I've played the PC version since the closed beta, so the mechanics of the game are not new to me today.
The first item on my checklist was to see how the 720p resolution was going to compare to the 900p and 1080p resolutions I've been using on the PC version. I was really concerned about how it was going to look on my 55" Toshiba LCD HDTV. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I wasn't expecting something that looks as blurry and lacking in detail as what I'm seeing. I was hoping for some help with the XB1's ability to use antialiasing, but I'm seeing no evidence of it in my brief run. The green grid lines are alarmingly stepped looking. The shaft of the golf club shows a good bit of jagginess as well. OTOH, the golfer looks pretty well resolved, although there's some obvious "stair-stepping" on the arms. The trees in the distance look a bit like quivering, amorphous blobs in high wind (I was seeing 8 to 10 mph winds at Autumn Ridge G.C.).
The nearby textures looked pretty authentic and the water almost seems to gain a level of realism in the loss of resolution, as they don't look as falsely reflective as they do in the PC version at higher resolutions, AA and AF settings, so a plus there. Overall though, what I've seen so far with this loss of resolution has just strengthened my decision to buy a PS4. I now know for a fact that "resolution-gate" just isn't a figment of my imagination. Since it doesn't appear that the XB1 version of The Golf Club is using any AA (or enough to make a real difference), the 720p resolution's shortcomings give this game a bit of a 'last-gen' appearance on my screen
If a game is not going to be using high levels of antialiasing, it would behoove it to be displayed in a higher resolution. In my experience, a non antialiased game at 1080p still looks sharper than a 720p game at 4x msaa. However, I just did an A/B comparison on the same TV between the XB1 version of TGC and the PC version set to 720p/high graphics detail (which is what the XB1 version is equvalent to), 4x msaa, and 8x AF. Both games were displaying the golfer on the first tee at my favorite course - Autumn Ridge G.C. The PC version looked significantly better with its cleaner lines, thanks to the 4x msaa.
The next item on my checklist was the feel of the swing interface. The XB1 version does feel slightly more fluid and consistent than the PC version, or at least, the way the PC version runs on my system at comparable resolutions and graphics settings. I can adjust my resolution and graphics setting down enough on the PC to make the swing look more fluid (thanks to 50 to 60 fps) and feel as fluid. When I do that, the net effect is the PC version is made to feel more responsive because the animation is doing a better job of reflecting you movement with the input stick. Still, if the PC version is running at 30 fps; it will not feel as lively as the XB1 version, with Vsync enabled. I can tell that the game is responding more proportionally with my stick movements thanks to the 60 fps control thread.
The overall gameplay feels pretty good though. HOGZTheTruth joined my in simultaneous play for my first round at Autumn Ridge G.C. and it went pretty good. I didn't have my headset on at this hour to startle family members, but it still felt pretty "live". I can't say that I wouldn't enjoy this game on the XB1 because of its muted video resolution, but I'm reasonably confident I will be more satisfied with the PS4 version in a week or so, if it delivers at least the same gameplay experience at 1080p. I now wholeheartedly believe that The Golf Club deserves a 1080p canvas!