from users raving about that realism, Spain’s Ronald Gram “took the plunge and bought the new Quest 3S. From the first moment, I was overwhelmed. I never thought it could get so close to real golf.”
Les Wilson of Scotland went a step further and bought one of the various golf club attachments available that take the experience to the next level, rather than swinging the standard Quest controllers. “The attachment’s weight makes it feel like a real club and makes the game more realistic,” says Wilson, who plays GOLF+ on the prior Quest 3. “And the putting is so realistic, too. With chipping and bunker play, you can even see the difference when you open the clubface to play flop shots. The shot trajectory reflects the actual swing I just made.”
That lifelike experience is perhaps why 70 percent of the 1.5+ million people who have hit 2.5 billion shots on the platform are golfers like you. “Whether you’re picking up a club for the first time or just want to play more, GOLF+ brings golf right to you,” says PGA Tour megastar Rory McIlroy. “It’s shockingly realistic and a fantastic tool to help introduce more people to the game and let them enjoy golf in a new way.”
GOLF+ isn’t meant to replace a Saturday morning round or a typical practice range session. But for golfers looking to scratch that itch for a quick round on a cold day, or a way to get back on the course with long-distance friends and relatives, it’s a mesmerizing experience that takes golf to another level.
The course selection is stellar, too. Lofoten Links – ranked 24th in the Golf Digest World Top 100 – has just been added, joining other courses on the list such as The Old Course at St. Andrews, Pebble Beach Golf Links, Bay Hill Club, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, Pinehurst #2, TPC Sawgrass, Castle Pines Golf Club and ValhallaGolf Club. GOLF+ is available exclusively on the Meta Quest platform and can be downloaded in the Meta Quest Store. Use promo code DIGEST-190889 to receive 50% off.
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com