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Kra-Wen Hills
by Rob Day
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1120 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-10-30 |
32,881,314 bytes |
72 |
7174 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
KraWenC2.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| e9e9d522ec2111d6b4f00000e8126acf |
e08ed9c248d70bdd83657449f737f5b4 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Robert Rundel
November 2002
Kra-Wen hills is a paradox! It's beautiful, challenging, technically very well done, and above all, great fun to play. It's also exasperating, frustrating, long, difficult, and sometimes even a bit unfair. It has no amenities at all except for the many rocks—no hole previews, hole handicaps, hole signs cart path, or custom objects. There are 8 blind drives out of 18 holes, the majority of these being of the same design, a drive over a rise to a lower portion of the fairway, then a steep uphill second shot to an elevated green. It has the most imposing cliffs I've seen on a golf course, with some of the holes below and some above. It has some really amazing scrubby brushy colorful rough that you don't ever want to have to play out of. Arnold Palmer tried on the 13th hole, and ended up picking his ball up for a 12. Although the designer claims in the readme file that this is a fictional course, I can't categorize it as anything short of imaginary. I don't want to disparage the course, but...a fictional course might have a hole or two like these, but not every one.
This is Mr. Day's second course for Links Corner. His first course, Elberts Renniw, was posted in June 2001, to a moderately good review and a 78 rating. I have not played it, but Chris Gormley's review notes some characteristics which it certainly has in common with Kra-Wen, such as excellent treatment of elevations, careful attention to plantings, well-designed bunkers, nicely contoured greens, length, and numerous blind drives.
I don't think I can do justice to this course without a hole-by-hole review, so here we go.
1 - From the 1st tee, I see a huge rock cliff, with trees on top, behind the green and running a long ways from left to right. It dominates the scene. There are large boulders near the green. There is a massive stone bridge, apparently two monolithic stones, crossing a creek about 230 yards from the tee; the ball takes quite a concrete bounce off the bridge! There is a clump of trees to the immediate left of the fairway. No hole sign, no cart path, no custom objects. This is a 319 yard straight par 4. The only bunker is to the immediate right of the green. It looks like a perfectly struck drive with a little extra on it might even reach the green. A pretty short start for a 7100 yd course. My 289 yard drive ends up on the fringe by the green, 21 yards away from the pin. Chip to 5 feet, putt for birdie. Arnold Palmer bounced his 3 wood drive backward off the bridge, and ended up with only a 211 yard shot (screenshot 1). Medium wedge, then he missed a 12 foot birdie putt. From the green, the rocks at the back have a very nice texture; the cliff itself is a little dark.
2 - This is a 159 yard par 3. The green is partially hidden by the cliff from the previous hole, which makes a sharp turn right here (screenshot 2). You can choose to go directly over the cliff with a straight shot, or try to fade your shot around the cliff. It's all too easy to bounce a shot off the cliff. The green is well guarded by 5 bunkers in front and on both sides. It's elevated, and at the back is a continuation of the same cliff. I fade a 7 iron to 18 feet, just avoiding the cliff. The green slopes down from the front toward the pin. I have a nasty sidehill putt; I miss it, and both of us par. By the way, rendering times for this course are slow.
3 - Oh no, another cliff to hit over! This is a 280 yard par 4, but a completely blind tee shot. I can see from the overhead view that a large bunker guards the front of the green, and the green is about 60 feet above the tee. The cliff slopes down from right to left, viewed from the tee, so I'll try a big drive with a fade to see if I can reach the green. I clear the cliff, but land in the trap 23 yards short of the pin; so does Arnold Palmer. Both of us play a good sand shot, with short birdie putts left. The bunker in front of the green is quite nice, with lovely sand texture. This green is large, and pretty flat.
4 - This hole has surprises! Now we're on top of the cliff, above the 3rd hole. It's a 391 yard par 4, with an interesting choice on the drive. The hole doglegs right, with 5 little bunkers on the right of the fairway and a large one on the left. Just to the right of the small bunkers is the cliff edge, which drops down to the 2nd green. You can hit straight and short, or try to drive over the small bunkers and stop on a rather narrow fairway. (It's the more distant pin in the overhead view we are going for, not the nearer one, which is the 2nd; this is a bit confusing at first.) There's a magnificent view (screenshot 3) from the dynamic camera where my drive lands (in the rough near the small bunkers). The fairway slopes down to the green, about 20-30 feet. Arnold plays it safe with a 3 wood off the tee, short iron to the green, and sinks a 20 foot putt for a birdie. I make a 12 footer for a birdie too. The green is quite large but very flat.
