I feel the exact opposite. I told you in your Twitch today I thought it was 10x better than Wgt. There was over 100,000 courses in TGC1 and courses which were Published by the creator will have the ability to be imported to TGC2. Seeing how Europe and some others don't even have access to the game yet I'm sure many more courses will soon be available (give em time to export them).
TGC2 has Erin Hills, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, and Kiawah (under Kiawah Keys). In addition they have some top 100 courses like Augusta National, Pine Valley, Riviera, and Shadow Creek. Any courses that aren't imported from TGC1 people can always create. And imo, the TGC1 graphics are superior (by miles) to the game here.
TGC2 has a great UI which has around 25+ things to dabble with. If you're a feel and immersion type of guy you can disable everything. No aim marker, no UI icons on the screen, no putting grid, nothing. Just you and the golf course. And the Swing mechanics (there is no 2 or 3 click) in conjunction with tempo make it rewarding when you hit good shots.
The SKILL CAP is quite high. Unless you're playing some short, straight, slow green you will not be scoring -20 on a hard course. Especially on courses like Tarantula with SPEEDY greens and curves and slopes (everywhere). Makes Chambers and Oakmont (w/ stimp 15) look like miniature golf putt-putt. This is why I think having huge variation in greens as a good thing. No more making every putt you have (NOT gonna happen).
And imho, the different speed of the greens and the running fairway slopes can make it quite challenging to even DRIVE the ball in the fairway. And to go back to the True Swing. Yes, you could use a straight edge, or even disable your X axis if you use a controller but TEMPO does a pretty good job at combating this. Try hitting a Flop with anything less than Perfect/Perfect and get owned.
Granted, there is no VEM in this game but everything plays UEL (although not near the effect UEL has here in WGTland). Put that in conjunction with TruSwing and Tempo and even good golfers will have some challenges (every game!). On the plus side, bunkers are much easier to hit from the fairway (you can easily hit full shots long ways) than Wgt. On the flip side, greenside bunkers seem to play a tad bit harder.
As Jason said, there are lots of edits possible with your avatar and it's my understanding that Societies have a huge ceiling to grow. Literally. I've heard they can be sculpted into huge Castle type deals. Make your Society great and you can BUILD IT UP.
MP does need work! And I've been having some slight errors when logging off of Steam. The developers have said they're working on it (It's only been 2 days since release so....kinda the norm me thinks). They do have the external site like you said Jason so that's some competition. Additionally, Societies can create there own tournaments too. Get some good people in your Society and the competition is on.
Okay, to END MY BOOK. This game plays nothing, let me say that again, NOTHING like Wgt. You can't simply look at your excel sheet, click, and shoot -20. You really have to get a feel for the game and use some natural skill (you're gonna need it people!!). I've always been a GAMER myself but the fun in this game comes in the challenge. Every good shot is it's own reward.
Immersion (feel golf) and Gamers alike will enjoy this. It's received around 80% approval from Users at Steam (8 out of 10!!). And imho, User reviews are where it's at. My steam handle is "cseanny" if anyone buys the game (which you should!).
cheers.