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Ether Links @ Crozon Peninsula
by Francois Cristallo
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1412 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2004-03-10 |
55,885,824 bytes |
71 |
7150 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
OCEAN |
eeee.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 849ab9f890a84ba9b04a6a6bf4c4149c |
a7233b71324994637e45302ccb60d898 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
My day at the office
I find a comfortable position in my chair and download the course. After reading the readme file, I can't wait to get my round started. After seeing the screenies of the course a few days earlier, I really wanted to review the course. With a little background music, I start my round. I use my default player (Reviewer Player) that has custom yardages.Playing from the back tees, no wind, fast and firm greens, with difficult pin positons.
Hole 1- The opening hole is uphill mid size par 4 playing to 444 yards. After hitting a driver in the middle of the fairway, I had about 183 yards to the pin. Pulling out a 4 iron, I flew it past the hole about 20 feet and 2 putted for par. I liked the design of the hole. My only complaint is that there wasn't much slope in the fairway and you will notice during the dynamic view that there is tons of empty space out to the right.
Hole 2- Now you get to see a little bit of the oceanside. Another uphill tee shot greets you on this hole. Only this hole is playing to a yardage of 497 yards.Once again, I split the middle of the fairway with the driver. Leaving myself about 218 from the hole, I took out the knife (aka 1 iron) and hit it as best I could landing about 30 feet short of the flag. A chip and a gimmie putt was all that was left. The hole design was very nice here, although the oceanside could use a little bit of tightening up. There are some apparent lines that indicate that he might not have tightened it to 3 or 4 (-1).
Hole 3- Very nice par 3. The ocean is your scenic backdrop, and as I played the hole I took a moment to look around, as I got lost in the moment. The hole was playing about 175 yards and the club of choice was a five iron. After clicking the "perfect snap", I watched in amazement as my ball landed about 3 feet from the cup, bounced over it and rushed toward the back of the green. Luckily, my deadly short game prevailed as I chipped in from about 40 feet. Nothing wrong with this hole, although a little early drama could be added if the green were smaller and the bunkers were a little closer to the green. That would make accuracy a premium.
Hole 4- Kinda reminded me of a hole you would see out at Pebble Beach. You can try to be daring and go with a longer club and risk hitting the tree guarding the tee and find yourself in a hazard or layup with a long iron and play a mid to short iron approach to the green. I took the safer alternative and laid up with a 2 iron, leaving me a 7 iron to this 358 yard hole. After hitting a decent approach, I found myself with a left to right snake for a birdie. I then two putted from there and walked out with 4. This hole was better designed than the ones before it. Makes the player think about where they want to approach the green from.
Hole 5- Another breathtaking par 3. Only problem I saw with it was that once again I was hitting a 5 iron to another par 3 similar in length. This time I took a little off the 5 iron and watched as it magically soared to about 15 feet. A left to right snake which I barely made for a birdie 2. I thought this hole was a great hole. No real danger on the hole, just pick a club and shoot for the flag.
Hole 6- The first par 5 on the course features another uphill tee shot. After placing your ball in the first fairway, you have a choice. I had to think quickly. Take an iron and layup or go for the green. This time I decided to give it a go. Taking out the driver off the deck I landed just short of the green. Not bad for a player that hits a driver 262 yards to nearly knock it on a 580 yard par 5 in 2 huh? A chip and a putt led to my 3rd birdie in a row. A great hole. Basically what you want in a matchplay situation. Go for it or layup. Most will try to knock it on, but let me tell you, I barely squeezed it through the trees to get close.
Hole 7- A huge 619 yard par 5 which was pretty tame. Bunkers greet you all over the place, but the way I played the hole, they weren't even in play. I missed my first fairway of the round, but just barely. I hit a 3 wood up to the collection of bunkers, but landed just short of them. From about 115 yards, I hit a 3/4 6 iron shot, which landed just short of the green and stopped about 5 feet right of the hole. A kick-in birdie.4 in a row.Not a bad hole. Just neededs a little toughening up. I'll save that comment for my improvement section of the review.
Hole 8- A short par 4, 358 yards long. A tee shot that flew all the trouble left me with a perfect wedge to the green. After flying it straight over the flag, I begged for some backspin, but to no avail. 5 feet left remaining. The putt dropped and I moved to 5 under par. 5 birdies in a row.
Hole 9- This was the last hole I played before going to bed. A nice short par 4 playing a little over 400 yards. After a drive in the dead center of the fairway, I drove it too close to the trees so I used a 6 iron to keep the trajectory of the shot down. Displeased with the shot running well past the hole, I stepped up and knocked in the 22 footer I had left in for birdie. A nasty curler from left to right. 6 in a row. A 59 in the making?
Hole 10- A nice par 3. Playing to a yardage of 191yards, I stepped up and knocked a 3 iron to about 9 feet. I then made the tough putt for a birdie 2. 7 birdies in a row. What a streak.
Hole 11- A nice decent par 4 playing at 474 yards. The tee shot is elevated somewhat with the bunkers on the left. I flirted with the first left bunker and was left with a 3 iron to an easy hole location. I knocked it to about 30 feet and 2 putted for par. There goes the putting streak. I liked the 11th. A very nice design with the cliff being a realistic danger if you don't hit the center of the fairway.