5 - This is a 408 yard par 4; the drive is blind, over a rise, with a wide fairway that narrows a good bit at around 230 yards out. This seems to require taking a bit off the drive, or using a 3 wood. When you get over the rise, you see the fairway slopes down sharply about 260 yards out; you get a good roll if you can reach this, but you may get a bad lie from it. Five very large lovely bunkers guard the green. In the distance beyond the green, you see another cliff, beside an inlet of water from a large lake, or the sea (screenshot 4). Arnold Palmer and I both have medium putts on another large flat green. We both miss, and score par.
6 - Finally a long hole, 488 yard par 4. There's another blind drive over a rise. The fairway is guarded on both sides by long thin twisted bunkers, so it's a pretty difficult drive with the overhead turned off and no hole previews. Long slightly downhill second shot. The green has a big fold in the middle. There's a cliff dropping off behind the green. Both of us shoot par on the most difficult hole so far.
7 - This is a 350 yard par 4, with another blind drive. The drop to the green is over 50 ft. No bunkers at all on this hole. Water from the inlet is behind the green, and the ever-present cliff. I hit a great drive 300 yards, ending up in the fringe in front of the green, which is fairly flat. Arnold uses a 3 wood, and is left with a 50 yard wedge shot. He gets his birdie, but ha ha, I chip in from 47 feet for an eagle!
8 - The first par 5, and it's only 488 yards, but the drive is very difficult. The fairway is very narrow, with water on the right from the inlet and two long thin bunkers on the left (screenshot 5). The hole plays toward the mouth of the inlet (river?), and I notice from the fairway that the inlet water is blue, the seawater is gray, and there's a sharp line between them where they meet. Both of us drive safely. If you can do this (J), the hole is easy the rest of the way. I just miss a 10 ft eagle putt, and settle for a birdie. Arnold Palmer chokes on a four footer and settles for par.
9 - This is a 442 yard par 4, with yet another blind drive over a rise to a down-sloping portion of the fairway. The fairway is narrowed about 270 yards out by a group of large trees, and you don't want to land behind these. A bunker on the left of the fairway doesn't really come into play, since the fairway slopes up by then, past the bunker to the green 25 ft above. The second shot is about a 5 iron from usually an uphill and tilted fairway. The green is large and full of gentle oscillations. Arnold Palmer sank a 26 ft putt for the birdie, and I made my par.
10 - Wow, suddenly the holes get longer. The back nine plays over 500 yards longer than the front nine. This is the longest par 4 on the course at 536 yards. Again, the fairway starts level and then drops down, so you are driving blind, but the fairway is pretty wide. There are only 2 bunkers, and they're 400 yards away, so they don't come into play. This is just the same design as several previous holes: the fairway is straight, then goes down to the landing area of the first shot, then back uphill to the green. A little more variety in design would be better, and eliminate many of the blind drives. Our old friend the cliff is looming in the background, so we're down in the flats again. Second shot is about 250 yards and 40 ft uphill from a sidehill lie. Good luck! Arnold Palmer lands in the rough beside the green; I hit a prodigious 3 wood and make the green, but 55 ft below the pin. This green has larger undulations, and the pin is on top of one of them. Tough putting! Both of us get our pars and breath a sigh of relief.
11 - A 496 yd par 4. The fairway slopes up very steeply just before the landing area, so if you hit a full driver, you will land on a steep upslope and roll down a bit. Three traps here don't come into play. My second shot was from another uphill/sidehill lie, 250 yards to the green and 50 feet uphill. Both of us end up about 25 yards short. The entire green slopes sideways, so putting is difficult here. Arnold Palmer hits a beautiful chip shot for a gimme. I have a difficult 12 ft putt for par, which I miss for a bogey.
12 - Now we have a 484 yd par 4. This is really murderers' row! Another blind drive over a small rise to a downhill and fairly wide fairway. The dropoff is about 50 ft. I see especially nice scrubby plantings beside the fairway. A 5 iron to a large and sharply slanted green is next. We both par. Whew!
13 - The crusher! A 542 yd par 5, but I'm hitting from below the cliff to above it. The cliff is about 220 yards from the tee, and about 30 yards high (screenshot 6). Oh well, here goes nothing. Poor Arnold Palmer! He tries to hit to the top of the cliff, and fails. He's in some totally nasty scrub-brush tangles, and can't play out. He eventually picks up for a 12. I hit my drive up the parallel fairway to the right of the cliff on the lower level. From there, a 6 iron gets me up, 170 yards from the green. Now I am hitting another 6 iron from a slightly sidehill lie to a sharply slanted green. Five bunkers surround the green, but none of them are in my way. I end up 20 ft from the pin with a really nasty sidehill lie. I'm down in 2 for a par. Wow, I thought 10 was tough, this one is much worse!
