|
Ice Castle II G.C. & C.C.
by Gary Taylor
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 137 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-02-01 |
29,287,990 bytes |
72 |
6942 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
IceCastleII.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| df06ef03f85111d4bc370050ba856afe |
96bfc891880c78043bf213ccc1982484 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Ian Downs
The Course -
Ice Castle doesn't have an Ice Castle before we start, but it does have a pretty good Golf Course that is worth a look and playing.
The course is one of those hidden away with alot of foresting around the hole borders. The odd tree still growing next to a fairway or bunker gives you the impression this was a huge forest a few years ago. The holes weave in and out of some, and across some lakes too. The starting holes are fairly easy to get going on, with wide fairways and simple 2nd shots, but the 4th hole, par 5 is a good teasing hole. The line of bunkers awaiting the tee shot and tall trees surrounding the hole, make a tough task of getting something from this hole. The 12th is also one of those tee holes where you think about how well you can hit a straight shot, with a tree waiting either side of the fairway. Water features lie in wait here and there, but rarely cause too many problems making this a good course to score on. Presented quite well.
Stepping back, the things that could improve the course would be nice to see. That 4th hole is a good example of risk and reward, but it does feel nigh on impossible to reach the green in 2, whereas a shortened hole would generate more players `going' for it. The 6th hole shows a slight bulge in the rough next to the fairway bunker that may be deliberate. The tee on this hole (back) could perhaps have been rotated a little more to the right too. Around the lake on the 9th, it looks like a line of hard edges on the ring around the water. On the 15th the huge rock terrain as it goes around the dogleg has an area of rough between the trees that becomes twisted. As both the trees and rocks are out of bounds, this becomes a dropping area and makes for impossible shots without further backing up. On the 17th green back bunker, perhaps the fairway around the bunker goes too high up the slope, where maybe a rough terrain would look visually better. But that's only an observation and not a fault. The 18th would benefit from the idea on the 4th too, making the green reachable pushes players to get the maximum drive and trying to hit that elusive fairway. Unfortunately it is wiser to play safe on this hole.
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Chris Gormley's thoughts..
Initial Impressions: Ice Castle is a woodland course that is very pleasing to the eye. The planting seems to compliment the course, which is refreshing. There are three types of courses visually: sparse, complimentary, 'eye candy'. Ice Castle is definitely not an 'eye candy' course. Gary has no need to compensate a bad design with over planting; he has a good basic design here for the course. The course also has a very open feel to it, at least the front nine does. The back nice does tighten things up a bit. Some of the elevation changes are a bit chunky and not as smooth as things could be. This just takes away from the natural feel of the course, does not affect play in anyway.
Greens: All of the greens are nicely designed and very large. A blind man in a windstorm could find the greens with no problems on this course. Although large, they are contoured well enough to make putts from all angles challenging for players.
Fairways: The fairways are very large as well. There is ample room to keep the ball in play. A player who can grip and rip the ball and keep things accurate will do very well on this course. There is not as much risk/reward on this course as there could be due to the openness of the fairways, but they are all contoured very well.
Tee Boxes: Done pretty well. There are 3 tees with all being free from obstructions.
Bunkers and Water Hazards: Bunkers are placed well to make a player adjust their shot selection. They are not just placed for cosmetic reasons. I did notice that there was no lip on the bunkers. Although I am not a fan of 'monster lipped' bunkers I do think a little lip is necessary for realistic reasons. Otherwise the bunkers are designed pretty well.
Planting: Planting throughout the course is done very well. It compliments the course, rather than being overbearing to compensate for a weak design and layout.
Fairness: A pretty fair course. A player should have no problem keeping things in the fairway with Windy conditions as well as keeping things on the green in Fast/Firm times.
Best Hole: I like #4 the most. On the tee you have a choice: do I try to drive the 8 bunkers protecting the landing zone or do I lay up in front of them leaving myself with a long approach shot? I tried both options and they are available to a player, but you have to be able to make a good shot to score a birdie on this hole.
Overall: Overall Ice Castle is a decent course. There are no construction problems to distract a player from having a good golfing experience. The course is pretty well laid out and some thought went into the course. The terrain did get a bit chunky in spots and could stand to be smoothed out a little bit to give the course that more natural feeling. Trimming the size of the fairways and greens down a bit could generate a little more Risk/Reward on the front 9. The back 9 was much more challenging and therefore more interesting from a players standpoint. Great course I recommend it to all who want a nice enjoyable golfing experience.
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? No
Splash Screen? No
Text file?
Hole Previews?
29mb
Reviewed January 2001 |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, lakeside course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 2/10
Here is a course where all the effort has gone into imaginative and interesting hole design and not much into creating a convincing locality. Nearly every hole is impressive in terms of what it asks you to achieve, and the use of hazards, occasional planting and elevations is superb, if a little unrealistic. Sadly, there is very little underpinning theme or concept holding the course together. |
Appearance 3/10
Ice Castle is certainly not a pretty course. The hard edges of textures, cloned planting and wide-open appearance all combine to make a totally unrealistic experience. The panorama is completely unfitting with the terrain in the foreground. The occasional hole looks quite pretty, but on the whole you should concentrate on playing the course, not looking at it. |
Playability 8/10
Now, this is where the Castle really picks up. Most holes are ingeniously designed and will require some serious thought. You'll probably want to take a couple of Mulligans out on the course with you the first time round. Shot-shaping is at a premium, and avoiding the devilishly well-placed bunkers is a constant theme. For some, though, the poor look of the course will detract from the playing of it. |
Challenge 9/10
Birdies are hard to come by on this course, due to the hazards, good elevation use, and the occasional well-placed tree in your line of sight. The greens are pretty easy to hit, thanks to their size, but feature some challenging (although realistic) contours which make for 10-foot par putts quite often. The frequent risk/reward factor makes this a challenge for many future rounds too. |
Technical 2/10
Sadly, this is really sub-standard. The hard edges and lack of texture blends are shocking, as is some bad cloned planting. Some shapes need to be examined for scale, particularly the silly pond by the first green, which looks shockingly out of place. I'm afraid that this could be much better. |
| Overall |
A joy to play, but terribly primitive. Worth having if you enjoy a challenge, but not if you like spectacles and great visuals. |
24/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
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