Hole 12- Hole 12 was an uphill par 3 with little danger. A straightforward 3 iron to the pin position left me with 25 feet. I then two putted and walked away with a par 3.
Hole 13- The par 5 13th was a nice hole, but I thought it could have used a little danger off the tee. If I were playing a match and was losing, I would want something intimidating for my opponent to look at off the tee. The hole plays to a yardage of 569 and after hitting the fairway off the tee, I took the driver off the deck and struck my approach to about 40 feet. I lagged a tough 40 footer that was severely up the hill and I made a birdie 4.
Hole 14- This isn't your typical gimmie birdie hole.A 358 yard hole doesn't guarantee a birdie. If you miss the fairway and you'll end up over the green. I missed the fairway on the right side and had to hit a 9 iron which flew well past the flag and off onto the fringe. I chipped to about 2 feet and knocked it in for a par.
Hole 15- This par 5 is probably the fairest 600+ yard par 5, I have ever seen. After piping my tee shot in the middle of the fairway, I left myself with about 400 yards to reach. I hit a 3 wood to about 128 yards. A perfect 9 iron which was stuffed to 6 inches for a gimmie birdie. The hole could have used more challenge to it. The only trouble was within 150 yards in from the hole.
Hole 16- a 503 yard par 4 that is just a driver and a long iron. I, on the other hand hit driver and a 3 wood to the green. A 46 foot putt waited for me on the green. A long straight putt that fell in the hole with perfect speed. Not a bad hole, I wish the ocean was more visible in the hole design.
Hole 17- Another par 3 that had a 5 iron in my hands. After hitting it through the green, I upped and downed it for a par.
Hole 18- a 411 yard finishing hole. Bunkers surround the left hand side of the fairway but really isn't in play. Basically it was a drive and a full wedge to an easy pin. My approach landed 5 feet from the hole and I converted for a finishing birdie.
My Overall Impression
The designer is very talented, let me just say that. However, this course lacks the toughness to keep a person interested throughout the full round. As I played this course, I thought about what would playing an online match play game would be like if we were to play this course. Par would lose the hole ninety percent of the time. I was also disappointed that there wasn't more views of the ocean from the tees and the fairways. I figured that this was to be a oceanside golf course, so the designer should have incorporated more ocean views. Tightening the driving areas just a little bit would be nice. I think I found all but 2 or 3 fairways and those were because of wild snaps. The greens are very large for the shots that are needed to be played in the holes. I like to see smaller greens for short irons and larger greens for long irons. The greens could have used more slope. I made a lot of putts due to the fact that most of the putts were straight or had a little left to right break in them. The par 3's could have used more variance in yardages. I believe I hit 3 iron to two of the par 3's and a 5 iron to the other three par 3's. Another thing that bothered me was that majority of the holes were uphill. With a seaside course, you should have a mixture between uphill and downhill holes. Remember, seaside courses are hardly ever level surfaces and they always vary in elevation. Pebble Beach is a great example of this.
Inside Note
Each hole is named after a Steely Dan song. Being a Steely Dan fan myself. I did as the designer did when designing the course, I listened to each song as I played my round.
Playability
Very playable. I enjoyed my round. As you can see by my round description, I had a long run of birdies.
Download Value
This will not stay on my hard drive for very long, however, this WILL be burnt to a CD.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, ocean course. |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 9/10
Creating an imagined course on a plot of real land is the aim of many an APCD designer, and it's all the more interesting in this case when the plot is surrounded by water on three sides. More than a little reminiscent of Pebble Beach with its dirt cliffs, EtherLinks is convincing and inspiring. It's an excellent all-round test of golf, using the clifftops for maximum yet realistic impact. A lot better than it might first appear. |
Appearance 6/10
The scrubby, sparse planting works to the favour of the course in this instance: the landscape is genuinely reminiscent of many patches of wasteland. Sadly, I can't say the same about the odd 'stripy' paths or the dirt cliffs, which tend towards the angular at some points. Despite the lack of good views, there's a sense of realism present to this course: one that is rarely found in courses from this designer! |
Playability 8/10
I found EtherLinks to be thoroughly absorbing and involving golf. I don't know if it was due to the involvement of risk-reward shotmaking almost from the off, or because of the amenable nature of the fairways, but the front half really is classy. It gets a bit dafter on the second half, demanding accurate club selection and several blind tee shots, but this can again be cleared up with repeat playing. Good golf! |
Challenge 7/10
It's easy to hit fairways here, and the bunkers are relegated to something of a side issue. However, you'll need to play safe several times if you miss your snap, and that might cost strokes. Some, not all, of the greens might bear examination before playing with Mod settings. There's also the slight problem that the back nine - sensibly played - is markedly easier than the outward holes. A mixed bag, in every sense. |
Technical 6/10
There appears to be a running problem with texture assignations around this course. The fringes of fairway and green are much deeper than they should be, and might well have a nasty effect on your game. While the ambience is excellent, I would have liked to have seen (heard?) some ambient sound as the final touch to creating an immersive environment. |
| Overall |
Not a visual knockout, but a very worthwhile round of golf. A big surprise for those who think they've seen it all from LeWaw. |
36/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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