TurbulentEddie's HAL's Hole in One Golf tips

HAL's Hole in One Golf tips from TurbulentEddie

Starting up, club selection:
I recommend taking the 1W, removing other woods, and taking all irons. The woods do you no good in the rough and you can always adjust your power on the tee/fairway with the 1W.

Lesser known controls:
1. You can tap L/R (shoulder buttons) during most shot menu screens to make minor adjustments rather than using the dpad on the second shot menu screen. This is great for making small adjustments for the wind.
2. You can hold down (backspin) or up (topspin) during your shot (i.e. when the power meter is active) to add spin to the ball. Backspin will make the ball float a little more and rolls less when it lands. Topspin creates a low shot that rolls. I prefer putting backspin on most of my shots because the ball stops quicker (and doesn't roll into, say, a bunker).

Rough shots:
Rule of thumb, when shooting out of the rough and the game has auto-selected an iron for you, *club up two irons* (e.g. if it selects a 5I, go up to 3I; if it selects a 8I, go up to 6I) and hit a max power shot. Don't club up to your wood(s), though.

Bunker shots:
If your shot is pretty far from the lip of the bunker, you can probably hit it out with any iron. Club up at least twice (similar to rough shots). However, if you are close to the lip, you can only get out with a PW or SW shot, and you often have to put >50% power to get enough loft to get over the lip.

Putting:
Putting is the hardest part of the game, period. I recommend doing a casual playthrough and use the map option when you're on each green to get an idea of how the green slopes. But even then, it just takes experience to really know what adjustments to make. Also, the hole placement can change from run to run, so no two runs are the same!

Wind:
Watch out on the tee, for the game sometimes shows what the wind would be like in Professional mode (6-12 mph winds) for a few frames before it drops back down. (No idea why it does this.) The wind should be less than 4 mph most of the time in Amateur mode. The only time the wind will have a big effect on your shots are if you're using loftier irons (<6I) and wedges.

In general: Avoid bunkers. Avoid OB. Don't spend too much time getting your putts perfect, just them get close to the hole and mash!