I'm really not too sure what so many people are disapointed about. Here's my personal review... after 9 holes at pebble beach, plus one hole of just messing around (testing collision detection, as a prior post mentioned).
Presentation/Menu... this is sure a bad way to be introduced to the game. the intro video has no audio, weird. the menus seam to have bad lag. the character creation is very limited when compared to any other version. there are 8 courses, not too bad for a ds game. 4 single player modes: play now, practice, tiger challenge, pga tour. 4 multiplayer modes: local wireless, nintendo wfc, download play, pass play. fair selection of options.
In-Game Graphics/Audio... it's not as clear looking as touch swing golf was, but it's not that bad either. pebble beach did look pretty accurate. during ball flight one screen is zoomed in, one screen is a wide view. a prior member said there was no collision detection, this isn't true... i was stalled properly by trees in my way... but there was invisible walls (at out of bounds line) keeping the ball from making it to buildings or further away trees. in-game audio isn't any thing spectacular, but it sounds just fine.
Gameplay... so thank goodness that ea went to a "touch swing golf" style mechanic. It works very well. Yeah my first two holes were way over par (+5 and +3) when i was getting used to the system, but on the 3rd hole and most of way through my 9th I was getting par (and one birdie, and one more single bogey). Reading the greens in the putting is very difficult, measuring distances based on the grid and the caddy suggestions doesn't always work. Nice note, i shut down my ds after the 9th hole, without saving. when i went back in to the game and choose "play now", it asked me if i wanted to continue... it auto saves after each hole, very nice.
Overall... it's the best tiger woods for the ds to date. but it may not be better then touch swing golf, except the fact that this includes Nintendo WiFi Connection play. they are going the right way with this series, but still have more work they can do.
I'd say a 7/10. Good game for golf fans to have.