It’s every Golden Tee lover’s favorite time of year — the preview and ultimate release of another year of Golden Tee courses and features! As usual, we can expect the upgrade to happen towards the end of September — but select locations already have GT 2013 in pilot mode.  This site is your source for demo videos and tips on all the new courses!

I’ve got pictures of each hole for reference — keep checking back for tips, tricks, and YouTube shots for each of the hole posts as we learn how to navigate our way around the 2013 courses.  Here are some shots of the 5 new courses, and some additional screen shots too.

New courses always take center stage, but what else is new with Golden Tee 2013?  Graphics are always important, and players constantly crave a more realistic and lifelike look to all features of the course.  Improved technology has allowed IT to make significant strides in graphics upgrades this year — read more about it here!

There is also a new camera angle called “CupCam”.  This should provide a more exciting view of your approach shots, especially those that are tracking close to the hole — read more about it here.

The theme music was changed, which is kinda fun — check it out here.

As usual, there is new equipment to choose from this year.  You’ll find three new options for your virtual golf ball — read about the balls here and consider giving them a try.  And there are two new sets of virtual clubs — read about the clubs here and give them a try as well to see if they offer any consistent advantages on this year’s courses!  I will certainly gather feedback from the player community on the new clubs and balls and offer up advice on whether or not these new options can help your game — we’ll see if they are intriguing or exciting enough to replace the very popular Hurtle balls and the Flare and Hawk clubs.

And new clothing is fun too, as I always enjoy winning new apparel when a new season starts!

Here is a description of this new course for Golden Tee 2013: “A truly one-of-a-kind setting, Calaveras, California houses the largest trees on the planet in one compact area. These Sequoias, which can get upwards of 20 feet in diameter at their base, seemingly blend in with the clouds. These gigantic obstacles are scattered throughout Sequoia Grove, and will push your virtual golfing creativity to its max. Be prepared to go under, around and even through them if you want to score low!”

Here is the official preview of the Calaveras, California course, and this article breaks down the course even further.

This post contains tips, tricks, and information related to the 2013 Golden Tee course Sequoia Grove! Check out the hole-by-hole breakdowns and example hole-outs as I partner up with the Golden Tee community to give you the edge you need to beat your friends!

The Hawks and Hurtles remain the most popular combo on this course, and I recommend that equipment for the time being.  However, the Flares are a very close second, so if you’re comfortable with that set, you can consider using it across the board.  The Ballistas are also used by some.

The following grid breaks down the best and worst you should be able to shoot on Sequoia Grove relative to the possible setups you could get on each hole:

Here’s an example hole-out.

VIDEO DEMO

This hole can be drivable from the front-right box — check out this ace with a big high-teed driver!

From other boxes, just lay up straight ahead.  Here’s a nice dunk after laying up back in the fairway.

VIDEO DEMO

Here’s an ace from the left box followed by a nice kick from the right box.

VIDEO DEMO

Here’s a great 3-wood from the front box cut through the left gap in the trees.  That box also sets up well for a straight shot through the gap.

The second box may well the the trickiest.  The gap straight at the green closes up significantly, although it’s still there if you want it — here’s a 5-wood finding the hole.

Otherwise you may curve a shot through the next gap over to the left, trying to catch the front-left portion of the green and hold for a putt.  It’s a bit safer off the tee, but there’s more of a chance of having to chip your next shot from off the green.

This 3-wood from the second-farthest box went through the closer gap and found the hole.

From the back box, this one gets long.  If you don’t hit a driver hard enough, you may not have enough height for that first gap.  With a headwind here, this high-teed driver settled nicely and found the hole!

VIDEO DEMO

This tricky par 5 forces you to plan ahead, because you have a couple options for your approach shot.  One common approach is to lay up towards the left edge of the fairway before the trees.  Here’s a 9-wood curved through the left gap that got a nice bounce into the hole.  This 7-wood also got it done nicely.

Another option is to blast a drive out into the rough to the right…if you can get far enough, you’ll have a straight-in approach to the green.  This drive was also placed nicely to take the water out of play, since the approach travels over the rough towards this pin instead.  The sand can also work.  Here’s an impressive recovery from the sand on the right!  Just be sure to clear the water, and realize that backspin won’t be as effective, so front pins can be tough to stick close.

It’s riskier, but you can try to play the fairway down in front of the sand, which rewards you with the easiest approach — here’s a hole-out from there.

Also, you could lay up to the right edge of the fairway just short of the sand, which sets up for a curve shot around the right side into the green.  This approach did not go as planned, but check out the incredible deflection.

VIDEO DEMO

Here is an example ace from the middle-right box.

Here’s a short little dunk from the front box.

VIDEO DEMO

From the middle-right box, there’s room to work a shot just inside the last tree — here’s an outstanding 5-wood ace from that setup.  And here’s a 4-wood that used the rough to land and find a pin on the right edge.  Finally, this 2-hybrid used a skip with backspin to find the cup!

