In honor of the Masters: The best retro (Sixth Generation and before) golf video game?

[Baloo]

In honor of Rory McIlroy's career grand slam achieved at the Master's tournament today: What's the "Green Jacket" worthy retro golf game of all time? Golf seems to have made it to a plethora of systems in a variety of different types. And though I can't say many games have truly stood out, I've had my fair share of fun with a few games. Here are my favorites:

1. Neo Turf Masters for the Neo Geo MVS. For me the GOAT of golf games, just arcade magic here. The tight controls, the fast-paced gameplay, the player expressions, the difficult courses and the jamming music just make Neo Turf Masters the ultimate package. Watching tool-assisted speed runs of this game on YouTube is oddly satisfying. It really makes you feel like a champ. The AES CD release has an extra course, but the load times on that version and the ease of accessibility of the original (with ports on Wii VC, PSP, PS2, and even Linux through Humble Bundle!l still make the MVS one the winner.
2. Mario Golf Toadstool Tour. Just a huge leap from Mario Golf on 64. Flaming hot swings, lush courses, easier putting, and that graphical boost just made it feel like arcadey golf games had gone to the next level.

 

[soulsas]

There’s a certain kind of magic that happens when you blend the quiet elegance of golf with the whimsical charm of the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario Golf, in both its Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64 incarnations, wasn’t just a sports game—it was a revelation. And I’m still in love with it.

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

 

[NotReallyHere]

This one

Love the music, love the pace of play. And it's a challenging game, to boot!

Honorable mention goes to Kirby's Dream Course. Loved it way back when, though I have difficulty going back to it now...

 

[cobra427]

Tiger Woods 2004 for the course selection.
Tiger Woods 2005 for the legends content (vs. Nicklaus, Palmer, Hogan, etc.)
PGA Tour III is the best 2D.
Mario Golf GBC has a great campaign.
Pebble Beach (Saturn) for the Craig Stadler commentary.

 

[Midori Shimada VT]

Here's my top 10 list of the best retro golf games:

1. Neo Turf Masters (Especially ON THE GREEN!)
2. Kirby's Dream Course (The best SNES golf game, especially because Kirby's in it)
3. Ribbit King (You play golf with frogs)
4. Pebble Beach Golf Links
5. Hot Shots Golf (PS1)
6. Ninja Golf (7800)
7. PGA Tour Golf 486 (First PGA Tour game for 486 PCs)
8. Links 386 Pro
9. Eikou no St. Andrews
10. PGA Tour 96

 

[bjork]

Neo Turf Masters, both on Neo Geo and NGPC.
Hot Shots Golf Fore! on PS2
Leaderboard: Executive Edition on C64
kinda all of the T&E Soft 16 and 32 bit titles? They're all clunky in ways but I love them for it