PGA Championship Golf

Last updated: January 16, 2026

Overview

PGA Championship Golf 2000 stands as one of the most comprehensive and critically acclaimed golf simulations ever released for the PC platform. Developed by Headgate Studios and published by Sierra Sports, the game was released on June 6, 2000 in North America and August 25, 2000 in the United Kingdom.¹ The title represented a significant evolution of Sierra’s golf simulation franchise, building upon the foundation established by the Front Page Sports Golf series.² Contemporary critics hailed it as “the best golfing simulation on the market” and “the unrivaled king of golf sims.”³⁴

The game’s signature feature was the innovative TrueSwing 3 technology, which allowed players to control their golf swings using realistic mouse movements rather than traditional timing-based mechanics.⁵ This third-generation swing system meant that “computer golfers actually control the club in the on-screen golfer’s hands,” creating a more authentic golfing experience.⁶ The simulation offered an unprecedented level of customization, with one reviewer exclaiming, “I have never, ever seen the number of options in any other golf title as there are in PGA Championship Golf 2000!”⁷

PGA Championship Golf 2000 was the first golf simulation to offer both complete Season and Career tour-style gameplay, allowing players to create custom golfers and guide them through amateur and professional circuits.⁸ The game shipped with 13 golf courses and included the Course Architect tool, enabling players to design and share their own courses. Over 1,600 user-created courses became available for download, with the WON.net service offering over 150 additional courses.¹⁹

Game Info

Developer: Headgate Studios Inc.¹⁰ Designer: Brian Silvernail, Vance Cook¹⁶ Publisher: Sierra Sports (Sierra On-Line, Inc.)¹⁰ Engine: TrueSwing 3⁵ Platforms: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me⁹ Release Year: 2000 Series: PGA Championship Golf Protagonist: Custom Player Character Sierra Lineage: Sierra Sports

Story Summary

PGA Championship Golf 2000 is a sports simulation rather than a narrative-driven game, focusing on realistic golf gameplay rather than storytelling. The game “attempts to simulate what it might feel like to play golf as a PGA professional player,” offering players the experience of competing on the professional golf circuit.¹¹

Players create their own golfer character with extensive customization options, including facial features, body type, and unique style of dress.¹⁰ The created golfer can then be taken onto the pro tour or amateur circuit, building a career from novice to championship-level competitor.¹⁰ The Career mode allows players to develop their golfer’s skills over time, progressing through increasingly competitive tournaments.

The Season mode presents players with a series of tournaments that mirror the structure of real-world professional golf, complete with qualification requirements, prize money, and standings. The game features dynamic galleries that react to player performance, with crowds attracted to better-performing golfers during tournaments.¹² This attention to atmospheric detail helped create an immersive tournament experience despite the absence of licensed professional golfers.

Gameplay

Interface and Controls

The core gameplay innovation in PGA Championship Golf 2000 was the TrueSwing 3 control system. Unlike traditional golf games that used timing-based button presses, TrueSwing allowed players to control their swing by moving the mouse in a realistic golfing motion.⁵ As described by CNET Gamecenter, “Sierra’s TrueSwing technology, in which you use your mouse to swing the club, is a breath of fresh air.”¹³ The system used real-time swing control to calculate ball trajectory based on the player’s actual mouse movement, learning the player’s style over time.⁹¹⁴

The game stripped away “unrealistic golf-sim conventions” and replaced them “with a more true-to-life shot-setup mode.”⁴ Players could control various aspects of their shot including club selection, stance, ball position, and shot shape. The interface provided detailed feedback on swing mechanics, allowing players to understand and correct their technique.³ A “quick start” feature was available to bypass the more technical aspects for players seeking a faster entry into gameplay.¹⁰

Structure and Progression

The game offered multiple gameplay modes to accommodate different player preferences and skill levels:

• Career Mode: The first career tour-style mode in a golf simulation, allowing players to develop their created golfer over an extended period⁸
• Season Mode: Complete tournament-based play mirroring professional golf structures¹⁵
• Pro Tour: Competition against computer-controlled opponents on the professional circuit¹⁵
• Amateur Tour: Entry-level competition for developing skills¹⁰
• Skins Game: Hole-by-hole competition for stakes¹⁵
• Best Ball: Team-based competition format¹⁵
• Ryder Cup: International team competition format¹⁵
• Match Play: Head-to-head competition¹
• Stableford Scoring: Points-based scoring system¹

Puzzles and Mechanics

As a sports simulation, PGA Championship Golf 2000 focused on mastering realistic golf mechanics rather than traditional puzzle-solving. The game featured extensive attention to ball physics and course conditions. The game used “true-to-life ball dynamics and different surface types to come as close to realism as possible.”¹⁶ Players needed to account for wind, elevation changes, lie quality, and course hazards when planning shots.

