One of the most beloved aspects of the PGA TOUR 2K franchise is the extensive Course Designer mode. This feature has enabled players around the world to design the course of their dreams, customizing the aesthetics, layout, and difficulty level to add an extra layer of excitement and realism. Whether you’re a beginner looking for some sandbox fun or a master architect interested in replicating your local course, the Course Designer is easy to use no matter your experience level. In a recent interview, HB Studios shared some of their tips and tricks for making the most of the Course Designer in PGA TOUR 2K23.

The big change is in how we are able to tweak and manipulate splines to further fine tune the surfaces we want to make. The ability to spline fences and new assets such as trees, bushes and other objects have made the designer more robust than ever. We also updated the UI in the designer to improve the usability and encourage new designers to use the tool to create their own custom courses. 

We are always looking for feedback from our amazing designer community. Their passion, skills, and talent bring endless fresh ideas and content into our game. We keep our eyes and ears open to their requests, and do our best to meet their needs. Something recent we were able to bring forward were new designer asset packs. These new asset packs gave designers even more options to build their worlds.

The sculpting tool, being able to create smooth, realistic slopes, hills and breaks is essential. Learning how to use the spline tools makes this much easier. Try not to have large changes in elevation and unintentional blind shots.

There are a variety of themes and terrain you can choose from while deciding what course you want to make. We have 12 different themes a player can choose from:

• Desert
• Boreal
• Tropical
• Countryside
• Harvest
• Winter
• Delta
• Rustic
• Swiss
• Steppe
• Autumn
• Highlands

Each theme offers many different looks and characteristics that allow the player to make any style of course they dream of. In addition to themes, players can further edit their course using the Lighting, Terrain, Weather, and Backdrop options.

Publishing your course makes it accessible to the entire PGA TOUR 2K23 online community, allowing people from around the globe to compete on the course you created.

To publish your course, simply select the publish course option in the pause menu. Once your course is published, anyone who searches and finds your course will be able to play on it in an array of different types of matches.

Take your time! There are still many hours of competitive fun to be had in PGA TOUR 2K23 while you get to grips with designing your perfect course. To help get you started, though, here are a few parting tips:

• If you’re overwhelmed by the options in the designer dashboard, start by simply placing your first hole and building out from there
• The green should have roughly a 100-yard circumference
• Fairways start usually 100-200 yards away from the farthest set of tees (most courses offer three to four different sets of tees)
• Have fun with it

For those who have not yet purchased PGA TOUR 2K23, there's no better time to join players around the world and experience the competitive thrill of the world’s premier golf simulator.