Golf was never planned to be in the game. However, Shigeru Miyamoto incorrectly stated in an interview that golf was in the game, so Nintendo felt they had to put it in.

According to Director Takayuki Shimamura: "Right after getting back to Japan, he suddenly said: "You know we're including golf now." Apparently he'd stated in an interview that this time round golf shots would be determined by the backswing, even though at that time a golf game didn't exist in any shape or form!"