The player's primary objective is to hit the ball into each hole with the fewest strokes by the end of gameplay.

Using a birds-eye view prior to the swing, the player can change clubs and the general direction and range that the ball will travel.

[4] During the swing, the view shifts to a third-person perspective and the player can determine the power the shot will have by timing a button press for a marker to stop at the desired point of the power meter then another button press to determine what kind of shot the ball will be.

In modes with options for multiplayer, the second player plays as Luigi, with Princess Daisy acting as the caddie.

Other holes in the international release share layouts with the original version but were changed in order to decrease the difficulty.

Minor graphical changes are present and are most evident between the two versions respective title screens.

Family Computer Golf: Japan Course, released for the Disk System on February 21, 1987.

Though the course designs are similar to those found in NES Open Tournament Golf, the controls are slightly different.

Players can choose between three different speeds at which they hit the ball, and they can also cycle between golf clubs.

A microgame based on NES Open Tournament Golf appears in WarioWare: Twisted!.