The Golf Club 2019: What the PGA Tour Eseries could mean for golf games

The Golf Club 2019 has begun an esports series with the PGA Tour and it makes you wonder what it means for the future of golf games?

The Golf Club 2019 and PGA Tour has started an esports league of sorts called the “PGA Tour Eseries” due to the COVID-19 pandemic putting the world on hold. The first match featured two rising golf stars Carlos Ortiz and Collin Morikawa going at it one-on-one. GOLF TV’s Henni Zuel was on the broadcast.

The two pros tee’d it up in a match on The Golf Club 2019 Featuring the PGA Tour. Playing a round on a virtual TPC Louisiana (home of the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic which was supposed to be held this week), they played a full 18 holes.

Ortiz would end up winning the battle, going 2UP on Morikawa. The 23-year-old had a chance to tie things up but failed to make a putt, giving Ortiz the victory.

But the question is; was this the beginning of something bigger or was it simply a one-time thing to fill the void? I assume it’s the latter, but it would be cool if it did become a regular part of the PGA Tour universe.

With the volcanic rise of esports popularity, it only makes sense for the PGA Tour to jump on board. The European Tour has already hopped on the ship with their eTour where some of Europe’s best World Golf Tour players show their stuff.

And certainly, having a partnership with WGT and DreamHack, two highly respected gaming brands certainly helps their case. Aside from the Euro Tour, Golden Tee has also been big in the esports scene.

Golden Tee is really looked at as one of the pioneers of esports having hosted tournaments back in the 1990s. And more recently they’ve hosted some World Championship events, including last year’s which was held at the Orleans Casino in Las Vegas. On top of that, it was broadcasted on ESPN.

And during this quarantine, it was re-aired on ESPN a month or so ago. So a game like Golden Tee has a great chance to be a golf game that shines in this current esports landscape and WGT may not be far behind.

However, The Golf Club 2019 has serious potential if the right cards are played. It’s a game that’s published by 2K which is a huge advantage for them and of course, having the PGA Tour license isn’t too shabby either.

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Of course, the audience may be of concern, but you know that golf games will never be esports powerhouses. All you can do is hope that one of the games’ leagues/tours does enough to surpass the expectations that are set. It doesn’t need to be a juggernaut, it just needs to do enough to get the job done.

Although The Golf Club 2019 has 2K and the PGA Tour on their side, Golden Tee looks it has the best current chance to take-off based on the audience it has built over the last 25 years or so. One of its flaws is that you could only play GT by going to a bar or arcade, or by purchasing the Home Edition which can be pricey. But now the game is on mobile too, so it’s more accessible.

With all of that said, the PGA Tour has a great opportunity on their hands if they want to continue this series with The Golf Club 2019. TGC 2019 is a great game, and it would be fun to see if they’d allow matches on some of the many created courses in the game.

If they truly want to follow in the footsteps of the European Tour with their WGT series and Golden Tee, then now’s the time. What better time than now, when the sports world has halted, and everyone is chilling out at home playing and watching video games?

Your move, PGA Tour. The floor is yours.