| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1424 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2004-03-07 |
95,892,529 bytes |
70 |
6069 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
UNCLASSIFIED |
Surrey Lake.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 57e706a88bd44a07a170af8ff5d2c838 |
0e86ab0348c3c6d510dde9c71c582763 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Chris Gormley
Background Info:
This is the 5th Course released by Ed Spence with the others being: Wolf Creek on Black Bear Ridge, Winter Rules, Surrey Lake Short Course and Gilligan's Island Golf Resort.
Overall Impressions:
This course according to the readme is 'based on a modified DEM in Antrim County, Michigan. Being from Central Michigan myself I expected this course to be anything but flat as I know the area pretty well. I was correct in my assumption but the terrain IMHO is to hilly and undulating as the extreme terrain changes created many design flaws such as blind shots, numerous doglegs, and the many shadows that were created in the top view camera. The number of blind shots were my main concern as there are no hole previews to help players navigate the course.
Most of the fairways had ample room for players to land shots although a few were a little narrow in places but nothing drastic. But there did seem to be a lot of blind shots and doglegs that take the longer clubs out of the player's hands and 'force' them to lay up short of where a player would normally like. A couple fairways designed like this are fine but there were to way to many on this course for my taste.
Some of the greens, although generous in size, were quite undulating and would make for some very difficult putting, if not impossible under Firm/Fast conditions. There were only a couple of greens like this as most were large and flat with only a few breaks on them.
At times the planting on the course seemed to 'busy' for my taste. When I beta test a course for someone I always try and get them to look at the planting as how they would decorate a room. You want things to blend together and fit as though it were all related and not to try and incorporate everything at your disposal. It felt like the designer had so many ideas that he tried to use them all in the course, thus making things feel crowded.
The course also seemed to feel rushed as I played through it in regards to the little things that need to be done to make a course top notch in quality. The front 9 had a lot more attention paid to the little details than the back 9 did.
The textures on the course are what puzzles/concerns me most. The textures that are used in the pictures in the readme are quite a bit different from those used in the final course. I like the look of the original textures better as it makes the course feel very natural but the ones that are used in the final course go in the opposite direction as you can see in the examples included with this review. Especially in regards to the tee area and fairway textures. They are much too bright for the surrounding textures and don't seem to blend very well.
Closing comments:
Although this course has some nice spots I cannot help but feel a little disappointed with the problems I have mentioned above. This course should have gone through a more intensive beta testing period to catch and fix some of the problems mentioned. Also because of its large size(90+ MB) it would be a rather difficult download for a 56K dialup user.
"I am writing this review from the viewpoint of not only a player but as a Tour Director. Although I am not a designer I understand the work that goes into a design as I have beta tested many courses and my review is simply how I as a player/Tour Director would view this course."
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