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Natures Valley Golf Club
by Andrew Cray
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1305 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-07-11 |
10,149,669 bytes |
72 |
7570 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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IMAGINARY |
PARKLAND |
Natures Valley.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Simon Kent
August 2003
Designer: This course is the designer's second attempt at designing. Andrew Cray's previous course Chateau Ste. Andre, which was also reviewed by me, was unfortunately put into the 'other' category in our current review system, but this course is an improvement, and I'm sure if the designer sticks at it, he can design plenty of great courses in the future.
Playability: When having a round at the course, it certainly is evident that you will be in for a challenging round, as the greens have been sloped and curved very well, and in most cases putting is far from easy (Screenshot 3). The 17th hole, aptly named 'Don't stand so close to me', requires a massive draw shot with a short iron, leading to a second shot into trees, and to be frank, the last two holes of this course are quite unfair to the player off the back tees. On many holes birdie isn't even an option, and I was very happy to escape with par on many holes. The greens certainly tested me, which lead to a -4 (68) round, with 71% Fairways and 72% Greens in Regulation, and a total of 28 Putts.
The Course: Hole designs are once again what make this course challenging and enjoyable, but in many cases the holes are still quite long, and the only variety was a very shot par 3. Hole 5 was certainly a great hole to play, but there was a big gap on the right with no trees and just the panorama, which unfortunately drew me away from looking at the actual hole (Screenshot 2). The greens on Hole 12 and 13 are very big, but at least not as long as the greens found on his last course, and in the future I would recommend making them smaller or varying them with more challenging bunker placements.
Favourite Hole: My favourite hole was the 6th as it provided a great challenge, but as the designer admits in his read-me, it is quite 'unfair'.
Technically: After reviewing his last course, I was happy to see some improvements in the technical aspects of this course, with the first thing I noticed being the textures selected for the fairway and greens, as they blended well with the other colours found around the course and provided good roll for the ball. The edges found around the fairway and green were curvy in areas, but in many cases, sharp angles were once again evident everywhere. By looking at the top cam, you can tell that the designer has had troubles with the bunker and water edges, and so I would advise to read some of the tutorials on doing edges properly, and to use the designer's corner at Links Corner for any other questions. The water texture has been classed as 'ocean' and frankly doesn't match the colours and style of the rest of the course, as it could have been a darker water colour and classed as a 'lake', rather than an ocean.
The sand texture used was great, while the planting had great variety, but still could be improved on in the future. Seam blending will vastly improve the look of this course and is especially needed in the bunkers, while lastly the panorama used was quite good, but I particularly liked it on hole 10, as along with the design of the hole, it was great to play and to look at.
Other: The zip file does come with a read-me giving some playing tips for each hole, but I was disappointed to see that the designer didn't to bother changing the contact details and still had Chateau Ste. Andre listed there; a simple thing, but read-me's are quite important. There was no cameo, splash screen, handicaps or hole previews, and if there is problem with doing these, I would advise seeking help at the designer's corner. I was happy though to at least see by reading his read-me that he put effort into this course and enjoyed the experience in making it, which is always good to see. I had a hard time deciding on which rating to give this course, but after the designer contacted me, I feel that my reviews will only spur him on to improve his work, which will lead to much better courses in the future. This course was just outside the top 50, but with improvements in many basic areas, I can see his next course making the top 25.
Download Value: This course is a relatively small download fewer than 10mb, and so if you have fast internet and want a course that will test your game, then try this course. However as a person with slow internet, I would not recommend it to anyone else, as I feel the designer has better to come and I would rather spend my time downloading something that I know will be a 'keeper' from him in the future. This course won't be staying on my computer, nor burnt to CD.
Course Statistics: Links 2003 Course, Par 72, Imaginary Woodland, 3 Tees, Distance: Back- 6913m, Forward- 6073m, Par 3's- 4, Par 4's- 10, Par 5's- 4.
Test Round Statistics: Played- Back/B/M/M/Pro/Classic, -4 (68)
File Sizes: Zip- 9.63mb, Crz- 9.67mb, Sha- 2.92mb |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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