Today’s club is a powerful one. Before we get to it, we have an announcement:

December 16th Balance Patch

We’ll be putting out a balance patch with expected rollout beginning December 16th. We expect this to be mostly buffs, but Dunecrawler is one we have our eye on in case it needs a change either way. In the right situation, it’s very powerful.

Now on to the card!

Dunecrawler is an Epic Hybrid that unlocks at level 2. As the name suggests, this club has a burning desire to see you succeed on any hole involving sand.

Its first ability is Power Shot. When you hit with Dunecrawler, you can pull all the way back for a few seconds to hit even further — at the price of a more difficult swing.

Its second ability is Bag Sand Bonus. While Dunecrawler is in your bag, all of your clubs get bonus stats when hitting from sand.

Its third ability is Terrain Resist. Compared to other low-loft clubs like Drivers and other Hybrids, Dunecrawler suffers a much lighter penalty when hitting from sand.

These are Dunecrawler’s stats:

Like Maelstrom, Dunecrawler lives a double life.

Near the green, Dunecrawler takes on a secondary role, helping irons and wedges eke out longer, more accurate chipping shots.

Away from the green, Dunecrawler is itself a heavy-hitter. Any sand trap becomes a launch pad to Power Shot the ball into the stratosphere. But when do you need that much distance? We’re looking forward to showing you a few places in coming months, including a new Par 6 hole, tomorrow.

See you then.

Today, we put a new hole under the microscope — a brilliant new Par 3 experience devised by artist Jamie Dean. Let’s take an overhead view:

Mythical Hole 4 puts you in a challenging spot. Starting directly behind a treeline, you’ll need to come up with some way to defeat the obstacles and arrive on the green.

A first temptation might be to bring The Seeker, a legendary wedge with Bag Tree Passing, letting you cut through the foliage without much thought. However, there’s a second obstacle in the straight-to-the-hole approach: it’s easy to fall off.

In our in-house tournaments, there were three camps:

• Play it safe but slow with Blacksmith.
• Seeker-drive through the trees for speed.
• Angle in from the right or left.

So what if you decide to go right?

Right is definitely the faster route, but much more dangerous. A line of columns and a second patch of trees interfere with a direct shot. Even worse, coming in at the wrong angle can lead you to bounce in an unintended direction.

If only there were some way to reduce the bounce of a club!

To make the best right-side shot, we found ourselves doing all kinds of things, from boosting drivers with spin for a better angle to trying to intentionally hit the trees behind the green and then chip in from there.

Going left is, of course, no picnic either. There are more safe places to land, but making it to the hole may require multiple strokes unless you’re taking the most daring of all Skyfury paths.

Before we go, here’s a look at a few of the new avatars you’ll see in the shop soon!

See you tomorrow.

Today, we reveal just one new club. Fortunately, it’s an exciting one, with implications across a range of game types, including a tournament type we’ll be revealing later this month.

Maelstrom is an Epic Wedge that unlocks at level 5. It’s the next club in the legacy of Commonlaw and Conspiracy that seek to give interesting choices when bag building.

Its first ability is Bag Spin Bonus. If Maelstrom is anywhere in your bag, all your clubs will have extra Spin, which helps go further, stop short, or get around obstacles.

Its second ability is Bounce Reduction. When hitting with Maelstrom, the ball will bounce less, making it faster to chip into the hole.

Its third ability is High Loft. Maelstrom lofts higher than other wedges, which means that chipping is easier to control, but more vulnerable to wind.

These are Maelstrom’s stats:

With a split between bag-bonus abilities and quality-of-life chipping bonuses, Maelstrom is a bag buffer you might actually swing with! Bag Spin is often less impactful than Bag Control (except in a certain upcoming tournament) but we’re eager to see what kind of splash it makes throughout Golf Shootout.

See you tomorrow.

Today, it is our great pleasure to introduce two new clubs in the Nautilus brand AND a brand new hole, all playable December 12th.

Let’s go!

First up is Navigator, a common driver. New players will unlock this club right away at Level 1, and it’s intended to shake up the low-level club metagame, offering a strong alternative to Rampart on long holes.

Its ability is Chains into Woods and Hybrids, meaning that hitting with Navigator causes Wood and Hybrid clubs to gain a massive stat boost on your next shot.

These are Navigator’s stats:

While Navigator is intended mainly for low-level play, we’re dreaming of a world where even high level players make shots with more Woods and Hybrids. Part of that dream can be seen in upcoming extra-large holes.

One we’re including with the Nautilus release is Mythical 7:

As you might guess, Mythical 7 is intended as a challenge for veterans. At 825 yards, Mythical 7 is our second-longest hole ever, and is the first official Par 6. Just getting to the end should be considered a victory, but getting there efficiently might take careful bag-building.

One club to consider is the new putter, Atlantis:

Atlantis is a legendary putter that unlocks at Level 8. It’s the first-ever Putter with a bag-bonus ability. On certain holes, it’s a doozy.

Its first ability is Bag Water Bounce, which gives each of your clubs the ability to cause the ball to skip once off of water.

Its second ability is Bag Water Bonus, which gives each of your clubs increased stats based on how close you are to water.

These are Atlantis’ stats:

By the way, we’re also improving the way abilities like Water Bonus are calculated. You’ll now see more benefit if you’re close to the outer edge of the ability’s radius (30 meters). This means clubs like Hydroforce may have a few new holes on which they’ll have an advantage.

For Atlantis, these abilities provide a potent reason to keep the putter on hand for Sawgrass, Boston, and the new Mythical holes.

See you tomorrow.

We sat down with one of our software developers, Chau! Chau has been a great addition to our growing team and is currently working on PGA TOUR® – Golf Shootout. Learn more about her below!

Thanks for meeting with us, Chau. What do you do here at Concrete Software?

I work on backend services, mainly adding some features to the Admin Dashboard website and the tournament service. Currently, I am working on PGA TOUR game development. There are still so many things to learn, but I am speeding up as I go.

What would you say is the best part about Concrete Software?

I love that despite working remotely, people are still organizing a lot of fun events together.

What’s the best thing about your job?

The people are responsive here, and I get fantastic coaching from other developers. They are very knowledgeable, and they make sure I do not get stuck with any issues. In addition, the team seeks to optimize codes over time and keep good practice on documentation, which helps a lot in the long run.

What do you like to do in your spare time?

I like playing video games and reading stories (novels or series). If I go for movies, I usually choose comedy, fantasy, or action. Sometimes I move things (furniture) around the room to give it a new look. Other times, I call friends out to try new restaurants.

What’s your favorite travel spot?

Palace of Versailles, France. It is gorgeous.

What is your beverage of choice?

Bubble tea, coffee, or banana milk.

What advice do you have for someone aspiring to be in your profession?

Find out if programing is for you, then have fun with it!