the golden anchor medal must have broken since it unlocked despite the fact that I restarted each stage many times.

Very nice golf game, probably one of the best here. The theme and additional mechanics make it stand out from most others, in a good way.

I only wish it was possible to repeat a hole later without having to restart the whole campaign, after my first playthrough I had 26 shots and a score of over 250k points, yet I had to redo it all just as good to spare 1-2 shots. If I could have just repeated hole 7 or 8, I would have finished that much faster.

As for the other medals, I managed to get them all after trying a few times. Escpecially the crocodile and secret area took me a good hour to do/find.
I can see that many others in the comment section have been asking about those and only a few gave a hint about the secret room, but nothing specific, and the crocodile medal wasn't answered at all.

So let me share my wisdom with you all, if you still struggle to get those 2 done.
Be aware that following a guide/reading spoilers takes away the fun and feeling of accomplishment of doing it yourself.
So here it goes:

SPOILERS
Secret area - in level 7 (cave with lava), shoot the ball into the light grey alcove north-west of the windmill to enter a room with many coins, which looked like a normal wall from outside.
Luckily (?) those coins don't count toward the medal for collecting all coins, probably because they are not in plain sight.
Crocodile saver - shoot the ball with full power through the tunnel, charge a second full shot while it flies and aim at the top plank of the bridge, where the croc is on. This should move the whole segment together with the croc a bit to the right. Now keep the ball with repeated small shots in midair and try to shoot it through the hole to the left with fully charged shots, it may break through without knocking the bridge over. This will take a few tries.
Be aware that running out of shots will result in the parrot carrying the ball to the exit, even if the bridge is still standing. This will NOT count as keeping the croc alive. Furthermore it will automatically finish the level, and since you can't go back, you'd have to restart the campaign all over again. So watch your shots, if you have only about 5 left, restart the level and try again.

SPOILER END

Have fun and don't give up immediately, succeeding in something by yourself is an achievement that nobody could take away from you. You may use this guide, but it will forever leave the reminder that you had to cheat on something that others achieved the honest way. A sour taste to your victory.

real fun game great ideas!!

Smooth game

Well this was a pretty smooth game the hitting of the ball was a bit cloky but maybe that was the intent you actually did make this game a little hard but notbad of a game kinda fun and entertaining ofcourse, art is smooth and nice to look at so nice job here.

~~THINGS TO IMPROVE ON~~
Controls could be smoother

~X~

It's annoying that your true shot strength is inverse with how fast the ball is currently moving. Should be consistent at all times if you want to let players shoot mid-air etc... Not being able to pause the game while waiting for the ball to respawn is also annoying and makes no sense.

Golden Anchor guide

Pause Game -> Restart Course -> Yes
(any time you get more than acceptable amount)

Hole:
1 -- can be done in 1 (but tricky), accept no more than 2
2 -- accept nothing other than 1
3 -- can be done in 2, accept no more than 3
You'll want to shoot it hard, barely graze the top of the rock, and somehow have the rock open the board just as you're slowing down to perfectly set up your second shot (you should be in the cave for your second shot, not with the rock)
4 -- can be done in 2 and accept nothing more
5 -- can be done in 2, accept no more than 3
You'll want to knock over the tree on your first shot
6 -- can be done in 3, accept no more than 4 or at the very most 5
7 -- accept no more than 3 getting on the windmill, then ride that. Accept no more than 6 total. I did it in 5. Can probably be done in 4. (2 to get on the windmill, 2 to get in the goal after riding the windmill). Maybe by some miracle someone can manage 3?
8 -- can be done in 3. Count up whatever you have remaining to tell how much "wiggle room" you have. Remember you need 25 or fewer total. Not that hard to do in 3 though.

Looks like the very best score that can be made is 18 (possibly even 17?)

Should give you a bit of "wiggle room" even if you do worse than best (as long as within acceptable) you should end up with 24 or 25. Hole 7 in particular may take more shots than you'd like. Or hole 6.