|
Buck Creek Country Club
by Art Patscheck
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1214 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2018-08-19 |
62,894,004 bytes |
72 |
6849 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
BuckCreekCountryClub.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| |
|
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mike Nifong
February 2003
Course type: Buck Creek Country Club is a fictional woodland course set in a real location: the Somerset, Kentucky area. The real Buck Creek, which runs along the western border of the Daniel Boone National Forest, is a tributary of the Cumberland River.
Historical perspective: Not so long ago, Art Patscheck seemed destined to become one of the few - perhaps the only - designers who could be described as both prolific and elite. In a period of seven months beginning in January, 2001, he gave us six courses that were each destined to become part of virtually every permanent collection: Arrowhead Country Club (1/9/01), Avocet (2/12/01), Las Brisas at Nueva Andalucia (4/6/01), Arrowhead Special Edition (7/15/01), Dove Valley (8/1/01), and Arrow Canyon (8/9/01). The first five were real courses; the sixth, Art's first fictional course (and, in my opinion, the best of a really fine bunch), looked so real and was so cleverly packaged that many people tried to contact the 'resort.' Each of these courses got at least four stars in the user reviews (Dove Valley got five), and each garnered an LC review score of at least 80 (Arrow Canyon got a 90). Each time Art released a course, it was an event.
Well, we had to wait seventeen months for the next event. There were the announcements - that Art would be releasing a reworked version of Avocet (one of six APCD courses that refused to behave in Links2003, although I long since validated-and-saved my 2001 version so I could play it with shadows), that he would be testing the (then) untested waters of pay-to-play courses, and so on. And there was the obvious question: what effect would the long lay-off have on his already accomplished but still steadily improving artistry?
Okay, that was a futile attempt to create a little suspense. I know as I write this that my score will be posted at the top, and that it will be the first thing you see in this review. But if you want to know why I think Buck Creek Country Club is one of the three best courses ever made for Links, then read on.
What is included: I suppose the way I would put it is, 'everything you really need, but nothing extra.' There is a brief text file from which we learn that the fictional Buck Creek Country Club was built on actual terrain near Somerset, Kentucky; acknowledgments are also given to those persons who contributed - a veritable 'who's who' of the Links community. As you would expect, there is a cameo (excellent, by Dexter Gresh) and splash screen (also excellent, but uncredited - presumably Art did it himself). There are also fine hole previews (by Dave Campbell) [although I will confess to missing the green slope diagrams included in Dexter's hole previews for Ardennes Dunes and Tall Pines]. There is a tournament option, consisting of modest-sized crowds (in keeping, I suppose, with Buck Creek's setting) and tournament objects (including a blimp).
How it looks: About as much like a real course as can be achieved with the APCD, I would say. The use of actual terrain is evident in the subtle sense that nothing looks out of place or forced - I have a river very similar to Buck Creek about 400 feet from my front door, with surrounding terrain that is also much like what Art depicts, and I kept finding myself thinking about how this course would look there.
A river - or creek, if you will - is not exactly a natural subject for reproduction in the APCD. The unavailability of moving water creates a dilemma of substantial proportions for the would-be designer. Those of you who followed Buck Creek through its developmental stages may well recall the unnatural blue with which it started out - sort of a throwback to the Access LinksLS days - or the chocolate milk phase it went through - not a bad match for reality in some ways, but to hard to distinguish from mud at a distance; I would guess that you, like me, applaud the grayish texture that Art finally settled upon. Up close, it looks very nice. The blending of the water textures with the river-rock shore creates a very convincing sense of a sloping bank extending under the water. The darker gray midstream also gives a nice impression of deeper, less turbid water than that closer to shore, but I was mildly disappointed that the same treatment was not extended to the bridge pillars, which in real life would create little deltas of sediment both upstream and downstream, not to mention ripples and eddies on the water's surface - no attempt seems to have been made to create this. But this is a review of a golf course, not a painting, and in context I think Art did about as well as we could expect with the tools he had. Any residual doubts you may have with respect to whether the fault lies with the artist or his tools should be resolved in Art's favor by the absolutely magnificent handling he gives the reflective bodies of water that appear elsewhere on the course.
