The Things I'm Missing

It's so hard to quantify the things that I don't have in Golfshrine, because what I most look for are just things that are cheap. I can't exactly filter an eBay search for "video games, golf simulators, old" - there's a number of things that definitely belong here, though, that I'm either waiting for a good deal on, or just have not found yet.

Pebble Beach: The Great Shot (Sega ST-V). Is this T&E Soft's only arcade game ever? It's a "more exciting" adaptation of the Saturn Pebble Beach game for Sega's Saturn-based ST-V arcade board. Currently it doesn't emulate well either. Arcade hardwares are something I've always been fascinated by, at that, so while I don't presently own any arcade PCBs, it'd eventually be fun to try.
Mini-Putt, by Accolade. The big-box version has, in typical Accolade style, a very striking design that'd be great to display on the shelf, but just as fascinating would be getting the Japan-only Game Boy or Famicom versions.
Ninja Golf (Atari 7800). Not in print for very long and released at the tail end of an unpopular console's lifespan, this one is also well known due to the Angry Video Game Nerd if I recall. It also recently appeared in the Atari 50 collection in 2023, which is neat. I don't presently have a way to play a real cartridge, but I am told Atari have given it a reprint for their 2600+/7800+ line of reproduction consoles for a somewhat more affordable price. Said price is still around $30 which is slightly north of my impulse buy margin (especially for a system I don't own yet).
Ribbit King (PS2 or GameCube). A tiny print run and a high degree of desirability among collectors makes my ownership of this game very unlikely, but someday, I will experience the game of Frolf. The GameCube version is much rarer/more expensive and seems to come with a second "Ribbit King Plus" disc; I do not know what the contents of that disc are.
Links: The Challenge of Golf (Memorex VIS). The only port of Links I'm missing. Probably exceedingly rare, rarer than the console that's supposed to play it, but hell, if it ends up in my lap, I'm not going to say no. I've been told there's a vendor online that sells new-old-stock VIS systems and software, but because it is a one-man operation with a lot of manual effort behind it, prices are understandably high, at several hundred for a machine, and just above $40 a title. Somewhat out of budget.
PGA European Tour (N64). Not the 1995 EA Sports game. Inexplicably one of the most expensive US-released Nintendo 64 games, published by Infogrames. I guess there's no shortage of golf games on N64, but this one is rare and expensive, so. [/shrug]
British Open Championship Golf (not the SoftKey "Special Edition" release). A golf simulator from the makers of System Shock and Flight Unlimited! Golfshrine has a copy of the SoftKey release, which is missing the second of the two courses that are supposed to be included with it.
Vs. Ladies Golf (Nintendo VS. System). One of the handful of "VS. Paks" released by Nintendo for their VS. System arcade boards; it's an alternate set of ROMs for Vs. Golf (itself an adaptation of Satoru Iwata's NES Golf) that replaces the normal Mario-like golfer with a female character. Flyers indicate that it sold for the same price as the normal Golf game ($295 in the 1980s), so it might exist as a VS. Pak in a black suitcase, but this one might as well be my white whale now. (With hat tip to Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation, for reminding me it exists.)
Peter Jacobsen's Golden Tee Golf (PC). One of only two home ports of the actual Golden Tee arcade game (discounting the plug-and-play and Arcade1UP versions), uses the mouse to replicate the trackball controls.
Neo Turf Masters/Big Tournament Golf (Neo Geo CD). I'll probably never get an NGCD. But if I had the opportunity to own the legend itself, I might make that choice at some point. The CD version, specifically, has much more in-depth stat-saving, tournament mode, and - if my sources are correct - the hidden Scotland course doesn't exist in the cartridge version.
Top Player's Golf (Neo Geo/CD). The only other golf game on the Neo Geo, and somehow also one of the worst golf sims I've ever tried to play. I had the opportunity to rank this game for Hardcore Gaming 101's Top 47,858 Games of All Time podcast (Patreon episode 212), so my opinions on this game are well documented. But even an awful golf sim belongs in Golfshrine. And so shall it be written.
GALF (NES). A Limited Run Games-distributed NES adaptation of the GALF minigame found in the Nintendo Switch game, Golf Story. Comes in a distinctive green cartridge. Unfortunately, it's sought after entirely because it's an LRG game, so it's expensive - even brand new from the manufacturer. Well beyond casual impulse purchase.
Skins Game (Arcade, 2000). Not "The Irem Skins Game" from 1992. Basically the only game released for Midway's "Atlantis" arcade board, Skins Game has a unique controller (a spring-loaded "bat" joystick that you pull back and release). It's basically NBA Jam but for golf. No home ports, didn't seem to sell very well (but despite that, got a Tournament Edition upgrade). Also apparently a revision exists that's called... Swingers Tour.com? [/shrug]
