Comparison

Golf Rival vs WHAT THE GOLF?

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Golf Rival

Compete in real-time PvP golf matches, showcasing your skills across diverse courses. Collect clubs and balls, master your swing, and climb leaderboards to become a golf champion. Experience dynamic course conditions and strategic club modifications.

Highlights
  • Real-time PvP golf matches
  • 600+ courses across 21+ themes
  • Club and ball collection
  • Course Conditions and Club Mods
  • 1v1 duels and tournaments
  • Daily challenges
  • Multiplayer golf mode
Features
Read full description

The golf course is calling! Tee-off and become the ultimate golf champion in Golf Rival! Golf Rival is a free-to-play real time PVP golf game where real golf skills need infinite creativity. Show off your golf genius like never before! Collect powerful golf clubs and balls and play across 600+ courses in more than 21+ themes! Satisfy your golf dreams of hitting incredible shots, dueling your rivals, climbing the leaderboards and becoming a true golf master. Let's go for the perfect swing, a hole-in-one and prove you're a golf pro! We’re adding a new layer of depth in Golf Rival! With focus on golf clubs players already love, and a new fun world to prove them in! With Course Conditions in play, every hole feels unique. Wind zones and gravity shifts force you to read the course fresh, every single time. And Club Mods help in countering whatever the golf course throws at you. Players dust off clubs they already own, slot in new mod upgrades, and tune their golf clubs to personalized strategies. This exciting free golf game has many modes to play and master. From 1v1 golf shootout duels, to golf championship Tournaments against a global community of golfers, to playing golf with rivals and friends. In Golf Rival, scoring a birdie is only the start of the competitive fun! Outwit rivals with powerful golf balls and clubs, because no two online golf matches are ever the same. Grab your clubs, and enjoy the golfing fun, whether you're a golfing newbie or an ultimate sports game expert! PLAY EXCITING GOLF GAMES -Unlock incredible golf challenges and conquer them by winning real time golf clashes and shootouts -Master your golf swing with precision and creativity and watch your skills grow -Compete in both 9-hole and 18-hole golf championship Tournaments every exciting season -Multiplayer golf mode and daily challenges await - play golf now every single day! -Beautiful 3D golf courses across different themes and difficulties always deliver an ultimate golf challenge GROW YOUR GOLF SKILLS -Golf Rival is unlike any free golf game you've tried - a true golfing simulator with creative and fantastical clubs and balls -Win real golf duels to unlock amazing rewards for your golf bag and take your golf pro skills to the next level -With every real time golf clash, you'll sharpen your genius swing and pull off incredible golf shots! INFINITE GOLF FUN -Every Golf Rival season is fun and fresh, with new courses, golf balls and rewards all the time! -Skill games like Kingdom, Ace Open and Brink events put a unique spin on classic golf - putting, chipping and more -Add your friends and see who has the golf genius to become the #1 golfer! -Connect with players from the Golf Rival community on Facebook and join the conversation Join golf fans around the world and download Golf Rival now to start your journey to becoming an ultimate golf champion! Golf Rival is available in 13 languages. Join the Golf Rival community on Facebook! Golf Rival is FREE to download and includes optional in-game purchases (including random items). If you wish to disable in-game purchases, please turn off the in-app purchases in your phone or tablet’s Settings. Terms of service: https://www.take2games.com/legal/en-US/

About

WHAT THE GOLF?

This physics-based parody game offers a hilarious and surprising take on golf, featuring absurd levels with cats, cars, and more. Explore a lab of wacky golf experiments and enjoy frequent new episodes and holiday updates.

Highlights
  • Physics-based gameplay
  • Surprising and absurd levels
  • Parodies of golf and other sports
  • Frequent new episodes
  • Holiday-themed updates
  • Humorous puns and references
Features
Read full description

Packed with humor, puns and goofy parodies, this game will make you question everything you thought you knew about golf! It is a silly physics-based golf parody where each level is a new surprising type of golf. Some brilliant or hilarious, others so absurd you will ask yourself: WHAT THE GOLF? IT’S REALLY NOT GOLF But it’s a lot of other things! Cats, couches, horses, cars, TV’s, tennis, dogs, flags, flying houses, a fax machine… You name it, we golf it! EXPLORE THE LAB What has happened in the golf lab? Why is it called a hole-in-one and not a house-in-one? Are there really no limits to what you can golf? WANT MORE? WE GOT YOU New episodes dropping/released often, you can already check out: It’s Snowtime: An epic adventure of frozen pizza and pineapple A Hole New World: Golf, now with holes! Sporty Sports: Where all the sports are golf! …and many more to come! Updates for special holidays, including: International Cat Day (Catch the laser!) Halloween (A tricky little treat) World Maritime Day (That one was “aboat" time) Thanksgiving (Because turkeys are the only birdies you need!) Valentines Day (A love story between a horse and a golf ball) …and more! DISCLAIMER!! This game is made by people who know nothing about golf. It will NOT make you a better golf player!