The Course Architect tool allowed players to create custom courses using an expanded art library.¹⁷ This feature was both a creative tool and a way to extend gameplay through community-generated content. However, the Course Architect was known to crash frequently if terrain was not properly optimized, and files could become corrupt.⁷

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

PGA Championship Golf 2000 received exceptional reviews upon release, with critics praising its innovative controls and comprehensive feature set. The Hartford Courant declared it “by far the most developed and satisfying of what has become a long line of golf games from Sierra” and considered it “an early contender for PC sports game of the year.”¹⁵

GameSpot awarded the game 8.9 out of 10, with reviewer Stephen Poole calling it “currently the unrivaled king of golf sims.”⁴ Eurogamer gave it 9 out of 10, stating “Quite frankly this is the best golfing simulation on the market.”³ GameVortex rated it 95%, with reviewer Shane Wodele (Woody) exclaiming, “I have played many PC golf games in the past, but Sierra Sports’ PGA Championship Golf 2000 definitely takes the cake!”⁷

PC Gamer US awarded 91%, while GameSpy gave 90 out of 100.¹ IGN was somewhat more reserved at 7.7 out of 10.¹ CNET Gamecenter rated it 8 out of 10, praising it as “A complete, innovative, and fun golf game.”¹³ Game-Over.net gave 88%, describing it as “arguably one of the best golf simulations available for the PC.”¹⁸

Critics noted some limitations. The Washington Post’s Tom Ham observed that “The scenery here is top-notch—but the spectators still look like cardboard cutouts.”¹ GameVortex identified “The absolute only downfall to this game is that there are no real-life professionals to choose from.”⁷

Modern Assessment

The game has maintained a positive reputation among golf simulation enthusiasts. On MyAbandonware, the game holds a user rating of 4.48 out of 5, with users praising it as “A great reproduction of golf” and noting “The skill involved is pretty high if you like a challenge.”¹⁹ Amazon user reviews averaged 2.5 out of 5 stars, with the lower score reflecting the game’s dated compatibility with modern systems rather than its original quality.⁹

Aggregate Scores:

• GameRankings: 88%¹
• MobyGames Critics Average: 86% (based on 11 ratings)¹⁰
• MobyGames Moby Score: 8.0 (#2,226 of 27.6K games)¹⁰
• MyAbandonware: 4.48/5¹⁹

Awards:

• GameSpy 2000 – Sports Game of the Year¹⁰

Development

Origins

PGA Championship Golf 2000 evolved from Sierra’s long history with golf simulations, tracing its lineage through the Front Page Sports Golf series developed by Dynamix.² The Front Page Sports series was designed by Pat Cook and Allen McPheeters and included Football, Baseball, and Golf titles.²⁰ The golf franchise transitioned from Dynamix to Headgate Studios, which Sierra had acquired in 1996.²

Senior Producer Mike Jacob explained the development philosophy: “Our goals when we started PGA Championship Golf 2000 were to achieve many of the things we wanted to have in PGA Championship Golf 1999, but were unable to due to timing for release.”²¹ The team focused on delivering features that had been planned but not implemented in the previous iteration due to schedule constraints.

The concept of computer golf simulations for business computers was pioneered much earlier. Developer Michael Boone recalled his original thinking: “IBM seemed like the computer that business people and the affluent were buying. So, I should write a golf game for the IBM computer.”²²

Production

Headgate Studios developed PGA Championship Golf 2000 under tight deadlines, which influenced some design decisions. The development team made a conscious choice not to license professional golfers, focusing instead on gameplay features and technical improvements.¹ Hardware acceleration was planned but ultimately dropped due to time and budget constraints.²¹

The game featured several innovations, including the ReadyPlay system. Mike Jacob highlighted this feature: “We were first with ReadyPlay™. This is where cyber golfers can move up the course independently of the other players in your group.”²¹ This allowed for more efficient multiplayer gameplay by eliminating waiting time between shots.

