Sorry if I sounded harsh on the previous comment. That was my opinion not knowing much about golfing games.
The out of bounds thing was a choice. I didn't like it, but that was what you (probably) intended for the experience. I'm just saying that the transition to a death state felt to me too fast and maybe unforgiving. That coupled to the ball not bouncing nor rolling a lot made me think I wasn't playing with a ball actually but some kind of sentient brick.
Anyways, take what I say with a grain of salt. Maybe it was just the music making me impatient.