I do think the combat is pretty lackluster and the 2D character on a 3D plane took some slight getting used to. I'm not as far as you, but I completed all 10 golf courses in under a half hour. Only one that gave me an issue was the platforms that switch when you jump because I had not experienced them in a level prior to playing the golf game. I played Hell Pie before A Hat in Time because I was worried about not liking the game after playing A Hat in Time due to everybody comparing it to the greats. To me though, A Hat in Time was a dopamine injector with absolutely no challenge until the Death Wish contracts. I only managed to die one time during the entire base game 100% and only after completing those Death Wish missions did I actually feel like I enjoyed the game. Demon Turf has its flaws so far, but I already enjoy it a lot and see myself 100% within the next week or two.

Oh, believe me when I say that my first playthrough of this game was also very rough.
But after giving Neon Splash a try, I found myself craving more due to how much fun but short it was, and that's what motivated me to give this game another shot only to enjoy it a lot more than I did the first time around.
(although I always found the third boss fun even on my first playthrough)

Actually achieving 100% on my second playthrough was when I finally realised this game has a very steep learning curve that, although providing a lot of depth for those that stick with it and learn how it works, can make it very frustrating to play through for first time players even if they're familiar with the 3D platformer genre. This explains why I found myself not enjoying the combat at first until I spent more time on it, figuring out the best ways to deal with enemies and even ways to skip combat zones in certain levels, and eventually conquering the combat arenas which add a surprising amount of platforming mixed in.

Similarly, the ball race sections (and the golf mini-game) gave me a lot of trouble as I was trying to push the ball to the goal only for it to fall off over and over after countless minutes of attempts. I only tried the hookshot once after the ball was thrown off course. Turns out I was doing it wrong and I needed to only tap lightly on the hookshot to nudge the ball towards me so it doesn't roll off, then push when necessary. Knowing this allowed me to beat the ball race sections first try, which also helped greatly with the golf mini-game.

It's just that the game doesn't explain some of these mechanics very well and just expects players to know about them even with all the tutorials this game provides. It's like playing a Sonic game in a way where even with tutorials, they often have essential mechanics that players find tricky to grasp unless they figure it out themselves such as trying to launch upwards with the Doom Morph in Shadow Generations.

Other frustrating moments, like the bosses, actually started becoming more of a fun challenge once I applied everything I knew about the game to much better use, adapting to some of its other weird quirks, as well as figuring out all the boss attack patterns. Also, I strongly suggest turning off camera shake in the options menu if you get to the Gol and Lem fight in World 4 as the camera shake makes it hard to focus on the platforming in addition to the laser and hailstorm you need to avoid. Similarly, the all too infuriating auto-camera that triggers after clearing certain sections of levels can be turned off in the settings.

I'm currently playing Demon Tides (the sequel) and can definitely say that although it doesn't quite have the amount of depth or replayability that Demon Turf has, it also doesn't have the steep learning curve that makes this one a harsh barrier of entry to newcomers.

the only thinkg id agree with you on is the big ball lol

you can get better, will get better, with practice.