Everything you need to know about GTA V Online Golf

Quick facts

How to Start a Round of Golf

1. Open the map and set a waypoint on the golf blip. The course sits at the Los Santos Golf Club in Richman.

2. Walk up to the start point by the clubhouse.

3. Start the activity from the prompt.

4. Set up the round: the host picks the weather (current, sunny or rain) and a single hole or all nine.

5. Play.

You can golf solo or invite friends to join, and rounds take up to four players. Don't count on strangers, though: players note that few randoms ever accept golf invites. You can also wager on a round against the other players.

A round is its own activity, away from free-roam chaos. Between shots you can walk, take the Caddy golf cart the game provides, or skip straight ahead to your ball.

Golf Controls on PlayStation, Xbox and PC

Eight of the PlayStation buttons match the prompt bar in our screenshot. Preview hole, Spin and the Xbox column come from the older console layout and the PC column from a player-reported list, so if anything doesn't match, trust the prompt bar at the bottom of the screen: it always shows the current buttons.

On controller, push the stick straight up. Pushing it off-line hooks or slices the shot. You don't need to hold the stick down either: one pull back starts the swing.

How to Swing: The Swing Meter and Yellow Bar

The swing meter is the vertical bar beside your golfer. Once you start the swing, a marker runs down it, and the bottom of the bar is maximum power.

The yellow zone is the power the game suggests for where you're aiming. Move your aim and it moves with you. Stop the marker in the middle of the yellow and the game calls it a "Perfect" shot. Stop above or below the yellow and you get a weaker or longer shot, and the further from the yellow, the worse the hit. Once you're comfortable, you can stop at the top or bottom edge of the yellow to take a little off or add a little on.

The shot panel tells you what you're about to hit:

• Strength: the power the meter is set to, as a percentage.

• Distance: how far that shot carries.

• To Pin: the distance to the flag.

Before you swing, use Preview Shot to see the flight and landing spot. It accounts for elevation but ignores wind, so treat it as a starting point. Preview Hole flies the camera over the whole hole, and the minimap only gives you a rough idea.

In the screenshot below, the player is on Hole 1 (par 5, 531 yards) with the PW and an Approach shot selected, wind at +4, Strength at 83%, a 77-yard Distance and 96 yards to the pin.

The Shot Types

For full shots you cycle through four shot types with L1 (LB on Xbox):

• Normal: the standard shot, up to 100% on the meter. Your default for most of the round.

• Power: up to about 104% and the most distance, but less accurate. Players estimate about one Power shot in ten veers a few degrees off line.

• Approach: less power (it tops out around 92%), but a higher, more controlled shot with more spin. Use it to hit greens.

• Punch: a very low shot that stops quickly after a bounce. Use it to get under trees, chip from just off the green, or keep the ball lower in the wind (it still moves a low shot more than you might expect).

On the green, the putter reportedly swaps these for three putt types: Long Putt, Putt and Short Putt.

The Clubs

You carry 14 clubs. From longest to shortest:

The Driver only works off the tee, and the game won't offer you the woods from sand or rough. A good drive can go past 300 yards.

Your Strength stat adds a little distance to every club, and it grows as you play (golf itself raises it, slowly), so your drives can get longer over time.

Wind, Weather and Spin

Wind is shown as a number with an arrow at the top right of the screen, and it pushes every shot in the air. A headwind shortens the shot, a tailwind lengthens it, and a crosswind drifts the ball sideways. Since the shot preview ignores wind, aim into it: the stronger the wind, the bigger the correction. Putts aren't affected by the wind, per players' testing.

Online rounds can be played in the current weather, sunny, or rain. Rain brings stronger wind.

Spin goes on after the strike, while the ball is in the air (see the controls table). Backspin pulls the ball back on the green, topspin adds roll, and sidespin curves it. More taps mean more spin. The Punch shot takes less spin than the others.

Putting and Reading the Green

On the green, a grid shows you the slope. Red lines are lower than the ball (downhill) and yellow lines are higher (uphill).

1. Read the grid to see which way the putt will break.

2. Aim to allow for that break. On a mild slope, players aim about a cup outside the hole.

3. Control the length with the swing meter. Leaving putts short is the most common miss, so err on firm.

Selecting the putter from just off the green also shows the grid, which reportedly helps you plan a chip.

The Course: Holes, Par and Hazards

The Los Santos Golf Club has 9 holes, par 36, at about 3,450 yards in total. Scorecards disagree slightly on holes 4, 6 and 9, so those yardages are approximate.

Player-tested tips for the holes that matter:

• Hole 1 (par 5): a Power drive aimed left.