Screenshots

Golf Rival4 screens
WHAT THE GOLF?4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: WHAT THE GOLF? at 95% against Golf Rival's 38%. WHAT THE GOLF? also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Golf Rival's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and chart position (#8 vs unranked). On price there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Golf Rival sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. WHAT THE GOLF? asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WHAT THE GOLF? holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 157K and 35K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 38% of Golf Rival's written reviews are positive against 95% of WHAT THE GOLF?'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Golf Rival ships an update every 9 days, WHAT THE GOLF? monthly. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.

Scorecard10 real differences · 1 level
Golf Rival versus WHAT THE GOLF?: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGolf RivalWHAT THE GOLF?
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (157K ratings)4.9 (35K ratings) — better
Positive reviews37.7% of reviews94.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings157K — better35K
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#8 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size405 MB295 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZynga Inc.Team17 USA

Customer experience

Golf Rival

All ratings156,945 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral5.1%
Negative5.5%
Written reviews2,469 reviews
Positive37.7%
Neutral12.3%
Negative50.0%

WHAT THE GOLF?

All ratings34,987 ratings
Positive97.3%
Neutral1.0%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews2,681 reviews
Positive94.6%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.2%

User reviews

Golf Rival

From 157K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun and addictive game
  • 👍 No ads
  • 💡 Variety of game modes
  • 👍 Progression without paying

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Unfair matchmaking against higher-level players
  • 💰 Pay-to-win mechanics
  • 🐛 Inconsistent wind and ball physics
  • 🔒 Difficulty upgrading preferred clubs
  • 🔒 Putting is too easy

WHAT THE GOLF?

From 35K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 😂 Hilarious and creative
  • 🎨 Unique and imaginative gameplay
  • 🤩 Surprisingly fun for non-golf fans
  • 👍 Great for all ages
  • 🕹️ Lots of variety and references to other games

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🤯 Frustratingly difficult levels at times
  • 🤔 Lack of replayability after completing the main campaign
  • 🤖 Gyro/AR controls can be finicky

Bugs and requests

Golf Rival

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Frequent disconnections and sync issues
  • Glitches with shot trajectories
  • Disappearing in-app purchases

Requested features

5 requests
  • More diverse course selection
  • Fairer matchmaking system
  • Ability to replay unlocked levels
  • Improved club upgrade system
  • More challenging putting

WHAT THE GOLF?

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Save data loss after updates
  • Levels not loading properly
  • Controls reversing unexpectedly in certain modes

Requested features

4 requests
  • More levels and content updates
  • Ability to replay favorite levels
  • Save progress across devices
  • More animal/pet characters

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Golf Rival

One-time10
  • PIGGY_BANK$2.99
  • Save Streak$2.99
  • BIG PILE OF DIAMONDS$4.99
Show 7 more
  • Arena Big Deal$4.99
  • CHALLENGE PASS$4.99
  • FULL BAG OF DIAMONDS$9.99
  • Arena Super Deal$9.99
  • CLUB OFFER 1$9.99
  • FULL CHEST OF DIAMONDS$19.99
  • Arena Amazing Deal$19.99
None

WHAT THE GOLF?

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Golf Rival free?
Golf Rival is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is WHAT THE GOLF? free?
WHAT THE GOLF? is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Golf Rival or WHAT THE GOLF??
WHAT THE GOLF? is rated higher. Golf Rival averages 4.5 out of 5 from 157K ratings, while WHAT THE GOLF? averages 4.9 from 35K ratings.
Do Golf Rival or WHAT THE GOLF? have ads?
Golf Rival shows ads; WHAT THE GOLF? does not.
Which is updated more often, Golf Rival or WHAT THE GOLF??
Golf Rival ships an update every 9 days, and WHAT THE GOLF? monthly. Most recently, Golf Rival was updated on November 7, 2026 and WHAT THE GOLF? on November 7, 2026.

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