| PGA Tour Golf Team Challenge | |
| Developer: | Global VR, Electronic Arts |
| Released: | 2006 |
| Genre: | Golf |
| Modes: | Driving range, World Tour, Stroke, team play, online tournaments. |
| Platforms: | Arcade game, Everlast CPU with Nvidia graphics cards. |
PGA Tour Golf Team Challenge is a trackball-based golf arcade game series manufactured by Global VR of San Jose, California.
Based on the PC version of EA Sports' PGA Tour game, the game is run from a computer within the cabinet which has an Intel Pentium 4 processor and Nvidia GeForce video card.
The current - and final - edition of the PGA series is titled PGA Tour Golf ‘Team Challenge’. A player can select from a number of real PGA pro golfers & PGA tour courses in either 9 or 18 holes, against up to 3 other players or in team play of up to 4 players per team. The game has 3 main modes of play;
‘Play Golf’ mode (does not require a players’ card or online capabilities) has 13 eighteen-hole courses but if the machine is online/tournament enabled, there's a 14th ‘bonus’ course which changes every month. There are training courses and a driving range here as well as a front 9 ‘course’ and back 9 ‘course’ made up of various Fantasy course holes.
‘World Tour’ mode provides access to all 24 courses each with two hidden/secret skill-shots which unlock customizable items for your created golfer. This mode keeps track of your personal best course scores and once all 24 courses are complete, a ranking will be assigned using your combined average score - Rookie, Amateur, Scratch, Club Pro, Pro, Champion & Legend. You can continue to improve upon your scores to gain a higher ranking.
‘Tournaments’ run weekly featuring one of the 24 courses within the game. Tournament Leaderboards are displayed during the machine's ‘attract mode’ screens.
Online play (Tournaments and World Tour) requires the Global VR 2nd generation "Smart Card" reader (recognizable by two LED lights on the front) and accompanying Players’ Card Format for saving created golfers as well as World Tour stats & unlockable items. The original magnetic stripe card reader from the first three editions of PGA Tour Golf (lacks LED lights on the front) is not compatible with ‘Challenge’ and ‘Team Challenge’ editions.
Note: Some courses only available to tournament (online) enabled machines.
Fantasy Courses
Real Courses
Since the game has the PC version of Tiger Woods Golf embedded within, pros who were unlicensed for the coin-op version can be substituted in place of an existing golfer with simple modifications within the game's files (Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Adam Scott and Jesper Parnevik for example).
The series originally launched with a Beige ‘DFI’ computer within. As the series continued, Global VR provided operators with new software on compact discs (to be installed on the computer's hard drive) featuring the latest edition of PGA Tour Golf. The hardware demands for each new edition increased and Global VR provided a computer upgrade option; the superior black ‘Everlast’ computer. Many operators passed on spending on hardware upgrades so subsequent editions of the series may have seen noticeable lag in gameplay as a result.[1]
The DFI computer has a nb32 motherboard with maximum capable processor upgrade of a 2.8 GHz Intel Pentium 4 SL7EY 512/400 MHz socket 478N.[1]
The Everlast computer has a PS35-BL motherboard with a maximum capable processor upgrade of a 3.4 GHz Intel Pentium 4 SL7PP 865/875 socket 478.[1]
Both computers require an AGP (not PCI-e) type video card - Nvidia GeForce 5700 - 7900 is recommended.[1]
Also, both computers will perform better if the onboard memory is increased to 1 GB of RAM or more.[1]
The compatible memory for a DFI is SDRAM pc133 pc100. 512MB per memory stick. There are 3 slots for memory on a DFI motherboard for up to 1.5GB of memory.[1]