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Laddleton Lake Par 3
by Leigh Seaman
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1353 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-11-02 |
19,793,788 bytes |
27 |
1221 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL Par 3 Course |
WOODLAND |
Little Lake Par 3.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
12/3/03
Reviewed by: Chuck Clark
Background: Leigh Seaman is a new 13 year old designer; so obviously this is his first public course release. His father, Paul, has designed and posted courses (Hales Meadow) previously here at Links Corner and as Leigh said in his read-me he wanted to 'have a go'. Laddleton Lake is a 9-hole par 3 course, which is 'a woodland course set around and over a lake'. The other thing you should know is that this is a Links 2001 course, so there isn't any seam blending or newer textures.
Overall Impression: Let me start by saying that for a first time 13 year old designer, Leigh has done an incredibly impressive job here. This course is a lot better than my first course or two, and I am in my 40's! This is a fun and beautiful little course set around a lake with deep forests of tall trees. It may not be perfect, but it is a lot of fun to play just the same. There were no obvious technical errors, the planting and elevations were well done and it makes for a fun and quick round of golf. My first round here took me about 10 minutes to play (shot 23) and was very enjoyable.
Playability: As you would expect for a par 3 course, Laddleton Lake is very playable. There is only one hole which is over 150 yards from the back tees (No. 9) and the greens are generally fairly big and gently sloping. I would expect a better golfer to be able to shoot 9 under (or better) if they played a number of rounds here. Many of the holes are only an 8 or 9 iron from the back tee, so if you are good with those clubs, you should do well here. There are many trees which crowd their way onto the course and seemingly block some of your tee shots. But they are more a visual hazard than actual hazard. You can play around or over them easily enough. Water comes into play a bit, but you really have to miss hit your tee shot to get into the drink. For a fun, easy and quick round this course can't be beat!
Shot Values: Well, since this is a 9-hole par 3-course there isn't much I can say here. Like I said above, if you are hitting your 8 or 9 irons well then you should shoot pretty low. Most of the greens are very level, so chipping and putting is on the easy side as well.
Visuals: This is a very pretty course. It is fairly level, but has lots of interesting features. These features include a small running stream, a raised bed of flowers near the 4th tee, numbered tee signs on each hole, extruded cart paths, ball washers, flowering trees, well placed 3d bridges and even a small waterfall. I didn't notice the panorama when playing the course, since it is mostly hidden by the planting. I played the course in Links 2003, so the added shadows really added to the feel. It is just like playing a nice little par 3 course on a Sunday afternoon. The textures used were ok, but they didn't mesh very well with each other. The deep rough, semi-rough, fairway, fringe and green were all different shades and looks. This detracts from the realism. I would recommend to Leigh to find textures that mesh really well together, so the transitions are not so sharp.
Technique: The technique here is very well done; especially for a 13 year old. I have an 11 year old son, and I can't imagine him having the patience to do an entire golf course in the APCD. There were a few small technical glitches here and there, but nothing that would be obvious to a normal player. As stated above this is a L2K01 course, so there isn't any seam blending. I opened the course in the APCD and checked out the mesh. Normally I don't do that when reviewing a course, but I'm trying to give a bit more constructive feedback here than normal. Leigh, you need to spend a bit more time working on the mesh. Cleaning it up a bit more will smooth out your course more and make it better looking. Try to keep those verts directly opposing each other and add some guard rings around everything. Space those verts out a bit more as well; I noticed that some of the bunkers were a bit too messy in places. Adding and spacing of verts will make those curved edges look better and smoother. On your planter on 4 (cylindrical mapping), if you expanded the cylinder to match the size and shape of the planter (using Uniform Scale) and changed the U-Wrap to about 40, it would look much better. Remember to always try to make the Gizmo face (the yellow cylinder) match the actual face you are mapping as closely as possible (see the third screen shot).
Summary: A fun and good looking (nine-hole) par 3 course. It makes for a quick and easy round of golf, but this is a good thing to say the least. The construction of this course would be a very impressive accomplishment for anybody, but considering it was done by a 13 year old it is incredible. Way to go Leigh, you should be very proud of yourself. Keep working at it, it gets easier when you learn some of the shortcuts. You keep this up and Mike Jones will be looking over his shoulder!
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