|
Country Club North
by Mike Schmidt
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1351 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-10-31 |
30,094,671 bytes |
72 |
7284 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
CCN.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| |
|
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Bill Bradley
Country Club North is a 2001 design and is Mikes second course on Links Corner.
Technical Stuff
7284 yards Par 72
4 par 3's, 10 par 4's, 4 par 5's evenly distributed
Shortest hole 165 yards, longest hole 572 yards
5 tees
29 Mb download
Included: Cameo, splash screen, ambient sound, custom pano, custom textures, custom flags, read me and recorded round.
Not Included: Hole previews, crowds, tournament objects.
Difficulty: Moderately difficult, accessible to all swing types despite the lack of hole previews.
The course is not locked.
General Impressions
This forested parkland course looks quite good right from the start. Standing on the first tee with the shadows of a tree falling onto the tee box and looking out to the forested hills in the distance you can see the first bunker and just know that it is the right distance to catch a slightly off-line ball (see photo 1).
The lack of hole previews, which some players may find annoying, is not really a drawback as a well struck drive to the middle of the fairway leaves the RTS player with a second shot to a very visible green (see photo 2). There are some places where RTS players have to make a blind shot, but they are very much in the minority throughout the course.
Textures and Planting
Mike has used lots of custom textures on this course, his fairways, greens, fringes, first cuts, rough and sand are all custom and I think he has made a very good job of them. I particularly like the yellow sand in the bunkers that, to me, looks more natural than the pure white stuff on a lot of courses. I am not absolutely sure, but I think they are all low-res textures but are, nevertheless, very good looking throughout. His colour mix is good as can be seen in photo 3 though some may say the rough is a little too dark. There is a very good mix of planting with the trees being the kind that one could reasonably expect to see together. Mike has not overdone the planting and the trees don't generally get in the way of a good round of golf. There are also some very nice houses planted around the course - some that reminded me of the houses on Erinvale Golf and Country Estate where this year's South African Open was held. I'm not trying to be picky, but the seventeenth green is much brighter than the others - it doesn't spoil the round, it just struck me as being a little odd. When I checked in APCD, I found Mike had used the stock 2001 texture for this green - I guess he just plain forgot to change it.
Hole Layouts and Elevations
The course is fairly flat in that it isn't going up a hill, but the holes are certainly not flat. Mike has done some really good elevation work on his fairways and greens. Most of the fairways have some nice rolls on them (see photo's 2 and 4) - without them being too difficult to land the ball on or hit the ball off. Many of the greens have multiple slopes on them and some of them can be a tad difficult to read for the no-gridders (see photo 5). The bunkers are for the most part not deep but are very well made with smoothly sloping sides and a dirt rim.
Ambient Sound
Mike has included ambient sound in his course and for the most part it is fine though there were some places where I found myself wishing that he had varied the bird song a bit more than he did.
General Comments
Mike has made a really good course here which I have enjoyed playing and shall continue to enjoy playing in the future. As I said right at the start, this is a 2001 course and so has no seam blending. I quote from Mike's read me file, 'No hole previews were done - I did not have the desire to do them after taking so long to do this course.' I guess the same goes for updating the course to 2003, unless Mike has another reason for that. It is a shame because I honestly think it would make a great 2003 course and it is clear from the design that Mike certainly has the ability to update it. 2001 players are going to love it! Without quoting again from his read me (download the course and read it yourself), Mike has spent a long time working on this course and has been interrupted for various reasons during that time but he has in the end produced a great hybrid course - hybrid because Country Club North actually exists, this is a fictional version of it done from Mike's memory of the course. It is a very good, honest piece of work, though to players who are getting more and more used to seeing seam blended bunkers and more natural looking changes of texture the sharp edges to the fairways and fringes etc are going to look very jarring.
I hope Mike will consider doing a 2003 course before much longer because I think, if he does, it will be a very eagerly sought after course.
|
This course is available as a FREE download.
|
|
Download course
|
Please support Links Corner
|
|
|
