Although it may appear a little old-school, HSG Fore is the most fun that you will have with a golf game.
Graphics: The graphics are character models are cartoony and cell-shaded, when everything else (such as the courses and the trees) are realistic, yet very bright and cheerful. Having the characters realistic would seem out of place, because the whole game takes on a "stroll in the park" feel, and not an ESPN Documentary feel. (I bet you didn't understand that last sentence, but I don't really care!)
Sound: All of the sound effects in this game are very realistic, it feels like you're right next to a waterfall in a windy storm. Also, the things that the characters and caddies say are very funny, and sometimes even helpful! However, they are extremely repetitive. You hear the same 5 phrases or 3 effects over, and over, and over again. The soundtrack had some very fitting tunes in it, although no real songs. The problem is, there are only 10 different songs and they sound almost the same! (I think that there were only 5 songs, but to make the list longer, they played the 5 ackwardds and put them as different songs.
Story: There is no story, but the basic idea is to move up the ranks as a golfer, and along the way, defeat other rivals.
Lineup: The character and caddy line-up is one of the best parts of this game. There are 24 characters that range from a samurai, to a wrestler, to a baby, to a dog! There are even special cameos of some of Sony's other heroes. Each of the 22 "normal" characters have 2 costumes, which can be in one of 4 designer colors. That means all 22 characters have 8 possible appearances, and a total of 176 looks. Each character can also use one of 10 sets of clubs and 8 balls that you unlock as you go along. That's a total of... (176 x 10 = 1760, 1760 x 8 =) 14,080 possible combinations! I think that may be a new record for possible combinations, without a character creation mode!
Oh yeah, the caddies are aslo cool, but are king of annoying, and without superhuman timing (or cheat codes) are virtually impossible to unlock.
Multiplayer: There are two types, online and off. Offline is great for parties because you can have up to 4 players, and only use one controller! (Sounds catastrophic in theory, actually not that bad.) Online, there are two modes, 1 v 1, and big party attack mode! BPA Mode (I made that title up!) is online excusive, and has up to 10 people playing a hole simutaniously, and then going back to a lobby and looking at everybody's results, before going on to the next hole. The best score at the end wins. Lag issues are extremely rare, but it also seems that it is hard to find anybody online playing this game! Mini golf is also multiplayer, but only offline.
Gameplay: In-game, the mechanics are simple. You press X to start a long meter, X again to set the power, and X one last time for accuracy. The more power you want, the longer you let the meter fill. The accuracy is tricky. There is a white line surrounded by a little bit of pink, and then surrounded by a lot of red. If you make the accuracy land right on the white line (which is mostly luck), the ball homes a little pit to the pin, or goes farther, depending on the situation. If it lands in the pink it will go straight. If it lands in the red, it veer off to one side, either a little, or a lot. It seems however, that when the CPU misses, it still goes almost perfectly straight, but when you miss, it goes at a 45 degree angle. The putting is perfect, an easy to navigate map shows the slopes and it's just a matter of power, and taking the slope into account. You can also use power boosts, and put spins on the ball. There are two main single player modes: versus and tornament. In tournaments, you are pit against 30 other golfers, who are pretty easy except for about 5 of them, who are challenging. This mode lets you unlock equiptment and courses. In versus, you go 1 v 1 with a rival. You play 9 holes, and the person who gets a better score on each hole wins the hole and gets one point. Whoever has more points at the end wins. If you win, you unlock whoever you just beat. In any mode, you can add special rules, like big cup, or +2 strokes if you hit a tree. There is also a shop where you can buy new costumes, caddies, clubs, and such with a hot girl as the shopkeeper.
Overall, I think that HSGF is the best golf game out there, a lot better than its sim counterpart "Tiger Woods". I know that a golf game may not sound like fun, but just give it a chance, and you'll have fun.