With respect to everything else. well, it is just about perfect. The textures provided by Chris Perry are (as usual) ideal. The planting is exemplary. The bunker work is superb. There are also little serendipitous touches here and there. An example is the old divot marks. Many designers use them - even overuse them - in the tee areas. But here, they are not only more subtle, but you can also find them in the fairway landing areas and in the chipping areas around the greens. If this effect has been employed before, it has escaped my notice. [I did find it used subsequently, by Art, in his 2003 remake of Avocet at Wild Wing.]
One brief comment about the tournament option: I did not think it added much here. I did not mind the sparser than usual crowds in the sense of the overall aesthetic, but they did lead to the situation where the individual crowd members became more noticeable than they might have been were they able to simply blend into the throng; and the fact is that those two-dimensional cut-outs may look fine in groups at a distance, but they look a bit seedy up close and alone. I guess that I also enjoyed the natural beauty of the Buck Creek area too much to want it hidden behind leader boards or over flown by blimps. Your reaction, of course, might be different than mine; at least we have the option.
An introduction to the course layout:
#1 (Par 4; 365/353/203 yards; HC 11) The opening hole plays straight ahead, across Buck Creek (about a 170-yard carry), which runs down the left side of the fairway. The approach is to an elevated green guarded by front bunkers left and right; the green also slopes away at the back, so an approach shot from the rough may be tough to keep on the putting surface. This hole can play easy or tough, depending on conditions, so it makes for a very representative opening to your round.
#2 (Par 3; 159/152/120 yards; HC 13) The first of five par-3's plays back across Buck Creek to an elevated green with bunkers left front and right back. The right side is preferred, as the left front of the green slopes down sharply to the bunker.
#3 (Par 4; 434/414/365 yards; HC 1) This hole plays along a relatively broad plateau with Buck Creek out of sight and down a steep wooded slope along the right side. A narrow pond runs down the last two-thirds of the fairway on the left. The green is guarded by the pond on the left and by a deep bunker front right. Any shot that finds the forest on the right is in real trouble - not only is it thickly planted, but you will also be faced with a steep sidehill/uphill lie. #3, in other words, is a real bear, fully deserving of its #1 handicap. It proved to be one of the toughest holes for the AI players as well, regardless of conditions.
#4 (Par 5; 511/414/464 yards; HC 15) To complement its five par-3's, Buck Creek also features five par-5's, of which this is the shortest; this is also the only hole on the course that does not follow the usual protocol on respective lengths of the tee positions. Continuing along the plateau in a dogleg right, it plays a bit longer than you might expect from the yardage. No bunkers protect the elevated green, but there is a large area of deep grass to the right front, made more of a concern by the length of the approach shot and the strong left-to-right fairway slope. The green can be reached in two, but it will require a strong and accurate uphill 3W on your second shot. #4 plays tougher than its handicap would suggest, especially in w/f/f/d conditions.
#5 (Par 3; 199/179/127 yards; HC 3) A lovely par-3 that plays over flowering shrubs to an elevated green, this hole continues the pressure of the last two. With its sharp downslope to bunkers and deep grass in front of the green on the right - an area from which a par score will require a lot of luck - #5 is easily the most challenging of the par-3's.
#6 (Par 5; 530/508/423 yards; HC 17) The fairway of this sometimes-reachable par-5 is guarded by bunkers on the left side of the landing area; although there is plenty of room to the right, the preferred lie is left to avoid having to carry the pond that protects the green and last stretch of fairway on the right. The fairway also slopes left to right, another reason to take your tee shot as far left as you are willing to risk. The easiest of the par-5's, this hole comes as a welcome relief from the triple threat of 3-4-5.
#7 (Par 4; 449/441/392 yards; HC 5) A dogleg left with bunkers to the right of the landing area. Your choice off the tee is whether to go right for the best angle of approach or left for a flatter lie. Either way, your second shot plays downhill to a deep green guarded by bunkers on the left. There is a large safe area to the right of the green from which you can chip it close to the pin.
#8 (Par 4; 387/361/277 yards; HC 7) A sharp dogleg right over a long waste bunker that then runs down the right side of the fairway. The more of the corner you cut, the shorter your approach shot, but if you get too greedy your reward will be a difficult lie. The elevated green is fronted by wood planking that slopes downward into a bunker, so anything short will be in the sand. This proved to be a tough hole under w/f/f/d conditions.
