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Fairway to Heaven
by Mikael Julin
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1364 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-11-17 |
29,407,752 bytes |
69 |
6557 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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IMAGINARY |
WOODLAND |
FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN_locked.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Bill Bradley
Fairway to Heaven was simultaneously released with Fearway to Heaven and the two are the first releases for designer Mikael Julin.
Technical Stuff
6557 yards Par 69
6 Par 3's (4 front, 2 back), 9 Par 4's (4 and 5), 5 Par 5's (1 and 2)
Shortest hole 111 yards, longest hole 554 yards
3 tees
28Mb download
Included: Splash screen and some good 3-D planting. Tournament objects are permanently planted.
Not included: Read me, cameo, hole previews, ambient sound.
Difficulty: Average, though I thought it played easier than that in my style - Pro-clicker, B/M/M/M.
The course is locked, so designers are not able to open it in APCD.
General Impression
The first thought on opening the course in L2K3 (after the slightly puzzled reaction to no cameo) is that the course looks quite nice. It is indeed a pretty course with some extremely good planting. The tees are all surrounded in 3-D fencing (see photo 1) which may sound a bit odd at first but actually looks quite good and gives the course the feeling of having its own identity.
First impressions, however, don't last. There are no hole previews - this is not going to endear the course to the RTS players, there are a lot of holes with blind shots on them and with no top view there is no way to aim where you want to go because there is no possibility of knowing where you want to go, short of simply hitting the ball in the direction that Links aims your player. For example, hole 7 (see photo 4) has an island fairway in a lake, the fairway can't be seen, it is less than 200 yards away and it must be hit because you can't carry the lake.
Textures and Planting
Mikael has used stock 2003 textures throughout the course - not, in my opinion, a problem or drawback at all, though it does beg the question what is he trying to protect by locking the course? His planting, for the most part is quite well done though I must admit that I have no idea what pano he has used because there is nowhere on the course that it can be seen, the trees are rather thick in most places. There area few too many places, though, where trees are planted on the fairway or in front of a green, (see photo 3) it seems as though Mikael is using planting to make hazards as most of these places the trees tend to be in the line of shot. There are also some unnaturally large flowers planted around some of the greens (as tall as my player!) (see photo 5)
Hole Layout and Elevations
There are some very well laid out holes on this course - with lakes in places to catch the unwary or greedy, well placed bunkers, fairways narrowing at all the right (or wrong depending on your point of view) places and there is some nice movement on the fairways. But, . well, first of all the bunkers are all flat; the greens are not flat but have generally simply been tilted giving the same slope all over the green (see photo 2), one of the greens has been raised several feet by the simple expedient of selecting all the verts and moving them up a few feet, leaving a fringe that is impossible to use because it is so steep; there are lots of sharp edges and shadows throughout the course; there is no seam-blending at all on the course; there are plenty of places where players can take a risky shot but with no reward for doing so; on the other hand, the par 4 8th is a dog-leg right reachable hole which is completely surrounded by bunker - a very novel idea but perhaps lake would have added to the risk factor, as it stands the player has nothing to lose by trying the 1 wood fade to get onto the green.
General Comments and Recommendations
Fairway to Heaven is a course that could be very good. It is an example of a course that is crying out to be Beta tested. As links players I am sure we are all grateful that there are many very good designers who make the fantastic courses upon which we play. For myself, as a new designer I am very grateful for the help and advice those designers are always willing to give freely. My advice to Mikael would be to recategorise the course as a Beta version, put some screen shots on the forums and ask for someone to Beta test the course for him - then, most importantly to act upon the criticisms given. Simply posting screenies would have gained him lots of valuable comments on his progress from the community and asking questions on the designers forum would have given him a wealth of knowledge that he could have brought to bear on the course. Our established designers become more sophisticated with every course they release and it is only by picking their brains that new designers can hope to approach a similar level of sophistication. In its current state I am unable to say that Fairway to Heaven is of the quality required to place it in the top 50% of courses - it still has a long way to go before it can truly be said to be finished and it needs to be finished before its rating can go higher.
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