The Most Popular Games for Golfers

If you are a golfer who is looking for something to do in your downtime, then you might be looking for some different types of games to play.

Whether you fancy spinning some reels in the Egyptian-themed Eye of Horus slot game at Virgin Games or you want to become the next PGA Tour champion, there are a few fun things that you can try below – and some games to play on the course, as well.

But first, lets look at how golf became such a global phenomenon.

A Brief History of Golf

Way back in the murky past, there was a game played on the eastern coast of Scotland, near Edinburgh, that involved hitting a pebble around sand dunes using a bent stick.

This might not seem like much, but it caught the imagination of young men so much that it was banned by the Scottish Parliament of King James II in 1457, because those young men were neglecting their military training to play.

Almost 50 years later, that ban was repealed by King James IV of Scotland, who was the world’s first golfing monarch, and his passion for the game prompted other royals to take it around Europe, with King Charles I bringing it to England, and Mary Queen of Scots taking it to France.

The first international golf game was played in Leith, near Edinburgh, in 1682, and it officially became a sport in 1744. Some of the original rules that were created by Duncan Forbes for the Gentlemen Golfers of Leith are still in use today.

The expansion of golf into the wider world followed the path of expansion of the British Empire, with clubs outside Scotland and England established throughout the 1800s. Players at this time would be using clubs made from beech with shafts of ash and hazel, and the balls were made from compressed feathers wrapped in a stitched horses hide.

The gameplay hasn’t changed much in this time, even if the materials have – you still need to get round the course in as few hits as possible.

So, if you know a bit more about your golf history now, you probably want to know what other games you can play that are just as fun – and there is a surprisingly large amount of video games based on the game of golf. Some of the best are listed below.

Games for Golfers

Mario Golf

Originally released for the Nintendo 64 back in 1999. Mario Golf is a whole series of games that merged our favourite Mario characters with golf game mechanics.

The latest version of the game has been released for Nintendo Switch, and you can play through multiple courses as different characters. You can play the standard game where you need to achieve a certain score to move on to the next course level, or you can get involved and play with friends using Battle Golf or through network play.

While the modern version of this might be more appealing to the younger generation of golfers, if you can get hold of a retro copy (and a retro console to play it on), you’ll have great fun reliving your youth.

Eye of Horus Slot

While it might not be directly golf-related, there is nothing more exciting than playing a good slot game – and Eye of Horus is a classic for a reason.

This Egyptian-themed slot game has a simple set up – it is a five-reel slot with 10 fixed pay lines. The symbols are all instantly familiar to anyone who has investigated Egyptian mythology – you’ll see mummies and pyramids, as well as sarcophagi and hieroglyphics representing different jackpot amounts or bonuses.

Like other slot games, Eye of Horus uses an algorithm-based Random Number Generator (RNG) to ensure true random, but it is set with an RTP rate of 96.31%, which makes it a little more likely to pay out than some of the other games.

Of course, the chance of winning some real cash makes this even more of a draw – you’ll be able to pay for drinks for everyone when you get the hole in one on the course thanks to the money you could win!

EA Sports PGA Golf Tour

EA are well-known for their collection of sports-based video games, and the PGA Tour series fits the bill.

The first in the series was release back in 1990, but it became much more famous when the games were endorsed by Tiger Woods in 1998. Up until 2013, Woods was the cover star of the game. He was briefly replaced by Rory McIlroy in 2015.

The new release of the game is simply titled EA Sports PGA Tour, and it was released early 2023 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. You can play through the tour as one of the stars, get access to some stunning graphical representations of famous courses, and learn more about the PGA Tour as you play, too.