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The Berkshire Retreat G.C.
by Rich Fairman
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1470 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2004-07-11 |
13,422,592 bytes |
72 |
7260 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
The Berkshire Retreat G.C..crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Designer: This is Rich Fairman's first course.
Course: After reading the read-me, I expected a rustic hidden course, but instead, I found yet another woodland course that doesn't differ itself from any others. The hole designs were pretty straight forward, with only the back nine seeming to show any sign of innovation, while the bunkers seemed to be just put next to fairways, rather than positioned to affect the thinking of players. Even though the green on the Par 3 Hole 11 looked really great, it was quite unconventional, as if a player hits onto the wrong side of the green, with the pin on the other side, putting will not be an option, forcing players to chip over a bunker, which should not occur. Even though there was some good diversity in the distance of each hole depending on which tee you play off, too many of the Par 4's were of similar distance and design. The course did generally remain consistent in its style throughout, however, the ravines found on certain holes like the Par 5 Hole 18 did not match the rest of the course.
Favourite Hole: My favourite hole on the course would have to of been the Par 4 on Hole 12, as not only did it look good visually with water and a nice bridge, it also had some good elevation in the fairway, and with a challenging pin placement, it was fun to play. The Par 3's are mostly just aim at the pin holes, while the drivable Par 4 on Hole 7 was the only really different Par 4 found on the course.
Playability: The course is quite simple in regards to playability, and if you remain accurate of the tee, shooting a low score should be a relatively easy task to accomplish. The greens do have quite a lot of curve and slope to them, and in cases, they can be very difficult, so placement of shots is important.
Technically: In regards to technical work, the course is generally quite clean cut, however, for a 2003 course, many of the standards set in designing with the majority of released courses are not evident in this design. The textures chosen are rich in colour, but no seam blending was used to make them look as good as they could have been, while even though the planting of trees was quite good, the course was lacking smaller plants and different types of grasses. The bunkers throughout the course were not all the same, with both the lip and bunker technique seeming quite different on many holes. No sounds were included, while many of the textures were not named correctly, which can lead to confusion in a players mind if they land one of their shots onto one of them and are unsure with how they need to hit the ball. If the course was beta tested, simple things like the junior tees being longer than the forward ones might have been picked up, and even though this course was a good first effort, the designer I am sure can release a much better design in the future.
Other: The course does include a cameo and splash screen, but they aren't the best in terms of quality, while it does not contain any handicaps or hole previews. The course is at a reasonable standard in terms of its technical design, but the designer could have benefited more if the course had been thoroughly beta tested, and even though including an email address in the read-me file may not seem like a big thing, it can often result in great feedback from people who have played the course.
Download Value: At just over 10mb, the main reason I would suggest for downloading this course would be to give the designer some feedback on how he could improve his designs in the future, but considering he didn't include an email address in his read-me, that isn't possible. As with many woodland courses that are released by first time designers, there isn't much that is unique about this course, while considering the lack of extras included within the course and in the zip file, it is not a course I will be keeping.
Information:
Course Statistics:
2003 - Fictional Woodland - Par 72 - 4 Tees
7260yds (Back) - 6761yds (Forward)
Par 3's: 4 - Par 4's: 10 - Par 5's: 4
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