GOLF+ VR Review: Royal Birkdale Drops Today

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What is GOLF+? VR golf on Meta Quest headsets (Quest 2/3/Pro/S) where you swing motion controllers like real clubs on real courses. 150K+ monthly players, 40+ courses (Pebble Beach, St Andrews, Royal Birkdale), 4.8-star rating across 52K reviews. Official PGA TOUR VR game. $330 for a headset — the cheapest way to “play” real courses from home. Not a TrackMan replacement, but more fun per dollar than any sim upgrade.

You know what I hear from almost every guy I talk to about golf simulators?

“I don’t have the space.”

“I don’t have the budget.”

“My wife will kill me.”

And you know what all three of those statements have in common? They’re wrong — but only if you’re thinking about a traditional simulator. Launch monitor, net, mat, projector, enclosure, PC. That’s the $2,500-to-$10,000 path. It’s the best path. But it’s not the only path.

There’s another one. And it costs $330.

What Is GOLF+?

GOLF+ is the official virtual reality golf game of the PGA TOUR. It runs on Meta Quest headsets (Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S). You put on the headset, pick up the controllers, and you’re standing on the first tee at Pebble Beach.

The part that surprised me: it’s not a game. I mean, it is a game — you buy it on the Meta store, it comes in a box — but calling GOLF+ a “game” is like calling a Tesla a “car.” Technically true. Completely misses the point.

The numbers are wild:

• 150,000+ monthly active players
• 52,000 ratings on the Meta Store at 4.8 out of 5
• 25,000+ players competing in the GOLF+ Tour
• 35+ real courses (Pebble Beach, St. Andrews, TPC Sawgrass, Valhalla, Bethpage Black, now Royal Birkdale)
• Official partner of the PGA of America and the PGA TOUR
• Just announced a partnership with The R&A to bring The Open into VR

This isn’t a tech demo. It’s a legitimate golf ecosystem.

The News That Made Me Write This

On June 23, 2026, The R&A announced that Royal Birkdale — host of The 154th Open this July — is coming to GOLF+. Full launch details here → It launches July 8, just days before the real championship. Players will get a championship-themed version of the course with grandstands, spectator areas, and Open branding. Then the VR Open runs July 16-22 alongside the real thing.

One participant in the VR Open wins a VIP trip for two to The 155th Open at St. Andrews in 2027. Championship tickets. Hospitality. The whole thing. That’s a life experience — not just a video game prize — and it’s coming from a VR golf platform.

CEO Ryan Engle put it simply: “Our mission has always been to make golf more accessible and help more people experience the game they love.” Working with The R&A to bring Royal Birkdale and The Open to GOLF+ is another step toward that goal.

How It Works

Hardware: You need a Meta Quest headset. The Quest 3S starts at $299. The Quest 3 is $499. If you don’t own one, that’s your entry fee. For context: that’s less than a single Garmin R10.

Software: The base game costs $29.99 and includes three courses. For full access to 35+ courses, subscribe to GOLF+ PASS at $9.99/month or $79.99/year.

Swing mechanics: The controllers track your swing using the headset’s built-in cameras. It’s not as accurate as a $2,000 launch monitor. Let’s be honest about that. But it’s way better than you’d expect — and it’s getting better every update.

Real club attachments: You can buy grip attachments (Virtual Printality Golf Grip Pro, DeadEye VR DriVR Elite) that make the controller feel like an actual golf club. The DriVR Elite even has adjustable weighting. It’s not a real club, but it’s closer than plastic controllers.

Mixed reality: GOLF+ has a feature called “ghost swings” where you step into a model of your swing and match it. This is actual coaching technology, not a party trick.

The Honest Take

I’ve spent time with GOLF+ across several sessions.

What it does well:

• Tempo training. The controllers lose tracking if you swing too fast. That forces you to develop rhythm. Real transferable skill.
• Grip and face control. The game reads draws and fades based on how you deliver the club face. It’s surprisingly accurate.
• Course management. Wind, miss spots, club selection — you have to think your way around the hole. That’s real golf, minus the walking.
• Community. The GOLF+ Tour has 25,000+ competitive players. They chirp each other on message boards, practice together, celebrate together. One of them (a former assistant pro named Topher Jaims) won the virtual PGA Championship last year. His prize? A trip to the actual PGA Championship at Quail Hollow. He described the community as “a competitive addiction.”

What it doesn’t do well:

• It’s not a launch monitor. You don’t get club path, face angle, angle of attack, or any of the deep data metrics a simulator golfer craves.
• The graphics are cartoonish. Not photo-realistic. The Quest hardware limits what the developers can render.
• Full swing tracking can glitch. If your backswing takes the controller out of the headset’s camera view, you lose tracking. Shortening your backswing helps — which is ironically the same advice you’d get from a real golf pro.

Is This a “Real” Golf Simulator?

This is the question everyone asks, and it’s the wrong question.

A “real” golf simulator is a launch monitor connected to software that accurately reads ball data and gives you realistic shot outcomes. That’s $2,500 minimum, and it’s a different category.

GOLF+ doesn’t compete with that. It competes with not playing golf.

If you have the space and budget for a traditional simulator, do that. It’s better. More accurate. More useful for improvement.

If you don’t have the space, don’t have $3,000, live in an apartment, or just want to play Pebble Beach at 10 PM in your living room — GOLF+ is the answer. It’s the answer for 150,000 people every month, and that number grows every time The Open or the PGA Tour promotes it.

The PGA Tour COO described it as “a way to introduce golf to a younger, tech-savvy audience.” I’d add: it’s also a way to keep golf in your life when winter hits, when kids are asleep, when the budget is tight, or when your garage is full of boxes you haven’t unpacked since 2022.

Who Is This For?

Buy it if:

• You already own a Meta Quest headset
• You want to play real courses without leaving home
• You travel and want to play Sawgrass from a hotel room
• Winter is coming and you need a golf fix
• You’re introducing someone to golf (zero barrier to entry)
• You want to compete in the VR Open and try to win a trip to St. Andrews

Skip it if:

• You need shot data for improvement
• You expect photo-realistic graphics
• You’re buying a headset just for this and would rather put that $299 toward an R10

The Deal Right Now

If you’re reading this before July 15, 2026: buy a Meta Quest headset bundle through the GOLF+ online store and get Royal Birkdale free when it launches July 8. You’ll also be eligible to compete in the VR Open for a shot at that St. Andrews trip.

The base game is $29.99. The PASS subscription is $9.99/month. The headset is $299.

Total entry cost: $329 for the full experience.

That’s less than one round at Pebble Beach. And you can play it every day.

Verdict

GOLF+ is the most legitimate VR golf experience on the market, backed by the PGA TOUR, the PGA of America, and now The R&A. It’s not a replacement for a real simulator. But it’s the best alternative there is — and for a huge number of people, it’s the better choice.

The Open partnership is the signal. When golf’s oldest championship puts its name on a VR platform, that’s not a trend — it’s a verdict. Golf is going virtual, and GOLF+ is leading it.

Buy GOLF+ on the Meta Store

Or if you want the full home simulator experience with real ball data, real impact screens, and real frustration about missing a 4-footer — start here.

Want the bigger picture? Read our full GOLF+ VR overview → — what the Steam release means, how mixed reality training works, and why VR golf is becoming a real part of the sim ecosystem.