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Egyptian sands GC
by Russell Pooley
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1373 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-12-01 |
4,189,180 bytes |
72 |
6740 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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IMAGINARY |
DESERT |
Egyptian_Sands_GC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Designer: At just 14 years of age, Russell Pooley has achieved what many other people have attempted and failed at, and that is to design and release a course using the APCD. For a first design, Egyptian sands GC is quite an adventurous design, and with many years of designing ahead of him, this designer certainly shows the promise to release many more creative designs such as this for years to come.
Course: As the course is classed as being Imaginary, it was good to be able to hit off the top of a pyramid on Hole 4, and generally throughout the course, elevation changes were implemented very well in both the fairways and greens. Even though most of the greens are quite easy to read, misguided iron shots that end up in the back of greens will result in the golfer having to read some tricky putts, as the greens have good curve and sloping. Overall the hole designs were quite good, but it seemed that some of the Par 4's were becoming quite repetitive, so it would have been good to see palm trees and water possibly implemented into those Par 4's, so that the golfer does not become tired out from playing the same type of holes over and over. Good additions to the course were certainly the tight fairways and the double green on Hole 9, and even though the desert sand is a hazard itself, it would have been good to see some actual bunkers or water hazards affecting the golfer's thought processes on the Par 3's, as the bunkers that were used around the course, were not placed defensively enough to effect misguided shots.
Favourite Hole: My favourite hole on the course was definitely Hole 5 (Screenshot 3), as it was a challenging Par 5 that protected the second shot into the green with a pyramid, and as the hole was designed quite well, it was not only challenging, but scenic as well.
Playability: With tight fairways and desert sand all around the course, the golfer is constantly in with a challenge when playing at Egyptian sands GC, but with a drivable Par 4 (Screenshot 2), and the option for numerous shortcuts around the course, the final score could end up being extremely low or quite high. With bunkers being quite scarce, the only real challenge on the Par 3's will be over shooting the pin (Screenshot 4), while even though the Par 5's are reachable in most instances, with the fairways being quite tight in places, drives will have to be very accurate, as if the ball lands in the desert sand, golfers will miss out on Eagle opportunities, and will rather have to settle for Par (Screenshot 5). Even though the Par for the course is 72, the front and back nine's are split into 34 and 38 segments, so be aware that your score may not be as low on the front nine, than it might be on the back.
Technically: As a course like this has never really been attempted before, it is understandable that the course may not have been as technically as advanced as a lot of other releases, and considering the designer is so young, for a first effort, the course is quite good. It was good to see that the pyramids were solid objects (Screenshot 3 and 5), and not simply imported 2D photos, while even though there was no use of seam blending throughout the course, the lines between textures were quite clean. The only major improvements needed would be in the lipping of the bunker and water edges, while it is important to make sure objects like the wooden steps on Hole 17, are not classed as hazards. The textures chosen were appropriate, while the planting of the palm trees was good, and even though aesthetically this course may not be pleasing to many people, technically this course is quite good, and it will be interesting to see how far the designer will advance with their next release.
Other: Even though this course is not as advanced technically as a lot of other courses, there were still some great additions to it, as the designer done well with the additions of the Cameo, Custom Flags, Panorama and Splash Screen, which were all very good. As this course is quite hard to play without using the top view, it would have been good to see Hole Previews added to the course, and if the designer was unsure how to add such features, as well as Handicaps to the holes for that matter, it would have been good to have the course beta tested and to seek help from others more experienced with the APCD. Even though a large pyramid was used instead of a clubhouse on Hole 18, I was somewhat confused, as there was a building imported into the course on another hole (Screenshot 2), and so I didn't really understand why it was placed there, when it could have been used on Hole 18. The only strong recommendations I would have for the designer would be to use the help of others in future, have the course beta tested, and when using 5 tees, spread them out more, because by having them close together, there is no real variation in distances.
Download Value: Being at just under 4mb, and completely unique, I would thoroughly recommend this course as a must download. As it is not technically as advanced as most other courses, it may not be a keeper on the hard drive for a lot of people, but for a distinctive playing experience, it is hard to find a course that comes close in comparison. If you are looking for a fun round, or don't mind downloading a small file such as this, I would take a look, as even though it won't be staying on my hard drive, I will burn it to CD.
Information:
Course Statistics:
2003 - Imaginary Desert - Par 72 - 5 Tees
6740yds (Back) - 6626yds (Forward)
Par 3's: 4 - Par 4's: 10 - Par 5's: 4
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