''UTour Golf'' was an online

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

game developed by British studio Gusto Games and published by Groove Media Inc.CNW Group Press Report
/ref> The game was released through SkillGround: an online, skill-gaming platform owned by Groove but closed its doors in 2009 and the domains are now dormant. Players could compete in single and multiplayer games for free, or challenge others to cash games where the winner collected a cash prize. This was not considered

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

, as the outcome was based on

skill A skill is the learned or innate ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. Some examples of gen ...

. Despite this fact, the service was still restricted within 13 states of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Free play was supported by

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...

, displayed both before the game starts, and during play on billboards presented within the game.Groove Media Press Release
/ref> Cash play had no advertisements outside of game play, and was supported by a rake placed on wagers.

Game Play

Game play was based on a three click system. The user had to click at certain times as a progress bar sweeps from left to right, then back from right to left. The first sweep controlled the power; the closer to the right end of the shot bar, the more power the shot had. The second sweep controlled the accuracy; the closer to a center line near the left end, the more accurate the shot was. Game play was also affected by such issues as

wind Wind is the natural movement of atmosphere of Earth, air or other gases relative to a planetary surface, planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heatin ...

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

, club type, pin and tee locations, and grass roughness. These affected accuracy, how far the ball would fly, and how far the ball would roll. Players were also matched on the site by a ranking system. This system provided a numerical estimate of a player's skill level. By viewing the skill level of an opponent, a player decided to accept or refuse challenges. A handicap system was also available where strokes may have been forfeited to an opponent to allow players of different skill levels to compete on a more even playing field. The game also provided detailed statistics, though these were only available to the player, and were not publicly shared.

Rules

UTour offered different game modes based on traditional golf rules. Players could compete under the

Stroke Play Stroke play is a scoring system in the sport of golf. In the regular form of stroke play, also known as medal play, the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 holes. In a regular stroke play competition, the winner is the ...

Match Play Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...

, or Stableford Plus rule sets. Mini-games based on driving ranges and putting challenges were also available.

Contests

UTour offered a number of partner sponsored tournaments with prizes generally consisting of golf-related trips or golf equipment. These included: * A trip to the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational – Sponsored by Golf.com * A trip to Maui Hawaii – Sponsored by

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

(SI.com) * A trip to Las Vegas – Sponsored by GolfLink.com * New golf clubs – Sponsored by

Callaway Golf Callaway, legally Topgolf Callaway Brands Corp., is an American global sports equipment manufacturing company that designs, manufactures, markets and sells golf equipment, more specifically golf club, clubs and golf ball, balls, also including a ...

UTour also held contests geared towards cash rewards for Players' Club members, an example of which was th
2008 Cup Classic

History

''UTour Golf'' was released both through UTourGolf.com and SkillGround.com in August 2007. SkillGround had been previously released in December 2006. It was initially launched in a beta format, and was subsequently upgraded. In November 2007, the following features were added:
/ref> * Handicap – Players of varying skill levels could compete more fairly by forfeiting strokes. * One Hole Option – Players could compete in single hole matches. * Player Created Tournaments – Players could challenge their friends to closed tournaments. * Driving Range Mini Game – A new game play mode modeling a driving range was available in single player and tournament game types. * Increased Statistics – The statistics tracking feature was extended from cash players to both cash and free players.

References

External links

SkillGround.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Utour Golf 2007 video games Browser games Golf video games Groove Games games Gusto Games games Multiplayer online games Video games developed in the United Kingdom