The Golf Club 2019 is a sequel full of new features

HB Studios' Golf Club joins the exclusive group of sports games that enjoy yearly iteration, in this case with Golf Club 2019 set to be the next game in the series. The Canadian developer announced a few days ago that the next entry in the series is coming to PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 later this year.

This is the straight sequel to The Golf Club 2, released last summer on the same systems. Are there enough reasons to justify another title? There is a long list of features, including real-world courses, new game modes, an overhauled user interface, an updated character editor, and the expected improvement on graphics and physics. You'll find all of them after the developer diary and a couple of screenshots.

• An all-new deep and challenging single player Career Mode. Work your way through the ranks to become the number one golf professional in the world.
• In addition to the library of 170,000 existing user-created courses which everyone can play, The Golf Club 2019 will include a selection of real-world courses intricately mapped using high detail terrain data.
• New play modes: Alt-Shot and Skins have been added in response to popular demand!
• Online Matchmaking brings a new streamlined experience to The Golf Club franchise for competitive play. Compete on any of the approved and official courses in a round of Head to Head Match Play, 2-4 player Stroke Play, Alt-shot or Fourball Team Play, or put your virtual currency on the line in wager matches featuring Skins.
• Private Matches give the full benefits of Matchmaking with control over who is invited to play, the course played, round format used and additional conditions for each match.
• Massively expanded upon Character Editor. A vast array of new character customization options including licensed apparel and brand integration for the first time in a TGC game, new club heads, and adjustable character height and weight options.
• Enhanced Online and Solo Societies. Grow your members, upgrade your Clubhouse, run tournaments and earn virtual currency. Society owners can now add others as Admins, entry requirement settings allow Society owners to set specific criteria, and event entries can now be determined by results and standings from previous events.
• Completely overhauled UI, offering a fresh new look across the game experience.
• The award-winning Course Designer just gets bigger and better! Design, build and share your courses online using cutting edge procedural generation or get intimate with the powerful terrain editing tools. New features include optimized autofill options when drawing splines and painting surfaces, tree rotation plus many new objects in the extensive library of 400+ props for designers to create with.
• Cross-platform sharing of user-designed courses remains a core feature. Design on your platform of choice and share your course with your friends on another platform.
• Integration of SpeedTree technology for the first time in a TGC game ensures even higher visual quality gameplay than before.
• Many rendering and special effects updates including optimized dynamic shadows, many more visual details between club, ball and surfaces, and much more.
• Further improvements to the ball physics for added realism and accuracy.
• Improvements to the crowd system including seated spectators for added authenticity.
• Improved swing mechanic and user feedback. The swing feedback sees a completely new look with well-defined and informative detail about what is happening on each shot, split into a number of feedback mechanics.