XC Golf, or cross country golf, is a special game type found in the Adventure Golf mode of Mario Golf: Super Rush. Players will get their first taste of it after earning their Crome badge for completing the Bonny Hills tournament with a score of +8 or lower. It's played exclusively on the Ridgerock Lake course and requires players to complete a certain number of holes while adhering to a strict stroke limit.
Unlike traditional golf, players are able to choose which order they complete the holes, with the most direct route rarely being the best one to take. They'll also be penalized for failing to complete their shot and return to their ball within two minutes, meaning they'll need to play with both speed and precision if they want to complete the course and earn their Bronze badge. It can be a little tricky, but with the right strategy in place, it's not actually all that bad.
10 Target Holes At Higher Elevation First
While playing XC golf on the Ridgerock Lack course, players will quickly realize that some of the holes are a lot higher up than others. Though the temptation may be there to target the closest hole first, starting out with some of the more hard to reach ones can actually make life a lot easier for players in the long run.
Given the strict stroke limit, wasting shots hitting the ball up and down cliffs is a shortcut to failure, so players should instead aim to start from the highest point of the course and then work their way down. This will mean covering a greater distance, but the amount of strokes saved by not having to repeatedly hit the ball up cliffs should more than make up for this.
9 Plan A Route To The Ball Before Taking A Shot
Unlike in Speed Golf where players have a strict time limit for each hole, XC Golf instead places a limit on the number of strokes. There is still a timer, however, with players needing to take their shot and then return to the ball within two minutes to avoid getting a one stroke penalty. As a result, it can really pay to have a route to the ball already planned out before hitting it.
While traveling downhill, getting to the ball isn't too much of an issue, but it's a completely different story when climbing up the course's many cliffs is involved. Certain cliff faces in Ridgerock Lake just cannot be climbed, so players should think carefully about how they're going to get to their ball before committing to their shot.
8 Use The Tornadoes To Get Around
Most of the cliff faces in the Ridgerock Lake can be climbed, but it tends to be a slow and arduous process. A much faster way to get around is to use the course's many tornadoes, which will fling players high into the air and allow them to get to otherwise hard to reach areas in a matter of seconds.
Though it is possible to use the Tornadoes to send a ball up to a higher level as well, doing so can sometimes be incredibly unpredictable. If players are aiming a shot near a tornado, this too can cause problems, so it's usually best to give them a fairly wide berth to prevent ruining what might otherwise have been an incredibly well-placed shot.
7 Think Carefully About Which Club To Use
On most courses, the only thing that players really need to worry about when selecting their clubs is distance, but the Ridgerock Lake course presents an additional challenge. Having to hit the ball up inclines can make certain clubs pretty useless, particularly the 3 Wood, which hits the ball with a far lower trajectory than some of the other clubs in the player's golf bag.
Unfortunately, Golf Adventure mode players won't have obtained the lob wedge when they first visit Ridgerock Lack, but there are a few other clubs that can be useful for gaining elevation quickly. A driver isn't a bad choice if the cliff is more than 70 yards away, but those who find themselves a little closer would be better off using their pitching wedge instead.
6 Use Curve Shots To Get Around Obstacles
Unlike the first two courses in Mario Golf: Super Rush, Ridgerock Lake is littered with obstacles. As well as the steep cliffs and tornadoes, there are trees and rocks everywhere and they can often make getting directly to a hole incredibly difficult, if not impossible. Hitting around is certainly a viable option, but given the stroke limit, it's best not to waste shots if there's another way.
Curve can help players navigate obstacles with relative ease, although it might take a bit of practice to fully master. After selecting how much power to put on a shot, players will need to tilt the left analog stick in the direction they want the ball to curve, with how far they tilt the stick dictating how much curve will be added. Players can even make the ball curve multiple times while it's in the air, although will need to level up their Mii golfer's curve stat in order to do so.
5 Dress For The Occasion
Each of the hub worlds in the Adventure Golf mode of Mario Golf: Super Rush features its own clubhouse where players can purchase and unlock a variety of new items. The one in Ridgerock Lake just so happens to be selling Attack Attire and Climbing Shoes, both of which can be incredibly useful when playing XC Golf.
The Attack Attire reduces the amount of stamina used during special dashes which can make getting around much faster, while the climbing shoes reduce the amount of speed loss while travelling up inclines. There's also an Elevation Finder app for the player's golfwatch on sale, which can be pretty useful when attempting to hit the ball up to higher levels of the course.
4 Destroy Brolders Using Special Dash
Ridgerock Lake is the first course in the game to feature enemies, with the Brolders from Super Mario 3D World occupying many of the course's flat areas. Though it's generally best to avoid hitting the ball too close to them where possible, there is a way to make the next shot a little easier should players find their ball a little too near to the the bolder-like creatures than they would have wanted.
If players use the special dash and run into a Brolder, they'll be able to completely destroy it and earn themselves a shiny gold coin in the process. This can be incredibly useful for clearing a path for the next shot, or even when trying to rush to the ball in the moments after taking one. They will need to be careful that the dash doesn't run out before contact, however, as this will lead to their Mii golfer getting knocked down.
3 Putt From The Fringe
Although the game will only default to the putter when the ball is on the green, it's actually possible to select the club even when the flagpole appears to be out of range. Most of the time this isn't all that useful, although should players happen to find their ball in the fringe or the rough right at the edge of the green, switching to the putter can often save them a stroke.
Hitting from these areas will require players to put quite a bit more power behind their shots, especially when in the rough. Providing they're not in deep rough, however, this is usually fairly easy to measure. It might take a few attempts to get an idea of how much additional power is required, but should help players to lower their stroke count in the long run.
2 Pay Attention To The Wind
Wind levels in Bonny Greens rarely get above 10 mph, but the high altitude environment of Ridgerock Lake has a constant wind level of 13. This might not seem like much, but it can have a huge bearing on the flight of a ball, particularly when using clubs that loft the ball high into the air like drivers or wedges.
The simplest solution to wind is to account for it when aiming and selecting the power level of a shot. If the wind is blowing left or right, players should aim their shot a little in the opposite direction. If players are hitting into the wind they'll need to add extra power to their shot, while hitting in the same direction that it's blowing will require a slightly weaker hit than usual.
1 Avoid Using Special Dash To Get Up Cliffs
The special dash is an invaluable tool when it comes to covering large distances on flat ground, but it quickly becomes ineffective when used to gain elevation. Gradual inclines aren't too bad, but using the special dash to try to get up cliffs will usually lead to the player's Mii golfer crashing into the edge of the cliff and falling down.
Not only is this a huge waste of stamina, but also a big waste of time. The two or three seconds spent recovering from the collision can easily end up costing players a penalty stroke, especially if they're already half way up the cliff and it causes them to fall back down to the bottom. The standard jump is therefore a much safer option, although players should still exercise caution to avoid falling down.