You should also be able to work a shot through there from the front or back box.  This 5-wood was perfectly-played from the back box to a right pin.  This low-teed 3-wood skipped the water and found the hole — an amazing shot!

From the middle-left box, look up — there should be a small gap you can shoot through towards the green.  This high-teed 5-wood got through there.  If things go bad, you still might be well entertained — turn up the sound on this one.

This gap can also apply to other boxes where the curve around shot is very difficult — here’s a high-teed 5-wood floated on and in from the back box.

Nothing wrong with laying up on a tough setup, though — here’s an example hole-out from the fairway.

VIDEO DEMO

Here’s the first YouTube of 2013 from AK at IT — a bender through the giant sequoias into the green!

Here’s an example hole-out.

VIDEO DEMO

Three shot options here depending on the wind and pin placement.  You can either go around the left, around the right, or straight through depending on your setup.

This 5-wood curved around the left side from the front box.  And this one went right through the gap and got a nice kick back off the tree!  This driver was perfectly short, bouncing up and finding the hole.

Here’s a 3-wood around the left side from the middle-left box.

This 3-wood from the back box curved around the right side and found the hole.  With a left pin, this driver was a safe play around the left side since it can bounce through the rough if needed instead of having to clear water.  This driver also got around the left at a center pin by playing a small bounce off the back tree!

VIDEO DEMO

From the middle box, if you have a decent wind, you can play a high-teed 3-wood through the gap, like this amazing ace!

From the back-right box and with a great wind, you also have a chance, especially with a long driver — here I am just barely missing the hole!

Often times you’ll opt to lay up in the fairway — here is an example hole-out to this elevated green.

If you don’t have high-lofted woods in your bag, you can also lay up to the more elevated fairway to the right, which gives you a more manageable wood into the green.  Just hit it far enough to get past the tree, but not too far that you fall of the ledge, which slopes down at the end!

VIDEO DEMO

Here’s an ace from the second-closest box.

Here’s a great 9-wood hole-out from the second farthest box followed by another one from the back box.

Finally, check out this incredible pinball action — THREE bounces back and forth off the trees and shot into the hole!

VIDEO DEMO

Most of the time you’ll be shooting to a spot in the fairway that leaves you an opening through a gap in the trees towards the green.    Draw a line from the green through the gap in the forest to a point in the fairway to know where to shoot.  Here’s a nice 4-wood hole-out through that gap.  This 3-wood played the gentle rough above the hole to trickle back down and in.

This drive came up a bit but a nicely-played 3-wood curve through there found the hole.  And this shot required a lot of curve to get through and back to a right pin.

If you get a great box or wind, you can blast it all the way down the fairway.  This shot curved around and in from there.

VIDEO DEMO

Most of the time, you’ll be trying to hit a low-lofted shot through the hole in the bottom of the tree.  However, it’s very easy to miss high and ram right into it.  The trick is to try to land your ball well short of the green, because you’ll get a lot of bounces downhill through there.  Just pretend the green is about 20 yards closer.  If there’s a back pin, consider adding roll to get the extra distance you need.

There are several options when shooting under, dependent on the tee box.  From the back box, here’s a smoothly-hit low-teed driver that bounced along into a front pin.

From the second farthest box, here’s an example of how you can play it short and let the slope and bounces do the rest — a 7-wood that came up short just continued to bounce…all the way into the cup!

From the second closest box, this low-teed 3-wood found the hole.  This low-teed driver barely made it under and took some big hops into a back pin.  The 7-wood shot can work here too if you land it short!

If the wind is blowing left, I strongly advise putting a little left-to-right cut on your shot to prevent it from hopping all the way left into the water after it gets through.  Here’s an example by one of the best.  Here’s another professional effort.

There is also a small gap to the left of the tree that makes a drive around it possible with a wind blowing right, but it’s a bit risky — this high-teed 3-wood found the hole!  This medium-teed 3-wood also got through and kissed the pin before sucking back in again — nice.

Finally, if you are Damage Inc., you can bring a shot around the right side — just unbelievable.

VIDEO DEMO

If you’ve got a big wind blowing towards the green, you can high tee this one and try to drive it!  This shot came pretty close to the green and gave a nice eagle chip.

Otherwise you’ll want to get out to the left edge of the fairway (while staying dry, of course).  This drive was well-placed and enabled a straight-in shot for a hole-out.

Many times you will need to curve in your approach.  Here’s another instance where you cannot pull back too far left of center or you will ram into the tree instead — take it way out to 1 to curve it around.  Here’s a nice hole-out.

And here’s another nice way to play it, especially if the wind is blowing left like it was here — rotate right once and play the B1 shot that way.

VIDEO DEMO

This 7-wood from the second-closest box went right through the gap and found a right pin.

From the back box, this 3-wood went around the left side of the trees and sucked back into the hole.  This 9-wood also floated around the left side with a right-blowing wind and found the cup.

VIDEO DEMO