Beta testing was conducted with community involvement. Sierra Sports actively recruited testers, looking for players with experience with PGA 1999 who could test multiplayer capabilities.²³ Requirements for beta testers included being “Available to play online week nights and weekends” and signing a non-disclosure agreement.²³

Development Credits:¹⁰

• Director: Vance Cook
• Senior Producer: Mike Jacob
• Lead Engineer: Michael D. Jones
• Team Lead: Dale Deputy
• Interface Design/Artist: Matthew Peterson
• Course Creator: Scott Ferrin
• Art Lead/Photographer: Mitch Stevens

Technical Achievements

The TrueSwing 3 technology represented a significant advancement in golf game controls. Director Vance Cook emphasized that “Computer golfers actually control the club in the on-screen golfer’s hands,” creating a direct connection between player input and on-screen action.⁶ The system used real-time swing calculation to translate mouse movements into realistic ball flight.¹⁴

The game featured improved graphics over its predecessor, though it remained software-rendered. The Course Architect tool received significant enhancements, with an expanded art library for creating custom courses.¹⁷ Multiplayer functionality was improved with enhanced linking technology for LAN, modem, and internet play through WON.net.¹⁷

Technical Specifications

System Requirements:¹⁸¹³

Minimum:

• Processor: Intel Pentium 166MHz (Pentium II 233MHz recommended)
• RAM: 32MB (64MB recommended)
• Hard Drive: 150MB (200MB recommended)
• CD-ROM: 4x (8x recommended)
• Video: SVGA 800x600 at 32K colors (1024x768 recommended)
• Operating System: Windows 95/98/Me

Media:²⁴

• Discs: 2 CD-ROMs
• File Size: 596.7MB (full installation)

Retail Price:⁸

• Launch: $35.95
• Later: $24.95-$29.99

Cut Content

Hardware acceleration was originally planned for PGA Championship Golf 2000 but was removed during development due to time and budget constraints.²¹ The development team prioritized other features over this graphical enhancement.

The decision not to include licensed professional golfers was made to allocate resources to gameplay features rather than licensing costs.¹ This became the most commonly cited criticism of the otherwise well-received game.

Version History

Version	Date	Platform	Notes
3.2.7.1	August 2000	Windows	Patch with seven new courses25
3.3.4.5	August 22, 2000	Windows	18 bug fixes and 9 improvements26
Titanium Edition	December 11, 2000	Windows	7 new courses, improved multiplayer17
Collector’s Edition	Summer 2001	Windows	12 new courses, 32 total27

Post-Release Updates:

The game received significant post-release support through patches and expanded editions. The Titanium Edition, released in December 2000, included “seven new 18-hole golf courses in addition to an improved multiplayer mode.”²⁸ Free upgrades were available for owners of previous editions.²⁸ The German release of the Titanium Edition included 20 courses rather than the standard expansion.¹⁷

Technical Issues

Running PGA Championship Golf 2000 on modern systems presents challenges. The game has graphics and compatibility issues on newer Windows versions, requiring patches and special DirectDraw wrappers for Windows 10 compatibility.²⁹ Users on technical forums have noted that “resolution should be less or equal than 1024x768 for the game to register your swing.”²⁹

The Course Architect feature was known to crash frequently, particularly when terrain was not properly optimized. Files created in the Course Architect could become corrupt, resulting in lost work.⁷

Easter Eggs and Trivia

• The game was described as “Written by Golfers for Golfers”¹²
• Players had the option to have their created golfers change outfits each day of competition⁷
• Dynamic galleries in the game would attract to better-performing players, creating realistic crowd behavior¹²
• The game included left-handed golfer support, an uncommon feature at the time⁶
• Over 1,600 user-created courses were eventually made available through community sharing¹

Voice Cast

Role	Voice Actor
Color Commentator	Mark Lye4
Color Commentator	Grant Boone4
American Commentators	Two unnamed actors3

The game featured commentary from two American commentators who provided play-by-play coverage during rounds.³

Legacy

Sales and Commercial Impact

PGA Championship Golf 2000 was recognized as GameSpy’s Sports Game of the Year for 2000, cementing its status as the premier golf simulation of its era.¹⁰ The game became part of Sierra’s ongoing sports simulation efforts alongside the Front Page Sports franchise for football and baseball.³⁰

The title marked the end of Sierra’s golf simulation franchise. Following the game’s release, Headgate Studios was sold by Sierra, and the development team subsequently transitioned to creating the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series for Electronic Arts.² This represented a significant shift in the golf simulation market.

Collections

• PGA Championship Golf 2000 Titanium Edition (December 2000) - Enhanced version with 7 additional courses¹⁷
• PGA Championship Golf Collector’s Edition (Summer 2001) - 12 new exclusive courses, 32 total²⁷

Fan Projects

The game’s Course Architect tool fostered an active community of course designers. Over 1,600 user-created courses became available for download through WON.net and other community sites.¹ The extensive modding community extended the game’s lifespan significantly beyond its initial release.

Modern players have developed compatibility solutions for running the game on contemporary operating systems, including DirectDraw wrappers for Windows 10.²⁹

Related Publications

Included Materials:³¹

• Game Manual - Included with physical release
• Quick Reference Card - Control summary
• Errata Information - Known issues and corrections

Critical Perspective

PGA Championship Golf 2000 represented the pinnacle of Sierra’s sports simulation efforts and arguably the high point of PC golf gaming in its era. The innovative TrueSwing control system influenced subsequent golf games and demonstrated that mouse-based swing controls could provide a more intuitive and realistic experience than traditional button-timing mechanics.

