A solid game that lacks something special
First off, that there are no fantasy courses (because of the other courses needing so much work) is annoying. The Greek Isles was a great course on 2005 and the lack this sort of thing is a noticeable loss. Also, the profile setup is also strange, with two player not being able to load two created golfers to play against each other off the same 360 profile (unless I'm missing something - please let me know if i am).
One technical issue is, if a bad shot is played into a large bush or something, the game compensates by moving the location of the ball out of particularly hard-to-play areas: after landing in waist high grass, then next shot will be played from the 80-90% rough. Also, if a ball lands right on the edge of a bunker, the next shot will sometimes be played from the middle of the bunker. These were probably designed to avoid near impossible shots, but it feels like a short term workaround rather than a engine based solution - play it where it lies is my motto. The introduction of fully harm-able people is a welcome introduction, and i must admit that when i know i am going to lose a hole i sometimes just Punch a shot into the the crowd. It's also worth noting that the crowd can be used as a wall to stop the ball going to far off the fairway a shot goes wide (can't decide whether this is bad design or a welcome helping hand).
It is also much harder, which is good, and there is tons of stuff on the forums out there on the finer points of the tricky putting system. It is also more sensitive to stick movements on drive and approach shots, with very slight deviations from center causing large errors in direction (especially at low skill levels).
The skill increase process is also good, requiring the player to defeat character along side completing practice session to climb the skill ladder. Unfortunately there is nothing particularly innovative on the side of practice mini-games (one or two player).
Obvious things like face mapping via the 360 camera are missing, and the pro shop store is surprisingly limited.
Basically, the changes can be summed up as an attempt to make this game a 'golf sim' . Aside from the gameplay, the frivolous graphics and playful sounds have been dulled down. Some people will like that about this game, but i would rather less realism and more fun. If you really liked previous TW games, but have played them do death, then get this. But be prepared for a game that only really improves in terms of graphics and difficulty, and removes imagination.