School me on Golden Tee.

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My buddy wants me to help him find a Golden Tee but I honestly know jack-shit about the game - I prefer real golf.

He wants something with as many courses as possible, or that can be expanded easily. He also would also be interested in something that can be connected to the Internets.

So answer me these: Which version do you have? What version do you prefer? What would you suggest for this guy? What are the typical prices of the game/s you have suggested? Which courses are the best?

If you have a link to another thread or website, link-away.
 
I have a GT Fore Complete, and for the money, I think its the best home version you can get. 29 courses, its new enough to where the game looks great, and it will keep him plenty busy. As far as being connected to the internet, I *thought* IT stopped letting people do that, but I could be wrong. Some would say that the GT Live series would be the way to go (just because its the latest and greatest), but if they aren't allowing internet connections for home use, it would be pointless to spend the dough.

He should be able to find a nice Fore! complete for $750-$850.
 
I wondered about the legalities of being able to connect to the net.

29 courses is good. Is that what you paid for yours Jow? Or is that what you see them go for currently?
 
While Golden Tee Complete's are your best bet as far as the number of courses, they also aren't that cheap right now. A regular Fore (2002-2005) can be had a lot cheaper (like Jow said) but only have about 5-6 courses each.

And Jow is correct - no internet use for them in your home unless you setup a business account with a couple grand in a tied-to bank account and let them charge you a monthly fee. Home account will not work.

Now, there is another option - PGA Tour golf from EA Sports. I have a PGA Tour Championship III (GT conversion - beautiful cab) with 15 courses, 27" VGA tube monitor, 15 PGA and LPGA selectable players, the ability to have your player play left- or right-handed, and more selectable shot types than GT (backspin, topspin, lob, punch). I'm selling mine for $850, but you can sometimes find them cheaper at auctions...
 
I think the Complete is the best option for home. It's got a ton of great courses, GT Live graphics are a bit better but who gives a shit? The Fore series is the classic that everybody loves. You can't really do internet from your house with any of these things, IT doesn't allow it. None of the Fore's can go online period, and the Live series you have to be an OP in a commercial location. They don't like the home stuff because it'd be too easy to cheat in the tournaments (hack controllers into the trackball, etc.) which are awarding money to people.

I think personally you'll have trouble getting one near you for that price though, a complete will probably set you back over a grand for a decent cabinet.
 
29 courses is good. Is that what you paid for yours Jow? Or is that what you see them go for currently?

Lets see here...

$300 for the cabinet
$150 for monitor repair/rebuild
$250 for the PCB upgrade

$700 total, and its been worth every penny. Definitely gets the most play by people who come by, and women love it too.

Like others mentioned, he can get a 2000 to 2005 for much cheaper (Ive seen them float around at $400), but you mentioned he wanted to most bang for his buck. You cant beat the 29 courses of the complete setup, IMO.
 
OK, so what would you offer this guy?

I assume the Complete is just a board/chip swap?

I'd pay $400 for that game, but I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to common games like this.

Unfortunately its not that simple (as far as the swap goes). People have been trying to figure it out, but for right now the upgrade is the only option (that I have heard). I believe there is a security chip involved, ROMs, and a hard drive swap.
 
Just an FYI..
I used to do the GT thing and played all the tourney's and such back in 2002-04 (actually won a paid trip to Vegas to play in the world finals in 2003). I got out right before they squashed home ownership and sold my game in 2004 (I think) With that..unless he 'vends' the machine IT won't allow access to their current tourney format.

Check out underdogsports.net...that be the GT geek squad. IT just banned a bunch of top players for home use so they do check and take appropriate action
 
Unfortunately its not that simple (as far as the swap goes). People have been trying to figure it out, but for right now the upgrade is the only option (that I have heard). I believe there is a security chip involved, ROMs, and a hard drive swap.

Actually, if you are doing it with an already updated hard drive, then just the Security Chip and HD is all that is needed.


If you had an NOS upgrade kit, then all it comes with is a Security Chip and an installation CD (with serial key). You'll need a CD-ROM drive, an IDE cable that doesn't have the security spot on the connector, and a phone line connected (this is why GT's have that pig phone cord inside). Connect the CD-ROM Drive to the GT board with the IDE cable (HD still connected, too), insert the CD-ROM, connect the phone line, and power up. The CD will start, and will call IT over the phone line. You will be prompted to put in the Serial Key (using the controls and an onscreen keyboard). Once it is approved, the HD will be updated with the new software. Once it is done, you disconnect the CD-ROM and phone line, reboot, and your good to go.

Make sure you contact IT before buying a kit and attempting this, as I don't think you can connect with that phone number anymore....
 
GT is just a power supply, hard drive and board, its really simple.
There are two types of boards: red and green board, the difference has something to do with the way the power is routed and depending on how you upgrade you may or may not need a new power supply. If you upgrade to the same color board you can keep the power supply. Completes come in both red and green.

I had a 2005 green board and hard drive, I bought a GT Complete red board and hard drive, so I had to buy a new power supply. Total cost on ebay $350-$450. If you can find them.

I just took the old equipment out and put the new stuff in. Done. Took maybe 30 mins.
Complete is the way to go if you like golden tee!

The new golden tees are actually PC boxes with software.

If your buying a golden tee things to look for are Monitor size: they come in 25" & 27". Some monitors are lores only and some are midres. Usually you can just take the number of the monitor and google it. There maybe another way to do it.
My is a lores and everyone tell me that the midres wont make a bit of difference in quality.

The new control panels with trackball and buttons can be bought compete for $280. Add one of these and the game is basically new! You can find them on ebay every now and then for cheaper. I picked up one for $125.

Marquees are $16.

http://www.itsgames.com/itsgames/Support/ServiceParts/

sells parts for the machine but they are running out of classic GT stuff.

oh yea I paid $600 for mine at auction, 25" monitor, 2005, bill collector and looks great!

Hope this helps.
 
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