-Estimated trophy difficulty: N/A (I personally gave it a 4) (Platinum Difficulty Rating Thread)
-Offline: 41 (27 , 10 , 3 , 1 )
-Online: 2 (1 , 1 )
-Approximate amount of time to : 12+ hours
-Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
-Number of missable trophies: None
-Glitched trophies: None
-Do cheat codes disable trophies? No cheats that I'm aware of
-PlayStation Move required?: Optional but not required
Welcome to John Daly's Prostroke Golf! This is a very straight-forward "minimalist" golf game, as you don't have to worry about levelling up or progressing your character's attributes at all. The only thing that you can change or customize are your golfer's appearance and whether you're left-handed or right-handed. The default clubs in your bag is what you will keep for the entire game, as there is no option to trade out a 6-iron for a 2-iron, for example. You do not earn money, skill points, new clothes, better/different clubs, or anything else of that nature. New courses however DO have to be unlocked. There are 12 courses total, with only the 1st course - Mystic Rock - being available at the onset.
This title is PlayStation Move compatible, but hardly necessary or even recommendable. The standard DualShock 3 controller is superior for trophy play, as it offers much better precision in terms of hitting exact percentage distances, and for consistently hitting the ball straight. This roadmap/trophy guide is written with the DS3 in mind, but for those who like the extra challenge the Move can most certainly be used instead.
While playing the game you will have the option of doing so in either "Prostroke View" or "Caddie View" (as long as you're using the DS3, that is). For trophy play "Caddie View" is definitely the way you want to go, as it is simply easier to be more successful this way. "Prostroke View" REQUIRES you to learn how to correctly shift your weight between your back foot and front foot for accurate shots, while "Caddie View" does not even allow you the option of weight-shifting at all (which is a good thing!). Consistently making good shots can be troublesome enough already, and there is absolutely no need to add an extra layer of difficulty to the process! **For those using the Move, only "Prostroke View" can be used.** For casual play this is all well and good, but for trophy play you are just making things harder on yourself for the reasons mentioned above (less precision on nailing exact percentages, keeping the ball flight consistently straight & the inability to play in "Caddie View").
And lastly, beware of the putting meter! For some reason the numbers are NOT accurate... everything will come up a little bit short for some reason. This doesn't matter a whole lot early on when the greens are easy and the putts are straight, as you can simply overhit your intended percentage by about 5% and not have any problems. But make sure to NEVER hit a straight putt exactly on the percentage you need to get it there (or let alone a little short!)... as you will frustratingly miss a lot of putts short this way. For example (as a left-handed putter):
If you stop at exactly the 25% marker, you will get 22%-23%
If you stop at exactly the 50% marker, you will get 47%
If you stop at exactly the 75% marker, you will get 72%
Luckily a 100% putt stays true at 100%
For the longer, curving putts later in the game, exact percentages are often required to make the putt. If you have a sweeping curve lined up center-hole at 64%, and accidently miss your number, it will change the line of the putt and either stay high of the hole for an overhit or obviously dip below your line for an underhit. You can use the graphics beneath the putting meter to establish certain percentages to make things easier, for example a left-handed putter (like I am) can stop the meter right at the long stem of the "P" in "Putter" to get a consistent 60%. Or stop the meter where the dark box begins underneath the meter (the box where the word "Putter" appears) for a consistent 80%. Likewise stopping the meter as soon as it touches the "50%" graphic will always go 38%, or stopping it as soon as it hits the "100%" graphic is a reliable 88%. These particular numbers only work for the left-handers though, as the relationships change between a right-to-left meter movement and a left-to-right one. But regardless of which side of the ball you're putting from, this just takes some practice until you get comfortable nailing the percentage that you're aiming for. **I do not know if the percentages are also short like this when putting with the Move, as I do not own one myself.** My opinions above about the Move being more difficult overall for trophy play mainly come from other online players with whom I've communicated with. Literally every one of them at some point had to trade in the Move for the DS3, as their trophy progress came to a grinding halt with the Move. Not that it CAN'T be done... it's just harder.
Step 1: Play in an offline pairs match
This will get you Two's Company and can be done offline with one controller. Choose the "random three" option in the course setup to make this go faster.
Step 2: Beat John Daly on all 12 courses
This is done under "Challenges" in "Career Mode", and is a 4-step process for each course. You must first beat Daly in a Driving Challenge, a Close Approach Challenge & a Putting Challenge (in any order), which will then unlock the 4th and final Match Play Challenge. Beating Daly in the Match Play event will both unlock that particular course for tournament play as well as earning you the "Beat John Daly at (insert course name)" trophy. Each Challenge is 9 holes in length, and there are 12 total courses & corresponding trophies that need to be dealt with here. By completing all of these you will also earn North American Domination, Mediterranean Domination & British Domination as well.
This mode seems to incorporate a "Mercy Rule" where if you repeatedly fail at one of the first 3 challenges, the game will eventually let you just skip it and move on to the Match Play Challenge. While this will let you unlock that particular course for tournament play once you win the Match Play, you will NOT earn the "Beat John Daly at (insert course name)" trophy until you go back and beat whatever challenge that you were stuck on in the first place. In my case I failed a Close Approach Challenge about 5 times in a row and then got frustrated and turned the machine off. The next day when I turned it back on, the Match Play Challenge for that course was mysteriously unlocked. The exact parameters of this "Mercy Rule" is still unknown however.
Step 3: WIN all 12 tournaments
This is done in "Tournaments" under "Career Mode". You cannot play in a course's tournament until you beat Daly in Match Play under "Challenge" mode. There are 12 total courses/tournaments to compete in, and you must place in 1st place in all of them to earn the gold World Champion trophy. Along the way you will also earn the corresponding trophy for each individual tournament, with the requirements being anywhere from you having to finish within 8 strokes of the winner to you having to win the tournament outright.
Step 4: Online play
Time to get online and go for Predator and Perfect Host. Predator just requires you to win one online match, regardless of mode. Perfect Host requires you to BE THE HOST and complete a 4-player match. Game mode does not matter as long as you have 3 other people playing with you. You do not have to win this, but all 4 players must hang around until the last hole is completed. For ease and quickness for both of these trophies select the "random three" option when setting up how many holes to play. Unfortunately the online servers are completely dead, so go here to find some boosting partners > Boosting / Online Partners Thread.
Step 5: Clean up/Misc. trophies
If you've completed the first 4 steps, you will have no more than 11 misc. trophies remaining. These are Driving King, Dialed In, G.I.R., Pin High, Crash and Burn, Birdie, Monster Putt, Approach Work, Eagle, First Ace and Birdie King. In reality you will most likely pick all of these up along the way without even trying, except for perhaps First Ace. Follow the guide below to get some tips on all of these if you're having any trouble.