It’s a packed schedule on the links — Genesis Invitational this month will give way to the Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Players Championship next month, followed by the Masters Tournament and RBC Heritage. Can Scottie Scheffler hold on to his world ranking or will Xander Schauffele and Rory McIlroy fight back? All this and more are going through the mind while playing the new PGA Tour Pro Golf game on Apple Arcade.

Being a longtime player of WGT Golf, it was a pleasant change to switch to Apple Arcade’s first officially licensed PGA Tour title. Does it live up to expectations?

Graphics and experience

Developed by HypGames, PGA Tour Pro Golf has an easy-to-use interface. Even a couple of years ago WGT Golf was easy to navigate but lately, there is too much going on in the opening screen. On the other hand, the HypGames title is easy to play, there are no advertisements or the need to spend money to move from one level to another.

You get to play in vertical mode unlike in WGT Golf. It helps if you often take the tube and want to play the game, there is easy one-hand navigation.

The colours are rich and the courses are well-designed. The bunkers could be tricky as you become a pro at the title. Also, if the ball hits a concrete pathway, the physics behind the ball movement is quite good.

Where HypGames lose a point is the soundtrack. Since I am hooked on golfing titles, I end up playing them for long hours during holidays and that means sitting through 18 holes and the background music. There are many swooshes in the Apple Arcade title but WGT Golf has a more soothing soundtrack.

What about courses?

You can, of course, play practice rounds but things get interesting when you play one-on-one online. Then there are courses. The one-on-one rounds are more or less similar to WGT Golf, which is a good thing.

When it comes to tournaments, players can tee it up on Pebble Beach Golf Links, Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Harbour Town Golf Links, TPC Sawgrass and much more. I have been able to access a couple of courses simultaneously. Once I finish playing a round, say the Spyglass Hill Back 9 Challenge, I can revisit the course 25 times to improve my score. In the last few days, I managed to revisit a course three-four times and each time the experience has been memorable.

On WGT Golf, there are more courses available but having too many options can be detrimental. I usually end up playing the four-five courses I like.

Scoring points

The more you play, the more gold coins you win with which you can upgrade clubs, golf balls and golf bags. It helps you tee off better and chances of hitting birdies improve. It’s not very different from WGT Golf but the latter has too many things going on lately, bringing down the overall experience.

Play or skip?

What I like about PGA Tour Pro Golf is that it is playable on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro. But that’s not true for most golf titles. Further, graphics in the game are up to scratch. What I would like to see is more courses getting added over time and perhaps the game should be slightly more challenging. And, of course, make the background score more relaxing. For Tiger Woods, the game is child’s play but for someone who constantly dreams of playing the sport, PGA Tour Pro Golf is a joy.

At a glance

Title: PGA Tour Pro Golf

Price: Subscribe to Apple Arcade, which has hundreds of free games

High notes

Excellent graphics

You can play in portrait mode

The physics behind ball movement is perfect

Easy to navigate and there are no ads or in-app purchases

Muffled note

Background score can be improved