• Hole 3 (par 3): one of the two ace holes, but its downhill green and big front-left bunker make it probably the hardest birdie on the course.

• Hole 4 (par 4): a sharp dogleg right that big hitters can reach with a tailwind.

• Hole 6 (par 3): the best hole-in-one chance (see below).

• Hole 7 (par 4): arguably the hardest hole, with water right, a cart path left and a narrow, sloping fairway. Use Normal, not Power, off the tee.

• Hole 8 (par 5): the longest hole. Many players lay up before the bunker.

• Hole 9 (par 4): a short, straightforward birdie chance, finishing by the clubhouse.

Where your ball lands matters too. Lies are tee, fairway, rough, bunker and green, and rough and sand cut both distance and accuracy. An unplayable lie (a cart path or trees) moves the ball to a safe spot for a one-stroke penalty, and water and out of bounds are penalised as well. Players also report that a hole stops counting at 5 over par.

The Cheat Sheet

The game scores each hole against par (the number of strokes the hole is expected to take). These are the scoring terms for each hole:

The English banner says "Double Eagle" for 3 under (other languages show "Albatros"). With a par of 36, a round of nothing but birdies finishes 9 under.

How to Get a Hole in One

If you're wondering how to get a hole in one in GTA 5 or Online, play the two par 3s: Holes 3 and 6 are where players report their aces.

Hole 6 (about 235 yards) is your best chance. Players take the Driver on a Normal shot (or a 3 Wood in a strong tailwind), carry it just over the bunkers guarding the front of the green so it lands on the front of the green and rolls toward the pin. Correct for the wind before you swing, because the preview won't.

Hole 3 (168 yards) is the other ace hole, but the downhill green and the big front-left bunker punish anything slightly off.

Neither is a guarantee: these are player-tested approaches, and you'll need a few attempts. In GTA Online, landing one earns the Hole in One award (see below).

RP, Awards and Strength

Golf pays RP per round, and a hands-on guide notes that the lower you score, the more RP the round pays. Good holes pay extra. Rockstar's own figures come from a 2014 event that tripled golf RP: a birdie paid 600 RP and a hole in one on "the short Hole 6" paid 3,000 RP. That puts the normal rate around 200 RP for a birdie and 1,000 RP for a hole in one, though Rockstar never stated the base figures. There's no confirmed cash payout per round, so treat golf as a break from grinding, not a money-maker.

Golf also has three awards. Each tier pays an RP bonus: Bronze 100 RP, Silver 200 RP, Gold 400 RP and Platinum 800 RP.

None of the golf awards unlocks clothing or a tattoo.

Playing golf also raises your Strength skill, just slowly. A higher Strength stat reportedly gives you longer drives, and if you want to push the stat faster, our guide on how to max out Strength in GTA Online covers the quicker methods.

FAQ

Can you play golf in GTA 5 story mode?

Yes, it's the same golf as Online, with a few story-only rules. In story mode, golf is reported to unlock after Franklin's mission Complications, a round costs GTA$ 100 at the club entrance (free if that character owns the club), and you can play alone or take on up to three computer opponents of rising difficulty. In GTA Online you play solo or against other players instead.

Who can you play golf with in GTA 5 and GTA Online?

In Online, you play solo or with other players, and friends can join by invite. In story mode, you play alone or against computer opponents, and the protagonists can also golf together as a friend activity. Players have reported long loads or a black screen when an Online round starts with other players, so give it a moment before quitting.

How do you get a hole in one in GTA 5?

Go for it on Hole 6 with the Driver on a Normal shot, aiming to just clear the front bunkers, land on the front of the green and roll on. Hole 3 is the backup, but it's tougher to hold.

What does the yellow bar mean in GTA 5 golf?

It's the power the game recommends for the spot you're aiming at. Stop the swing marker in the middle of it for a "Perfect" shot. If you move your aim, the yellow bar moves too.

Does golf pay money or RP in GTA Online?

It pays RP: more per round the lower you score, plus roughly 200 RP for a birdie and 1,000 RP for a hole in one, based on Rockstar's 2014 event figures, plus award tier bonuses of 100–800 RP. A cash payout per round isn't confirmed, though you can wager against other players.

Why does my shot miss where the preview said it would land?

The shot preview ignores wind. Check the wind number and arrow at the top right and aim into it, and remember Power shots occasionally stray off line too.

How do you get the golf outfit in GTA Online?

Not by playing golf. The Golf Outfits unlock from On Course, the opening mission of the Dr. Dre VIP Contract in The Contract update, which starts at this same club. You need an Agency: Franklin calls you with On Course after your first Security Contract.