Hello, and welcome to the Forums for Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on Speedrun.com

This thread is dedicated to discussing strategies and metagames used to take down the Tournaments from a New-Game file. This primarily describes "Any%", but it can also pertain to "Unlock Characters" to unlock Boo after 50 Badges and "100%".

Feel free to discuss such things as character selection (e.g. the merits of using DK or Bowser over Mario or vice versa), hole strategy (Ace strats for Lakitu Valley, quickest/safest ways to Birdie tough holes, etc), risk/reward theory, whether it's worth the time to attempt a Chip-In or dunk versus just shooting as quickly as possible, Give-Up spreads (skipping a hole after duffing the drive in exchange for triple Par, saving time but adding strokes), the potential time-save of shooting low with added Backspin (or not?), or anything else that comes to mind.

This game has become deeper than any of us have ever realized and we have yet to fully exploit everything to create what we would consider "optimal" runs. Not even close. I would appreciate any input to expand this thread as much as possible. Thanks for reading!

Just an update: I am working on Ace strats for Bowser at Lakitu Valley. I am beginning to suspect that Bowser could potentially save time at Lakitu Valley despite the extra half-second to select him in the Character Selection. Bowser can reach the 5th Green in two shots if the Lie on the second shot is good (after a straightened and boosted drive), while Mario cannot do the same. He also has a higher probability of reaching the 9th Green in two shots (since Mario requires a perfect Lie and good distance control).

I have four out of 16 possibilities for Ace strats (4 Par 3s; two Pin locations each; Calm and Rain) and will compile all of them in a new Guide when that project is done. If you wish to help me out and tackle the other possibilities (I have both Hole 7 Calm strats, the Hole 12 166y Pin Calm strat, and the Hole 16 112y Pin Calm strat so far), please let me know and provide as many details as possible so I can replicate them.

Donkey Kong is also a viable option since he can reach the 5th Green in two shots by straightening his Fade and aiming slightly left to the Fairway area 230 yards from the Green, and his Fade wouldn't be a hindrance on any other hole. Feel free to explore Ace strats and other options with him, too.