Ernie Els Golf (Game Gear). I'd have to import this one from Europe if I want it. I don't know what it is about it, but this game refuses to load on my Analogue Pocket via the OpenFPGA Game Gear core. Hard to say if it's an incompatibility or if there's something unusual about the hardware in the cartridge, but the best way to figure that out is to just buy a copy.
Buick Dimensions 1994 / Cadillac Impressions (PC/Mac?). General Motors and the InMar Group produced more car catalogs with built-in golf sims, and for some damn reason, I need them now. This is a healthy hobby, I swear.
Putt & Putter (Sega Master System/Game Gear). Two largely different games, both published by Sega for different 8-bit platforms. The SMS version was never released in the US, so I'd need to import it from Europe... or Brazil, maybe. Would love to have the Japanese GG version in a box; that's a really artful cover it has.
Pro Golfer Saru (Famicom Disk System). A title for Nintendo's fairly short-lived quickdisk-based Famicom add-on, based on a popular manga series about an aspiring young golfer who happens to look a bit like a monkey. Dr. Sparkle covered it on Chrontendo a long while ago.
Pro Golfer Saru (Wii). A very early Japanese-only Wii game, also based on the above-mentioned manga series; notable for being tied for Famitsu's worst-reviewed game ever, but also having one hell of a weird aiming and swinging interface!
The rest of the Microsoft Golf chronology. This was such a weird side-chapter in the legacy of Links; I have a CD version of 1.0 and the Eddie Bauer demo version of 1998, but would love to have 2.0, 1999, and 2001 especially. There are also Microsoft Golf-branded versions of the Links Championship Course add-ons and those are fascinating objects as well that I'd love to have.
Arcade golf in general. The Neo-Geo games and VS Ladies Golf aside, there's such a wide array of ways golf has been represented in arcades, and some of them might be compact enough to mail. ROM cartridges and/or disks of golf games for arcade boards, like Sega Mega-Tech/Mega-Play, Nintendo PlayChoice or VS. System, anything else that might exist? Probably expensive as hell. But putting this up here just to show my interest.
Golf games for older computers. I have quite a lot of PC golf games and games for consoles at this point, but among the bigger gaps in my collection is the really primordial stuff for 8-bit computers. I've got an Apple IIe on the shelf (that needs some PSU maintenance), and it'd be cool to have some real software for it besides copied disks. I don't presently have a way to play anything for Commodore 64, Atari 800, or anything else of the era, but I would definitely not say no to software for those (at the right price). (Now, if anybody wouldn't mind helping Golfshrine get hands on said old computers at reasonable prices...)
- Sports Illustrated Tournament Golf (Apple II/Commodore 64/128) - from MicroComputer and Avalon Hill. eBay listings indicate that there are disks for multiple computers in the box.
- Professional Tour Golf (Apple II) - from SSI, who I'd always wondered if they'd ever done a golf game.
- Mean 18 and its course disk(s) (Atari ST) - especially for that old-school, early-80s Accolade box art.
- Leader Board - Access Software's previous golf game before the release of Links, Leader Board was available for a lot of 8- and 16-bit platforms (even for MS-DOS), and even had an arcade version for Arcadia Systems' rare Amiga-based arcade board. I've got options, really. Golfshrine has the Game Gear port from Tiertex, and the Genesis version is one I also would like to get eventually, but a computer port must exist in Golfshrine eventually. It is a moral imperative. ...According to me.
Arcade1UP Golden Tee Golf. I mean, I don't hear the greatest things about these machines, and I haven't the slightest idea where I'd even put one if I got it, but if anybody feels like being the most awesome person in the world during the holidays or my birthday or whatever...
Philips CD-i-related golf items. The CD-i has a LOT of golf on it; not all of it is golf games as there are a lot of instructional videos and sports-highlights type titles. Some of them require the Digital Video Cartridge. I do not have a CD-i yet, or the cartridge. I do already have that Eugene Levy mini-golf game, though, so don't send me that.
My Personal Golf Trainer for the Nintendo Wii. Designed by Data Design Interactive and intended to be sold to actual golfers, it sounds as if this is less a golf simulator and more of a teaching aid (featuring golf trainer David Leadbetter, to boot), and as such, is said to have been sold for $100 USD at retail. I've seen examples of it on eBay, but while I'm here in wishful thinking mode, I'd love to find one that still has a price tag attached to it.

How you can help Golfshrine

If you have any of these titles that you are willing to either donate or sell for a reasonable price, please get in contact with me at wild.weasel@gmail.com and include "Golfshrine" in your subject line. I also accept monetary donations via Ko-fi, as naturally, physical games do not tend to be free, and life itself is expensive.