hyena64:
Chinajohn: if indeed they still exist
If indeed, indeed! :-)
Funny you should mention WGT perhaps not existing in 2019, because I actually wrote a funny forum post in that Bethpage thread I previously mentioned from last month;
JayO92: WGT won't make it to 2019: Prices for balls and clubs will continue to spiral out of control over the next year, and in an effort to protect par the 2014 Virtual US Open at Pinehurst will feature uneven lies. This also begins WGT's plan to slowly transition into uneven lies being the game's default game mode.
But of course, uneven lies is badly implemented, many of the top players and/or the top spenders start to get fed up. Then a rival online golf game comes out with a business model that allows 'non-paying' customers to be competitive if they put enough time and effort into the game, challenging gameplay that's more reliant on user input compared to WGT's so-called 'VEM' system, and Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill as it's first two courses, thanks to a deal with the Pebble Beach Company.
This new game becomes popular very quickly, at the expense of WGT as many of it's top players migrate over there. This in turn puts a serious dent in their profits, and by the 2015 Virtual US Open at Chambers Bay, they're barely making any net profit. Management knows when to fold them, and announces that they will be closing down WGT by the end of 2015. The remaining players of WGT are sad to hear the news, and collectively build a memorial webpage for this once great game...
Epilogue: The 'rival' golf game meanwhile, acquires the USGA license left behind by WGT. They then host the 2016 Virtual US Open at Oakmont. And after a gruelling 4 rounds of golf, BolloxInBruges wins with some excellent play under pressure, birding 17 and 18 in difficult weather conditions.
Since then however I've played a fair few rounds of uneven lies and I believe I was way too harsh on the game mode back then. I would fully support them being used in the 2014 Virtual US Open for the sake of avoiding another stupid 55-57 championship winning score... but I digress.
I'd like to point out that WGT primarily gives us courses that are used in the US Open, so we would get Pebble Beach for stroke play that year if WGT is still in business and if the course isn't made available for stroke play before then.