14 - We're still up on the top level here; there's a beautiful view of the surrounding countryside from the tee. This is a 442 yd par 4 with, guess what, a blind drive. There are two fairways to choose from, but both of them lead down to the lower level, with a 30 yard drop. I drove 311 yards down the left fairway, and Arnold Palmer drove 301 down the right. I ended up close to the green with just a pitching wedge left. Fairly level green for a change. Both of us missed long putts, and settled for par.
15 - Oh no, now we're going back up! This one is only 363 yards, but I suspect it's going to play much longer. There's a split fairway, separated by two long bunkers (screenshot 7). The one on the left goes up about 30 yards and look level at the top; the one on the right goes up about 40 yards and looks tilted at the top. I'll choose the left. Arnold Palmer chooses the right. I've got about 130 yards, about 30 yards uphill. Arnold Palmer has 120 yards but 60 yards up. The entire green is quite slanted again. Arnold Palmer misses a medium putt. I knock it 3 ft from the pin and sink it for a well-earned birdie. Not an easy hole to judge. I'm sure glad I don't have to walk this course! Especially carrying a golf bag!
16 - A lovely 193 yd par 3, downhill 30 yards. Nice view of the countryside again. I guess with a 6 iron and I'm left with about a 20 ft putt, as is Arnold Palmer. We both par.
17 - This is a par 5, 562 yards. The drive is just a little downhill at the end, and the fairway narrows and then terminates in rough and a trap. Don't hit your drive too hard. My second shot is 280 yards and 30 ft down to the green. Amazingly, I make it. The green slopes pretty sharply from front to back, and isn't elevated, so you get quite a roll. Arnold Palmer lays up, and chips on in 3. I'm putting for an eagle, but I 2-putt for a birdie. Arnold Palmer 2-putts for a par.
18 - This is a par 3, 231 yards and down 23 ft. Just in front of the tee is another one of those great monolithic stone bridges. We both have medium putts. He makes his for a birdie; I don't. I was hoping for a bit more challenging hole for the 18th, especially considering how tough the back nine is.
Final result: Arnold Palmer shoots 74, 2 over, but that's with the 12 on the unlucky 13th. If you give him a par on that hole (J) he shoots 67. I shot a 65. We both had about 30 putts, so this is a pretty difficult course for putting. And there are so many extreme changes in elevation. Overall it's a pretty challenging course, even if it's a bit unfair at times. The back 9 is extraordinarily more difficult than the front 9, there should be more balance. There are way too many blind drives. And too many holes that go down and then up. On the other hand, it's really fun to play. I enjoyed it a lot, and will keep it on my hard drive. I can't wait to see what Links 2k3 does in the way of shadows for this course.
It's really too bad the designer didn't finish it with the amenities I've listed as missing under Details. This designer has a real sense for imaginative hole design. Plantings are great, and so are the rocks, I'm not wild about the dark cliff, but I guess that's a matter of personal preference. Traps are beautifully designed, with proper transitions between sand and grass, and the sand texture is unusually good. The elevations are quite extraordinary. Mr. Day shows great technical skill with the APCD.
The readme file concerns me a bit:
I began working on this course about 2 days after finishing Elberts Renniw. As most of you will have never heard of Elberts, you can appreciate that was a long time ago, certainly well over a year has passed since work on Kra-Wen started. In that period I was distracted from course design by other things and Kra-Wen was left in a half completed state for months on end.
I'm sure that in the time lost between me starting work on it and completing it, there have been tons of superior courses released, as the standard is ever increasing. This means that many of the ideas and design methods I used well over year ago will probably look out of date by today's standards, but rather than let Kra-Wen go to waste, I decided to do what was necessary to make the course presentable and playable. Hopefully you will find it was worthwhile.
Yes, Mr. Day, it was worthwhile! I love it! I sure hope you haven't lost interest! I can't wait to see another course from you, and I hope it's a 2k3 course.
Summary :
Details: Imaginary parkland course with many large rocks and several towering cliffs, par 72, 7174 yards, 3 par 3s, 12 par 4s, 3 par 5s, 3 tees per hole. Brief readme file, a strange cameo of a cropped course sign, a splash screen with a lovely view of the 2nd green and its nice bunkers, no hole handicaps, no hole previews, no hole signs, no cart path, no custom objects aside from lots of rocks, 32 Meg download. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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