#9 (Par 4; 403/392/313 yards; HC 9) Now the course turns back along the plateau, with Buck Creek (not visible) about 40 yards below you to the left. Your tee shot must thread a narrow chute through the tees to a fairway protected by bunkers on the right side in the landing area; they are far preferable to the steep, forested slope on the other side. The green is protected by a bunker across the front. All things considered, a relatively benign end to the front nine.
#10 (Par 3; 152/136/119 yards; HC 10) The back nine gets under way with a relatively easy downhill par-3 that plays back across Buck Creek, which guards the front of the green; a steep uphill slope covered with deep grass and shrubs protects the areas behind and right of the green. One of the easier holes for the AI players, regardless of conditions.
#11 (Par 5; 567/537/510 yards; HC 6) A longish but nonetheless reachable par-5 that plays along Buck Creek, which runs down the left side, and ultimately over it. The fairway slopes from right to left and is guarded by a bunker to the right of the landing area. You have two options on your second shot: either shoot directly at the green some 250 yards away and 42 feet downhill across Buck Creek for a chance at eagle, or play a lay-up shot to the end of the fairway, from which you will have an easy wedge across to the green for a probable birdie.
#12 (Par 4; 363/351/333 yards; HC 8) A straight ahead tee shot to an uphill fairway with a steep left-to-right slope, toward the bunkers right of the landing area. The fairly large green has a swale running across it from side to side at about two-thirds of its depth.
#13 (Par 3; 226/220/202 yards; HC 12) The 44-foot drop off the tee can make club selection a little tricky on this long par three. The green is tiered down gently from the back to the front.
#14 (Par 4; 409/381/351 yards; HC 2) A dogleg left with both trees and sand on the left side, but a generous landing area nonetheless. It is important to avoid the right side, which slopes steeply into the forest along its entire length. The elevated green is tiered downward from back to front, and the terrain slopes rapidly away from its back and sides. Still, this hole does not quite live up to its #2 handicap.
#15 (Par 5; 571/545/489 yards; HC 14) This hole, a dogleg right, and the short par-3 that follows it play into a tongue of land created by a horseshoe bend in Buck Creek. The tee shot is downhill over a large (and visible) bunker with a chain of smaller (and not visible) bunkers beyond. Because of the elevations, the green may be reachable in two if you position your tee shot between the central bunker and the right side of the fairway, but it will require a blind 3-5W over trees from a sloping lie to an elevated green surrounded by areas of deep grass. [Does that sound difficult? It should.] A much better bet is a lay up to set up an easy wedge to the green. This is a difficult hole only if you get greedy.
#16 (Par 3; 111/101/77 yards; HC 18) Following the longest hole on the course comes the shortest one: a straightforward par-3. The only thing to be mindful of is the fact that the terrain slopes away steeply from the back of the green.
#17 (Par 4; 476/447/337 yards; HC 4) A longish and narrow par-4; your tee shot crosses Buck Creek, which runs down the right side of the fairway. The wooded left side looks treacherous, but the slope is steep enough that a ball sent too far left will likely kick back into the fairway. At any rate, you do not want to go too far right. For the AI players, and for me, this was consistently the toughest hole on the back side.
#18 (Par 5; 537/515/501 yards; HC 16) A relatively short downhill par-5 whose challenge lies primarily in the sharp left-to-right slope of the fairway in the landing area, which will make your approach shot want to go much further right - towards Buck Creek, of course - than you want it to. [I actually ended up aiming at the left third of the clubhouse most of the time.] That having been said, this turned out to be the easiest hole on the back nine for the AI players, regardless of conditions.