The game’s greatest achievement was its comprehensive feature set. The combination of career and season modes, extensive customization options, the Course Architect tool, and robust multiplayer support created a package that no competitor could match at the time. The decision to forgo licensed professional golfers, while criticized, allowed the development team to invest resources in gameplay innovation.

The legacy of PGA Championship Golf 2000 extends beyond Sierra. When Headgate Studios was sold, its talent moved to Electronic Arts to develop the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series, carrying forward lessons learned from the Sierra franchise.² The game remains playable today through abandonware preservation efforts, though modern compatibility requires technical workarounds.

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

• Not currently available on digital storefronts

Download / Preservation

• Internet Archive – PGA Championship Golf 2000²⁴
• MyAbandonware – PGA Championship Golf 2000¹⁹

Patches & Updates

• Sierra Help – PGA Championship Golf Updates²⁵

Series Continuity

PGA Championship Golf 2000 was the culmination of Sierra’s golf simulation franchise, which evolved from the Front Page Sports Golf series developed by Dynamix. The series began with PGA Championship Golf in 1998, followed by PGA Championship Golf ‘99 Edition in 1999, and reached its peak with the 2000 edition.³² The Titanium Edition (2000) and Collector’s Edition (2001) served as enhanced versions of the base 2000 game rather than true sequels.

Following Sierra’s sale of Headgate Studios in 1999, the franchise effectively ended, with the development team transitioning to create golf games for Electronic Arts.² This made PGA Championship Golf 2000 the final entry in Sierra’s golf simulation lineage.

• Previous: 1999 - PGA Championship Golf ‘99 Edition

References

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia – PGA Championship Golf – release dates, ratings, developer info, features, reviews ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³

2. Sierra Gamers Forum – Where Does Sierra End – development history, Headgate Studios acquisition and sale ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

3. Eurogamer – PGA 2000 Review – review score, TrueSwing description, gameplay features ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. GameSpot – PGA Championship Golf 2000 Review – 8.9 score, Stephen Poole review, voice cast ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

5. Hartford Courant Review – TrueSwing description, review quote ↩ ↩² ↩³

6. SPOnG Press Release – Vance Cook quote, features list ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

7. GameVortex Review – 95% score, options quote, bugs, trivia ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

8. CDMag – Sierra Golf Announcement – first Season/Career mode claim, pricing ↩ ↩² ↩³

9. Amazon – PGA Championship Golf 2000 – platforms, courses, WON.net info ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

10. MobyGames – PGA Championship Golf 2000 – credits, ratings, awards, description ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

11. CDMag – PGACG2K Article – simulation description, release date ↩

12. Eurogamer Archive Review – dynamic galleries, system requirements ↩ ↩² ↩³

13. CNET Gamecenter Review – 8/10 score, Jason Ocampo review, system specs ↩ ↩² ↩³

14. IGN – PGA Championship Golf 2000 Announced – TrueSwing description, features ↩ ↩²

15. Hartford Courant – game modes, review quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

16. Internet Archive – 3-D Ultra Minigolf – ball dynamics quote (related Sierra golf product) ↩

17. MobyGames – Titanium Edition – enhanced features, German release info ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

18. Game-Over.net Review – 88% score, system requirements ↩ ↩²

19. MyAbandonware – PGA Championship Golf 2000 – user ratings, user quotes ↩ ↩² ↩³

20. Sierra Fandom Wiki – Dynamix – Front Page Sports series history ↩

21. SportPlanet Interview – Mike Jacob interview, ReadyPlay, development goals ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

22. Filfre.net – Golf Game History – Michael Boone quote on early development ↩

23. CDMag – Beta Testers Wanted – beta testing requirements ↩ ↩²

24. Internet Archive – PGA Championship Golf 2000 – file size, disc count ↩ ↩²

25. Sierra Help – Patches – version history, patch details ↩ ↩²

26. CDMag – PGA 2000 Patch – patch details, bug fixes ↩

27. GameSpot – Collector’s Edition – 12 new courses, 32 total ↩ ↩²

28. GameSpot – Titanium Edition Release – release date, features, free upgrades ↩ ↩²

29. VOGONS Forum – compatibility issues, resolution requirements ↩ ↩² ↩³

30. IGN – Collector’s Edition Announcement – Front Page Sports franchise mention ↩

31. Sierra Chest – Titanium Edition – packaging contents ↩

32. MobyGames – PGA Championship Golf Series – series overview, release dates ↩