I was the biggest fan of NES Open, one of the last games made for the original Nintendo Entertainment System.  It was a golf game that featured betting, longest drive contests, and a tournament where you could name all your competitors.  Most golf games I've played focused more on having a big name (i.e. Tiger Woods) than fun.  But NES Open was great fun, and I thought it'd never be beat.  I'm eating my words.  Mario Golf is one of the most fun games, period.  So many options...you can play the tournament, ring shot, speed golf, play characters and keep them, mini golf, skins and more.  The suspense of the match game is the best.  It's going to take me forever to achieve everything on this game.  The ONLY complaint is that the mini-golf is really uncreative.  Other than that...it's perfect.