How it plays: For a course that so convincingly portrays that it could really exist somewhere, Buck Creek has quite a bite. And inherent in that statement is the fact that it achieves this level of challenge without resort to artifice - it is simply a function of Art's understanding of just what it is that makes a real course challenging and his ability to translate that knowledge into the language of the APCD. The fairway design, in particular, is masterful in its diabolism, with slopes that invariably guide your ball away from where you want it to go off the tee, and then make it hard for you to get your approach shot to behave as you intend. And those fairways are surrounded by deep grass, sand, and - worst of all - forested slopes, all of which will pretty much leave you scrambling to get your ball back into the fairways. The greens are refreshingly realistic, providing a spectrum of challenge from the relatively easy to the nerve-wrackingly treacherous, while always maintaining the illusion that you could, in fact run across just such a green on a real-life course.
If there is a difficulty with Buck Creek along these lines, it lies in the front-to-back balance of the course. Consider the experience of the AI foursome (skill level 79.0), which objectively illustrates what I subjectively felt. Under b/m/m/m conditions, they handled Buck Creek with aplomb, going a combined -19 (-1 to -8) while hitting 59% (41-76%) of the fairways and 70% (61-77%) of the greens, and averaging 25 putts (24-26). But that -19 was achieved by going -3 (+4 to -5) on the front side and -16 (-1 to -7) on the back, a difference of more than three strokes, on average, per player. Under w/f/f/d conditions, the same foursome was a combined +24 (+3 to +10), hitting 49% (38-61%) of the fairways and 45% (33-66%) of the greens, and averaging 27 putts (23-31). That +24 was achieved entirely on the front side, where the AI golfers ranged from even to +12; on the back nine, they shot even par (+3 to -4), making the differential, on average, exactly six strokes per player.
In the overall scheme of things, however, this is not of too much consequence. You will probably simply notice that the front side stresses the importance of execution and conservative play, while the back side opens itself up to a little more risk taking.
The bottom line: One of the finest courses ever created for the Links franchise. Completely convincing within the limits imposed by the APCD (running water would be a tremendous plus here), Buck Creek also provides more challenge than the average course, especially when compared to other courses that place a premium on verisimilitude.
[N.B. This score is intended for the purpose of facilitating comparison of this course with other Links 2003 courses reviewed by this reviewer. It is specifically not intended for comparison to reviews of Links 2001 courses by this reviewer, for which different scoring criteria were employed, or for similar review scores by other Links Corner reviewers, which may or may not accurately reflect the opinions of this reviewer.]
Overall value: Outstanding - this initial crop of pay-to-play courses continues to reward the purchaser with a product worth much more than the price demanded, and Buck Creek is no exception.
Course statistics: Par 72; 3 sets of tees (6849/6447/5603 yards); holes are handicapped.
|
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, forest course |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 10/10
There's something indefinably quaint about Buck Creek. It's not to say that the APCD workmanship is showing its age, because it barely is. But the forested layout and the glorious greens and browns give the course the tint of a sepia painting, and there's an immediate sense of location from the first tee right up to the glorious clubhouse on stilts. . There's a surprising coherence to these holes, tied together by the creek and its surrounding hillsides. Fabulous stuff. |
Appearance 10/10
The look is almost decadent (in a positive way), and slightly unlike anything else we've seen. The running water - a notorious APCD grave - has been executed extremely well, and a range of textures and underplanting add extra dimensions to the forest. The element of surprise is always present: several views are jaw-droppingly good, and that is more than enough reason for full marks. |
Playability 7/10
Buck Creek is quite target-oriented. Fairways must be hit if you are to play well, and hence you get throttled back to some extent. But there's a far-from-perverse pleasure in trying to master this course with a combination of pinpoint play and local knowledge, and it's a pleasure you're unlikely to tire of quickly. |
Challenge 6/10
Phew! Narrow fairways, lots of deep rough with very little first-cut, some deep and nasty forests and quite a lot of OB! Easy, it certainly isn't, but there's some redemption in an ultra-short Par 5 at the start and a likewise Par 3 on the run-in. |
Technical 10/10
Buck Creek is holding up very well, having been on P2P release for more than four years. The 3D work is incredible, from the clubhouse to the multitudinous bridges that span the creek. The course layout is a little flighty, but you can't begrudge the designer a modicum of ambition after his sterling work on real course reproductions. |
| Overall |
A delightful forest retreat as good-looking as if lifted from a painting. Not a forgiving course by any means, but worth it for the numerous stunning views. |
43/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
|
|
Download course
|
Please support Links Corner
|
|
|
