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Laddleton Lake G and CC Championship Course
by Leigh Seaman
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1507 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2004-11-14 |
38,477,824 bytes |
72 |
7177 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
Laddleton Lake G & CC Championsh.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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| COURSE NOTES |
Extract from the readme
Hi my name is Leigh Seaman I am 14 years old and this is my third attempt at designing a course that I thought was good enough for release to Links Corner. This one has the full 18 after my first two releases that were par three 9 hole courses (Laddleton Lake & Mordhel Academy II). This is also my first release using apcd 1.5
Again the course is based in England and I have based a lot of the holes on ones me and my dad play for real, I have added bunkers and water where I think they would be good if they were really there on the real holes. I have also lengthened some of the holes so they are a bit more of a challenge to the computer golfer. About a third of the holes have come from out of my head the rest are loosely from four local courses, one a 9 hole par 3 and 4 course. The courses are Bramcote Waters, Purley Chase, Ansty Golf Centre and Oakridge. If you know any of these courses see if you can recognize the holes in the game. |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by: Big Three
Designer Background: Laddleton Lake Golf & C.C. Championship Course is the third course released by Leigh Seaman. This is his first 2K3 design, his first Links Corner Recommended award, as well as his first full 18 hole regulation course. His previous releases, Laddleton Lake Par 3 and Mordhel Academy II, were both 9 hole Par 3 courses. I also have to mention here that Leigh is just 14 years old.
Course Overview: Laddleton Lake Golf & C.C. Championship Course is a Par 72 fictional woodland design that plays to a length of 7177 yards from the back tees. The course has the standard four Par 3, four Par 5 arrangement. Par for the front and back nine is set at 35 - 37, with the front 9 having one Par 5 while the back nine has 3 Par 5's. The course is set in England and uses the Forest Hills (2) pano.
Layout/Playability: Laddleton Lake G & CC is a heavily wooded course that has water on most of the holes. By my count, there are 12 lakes, 5 ponds and 1 stream. Water definitely comes into play on 11 holes, and is in mind if not necessarily in play on most of the others. Only the Par 3 13th has no water anywhere on the hole. As would be expected, with this much water around there is very little change in elevation around the course. Two-thirds of the holes are loosely based on real courses in Leigh's area, while the others are from his imagination. The wooded areas are densely planted, and while they do not generally hug the fairways, they do wander into play occasionally on a poorly placed tee shot. Several tees also require moving the ball to avoid tree trouble on your tee shot. A shot into the woods will require a pitch out on most occasions.
Along with the use of water, the course features many doglegs where draws or fades and clubbing down are required. It is a course that you have to approach thoughtfully and accurately, while being fully prepared to take some chances if you want to try to score well. Also be prepared to have a few horrendous holes from time to time. The course plays a bit on the punitive side, not only with the ever-present water, but also due to the predominantly average to above average width fairways being surrounded by long grass (set to deep grass properties) after just a few feet of rough. The long grass being a few feet from the fairways gives the layout a championship feel that seems a bit out of place with the atmosphere of the course. Having a more generous rough area, with the long grass being further out of the line of play would have seemed more appropriate for the feel I get from the course.
There are some architectural oddities that I do not particularly care for. The Par 3's could stand some variety. Three of them are in excess of 200 yards, one to an island green and the other two playing to greens set on peninsulas, making them all but island greens. A few of the Par 4's are of questionable design as well, especially for those who play at the more challenging levels (champ or elite). Both the 17th and the 18th have water crossing the fairway that require an absolute perfect drive to clear, or laying up with about a 1 iron or 5 wood. The water crossing the fairway on the 18th in particular is a questionable design, in that the hole is a 488-yard Par 4. For a hole of that length, requiring the golfer to hit an absolutely perfect drive, or layup at a point where the second shot requires a 3 wood, is a bit penal for my tastes. Both holes would have benefited from having the fairway run out to about 250 yards. The 5th hole, a 479 yard Par 4 dogleg, has the prime driving area pinched by a huge bunker that cuts well into the fairway from the left, while water lines the entire right side of the hole. The water cuts immediately in front of a small green, and covers the entire left side. A perfect tee shot is required, or laying up with a 3 wood means another long iron or wood to the small, water guarded green.
But, the layout has grown on me. Leigh demonstrates a clever use of doglegs on some of the holes, and there obviously was a lot of strategic thought given to the design. There is a nice mixture of long and short Par 4's to give variety in that department, and the Par 5's are reachable with an ample risk/reward element. I know it sounds like I didn't care for the course, but it is fun and thoughtful to play. I just felt that the strategic elements of the 5th and 18th in particular, while good concepts, would have played better on 375 to 425 yard holes.
My favorite holes are the 14th and 15th, both reachable Par 5s. The 14th will require a perfect second shot to a fairly small green or you will be wet on the approach. The 15th shares a massive green with the 17th, separated by a tier that approaches 5 feet in height. They offer an exciting opportunity to make up some badly needed strokes, or get into further scorecard trouble.
Planting/Textures: Leigh Seaman really does an excellent job on this aspect of course design. The textures, which he openly acknowledges were predominantly borrowed from other sources, are a collection of some of the best available. The combination of the textures, colors and planting all work extremely well together, creating a course that is very appealing and realistic to look at. His use of long grass objects in the long grass texture is done exceptionally well. Producing realistic long grass planting can be a tough assignment, but Leigh has nailed the look. There is a great mixture of dense areas along with less dense areas that look very natural. Some User Reviews mentioned cloning issues. I would respectfully disagree. While there is some duplication in the use of trees, it is done is such a way as to not be noticeable to most. In real life, when I look at a wooded area off in the distance, most of them blend together making it hard to distinguish one from another. Unless there is an odd-looking branch or growth pattern, no one tree sticks out from another. This is how Laddleton Lake looks. The trees blend wonderfully together, so that any duplication is well masked. The heights are varied well to hide any duplication. Most importantly, you do not see cloning of any really obvious looking tree that is noticeable every time you see it around the course. He also placed some picket fences and some very nice stonewalls to good effect around the course. The look, feel and atmosphere created by the design is right up there with those who have been using the APCD for a lot longer than Leigh.
One relatively minor complaint I have about the textures is that, in the Top Cam, it is difficult to distinguish between the fairway and the rough, and even in close-up view, the green and fringe are virtually indistinguishable. A little more variance in the coloring, especially between the fringe and green, would be recommended. But again, the blending of the textures, coloring and planting is top notch.
APCD: This is another area that Leigh appears to have learned very well. There are no obvious flaws in the design. His bunker technique, with the grass sides coming down into the bunker, is one I particularly like. His mounding and sculpturing around the bunkers and lakes is excellent. Virtually all of these play 'larger' than they really are. If you get close to either, his landscaping technique virtually guarantees that the ball will roll, deflect, or bounce into the hazard. If you have thoughts of just clearing the bunker and expecting a favorable bounce, or cutting it close to the water and expecting to stay dry, forget it; 99% of the time you are going to be wet or in the sand.
The only APCD error that I found was that the 10th green, although it appears to be close to the other greens, is a different texture name than the other greens.
Extras: Some extras are included in the course. A couple of nicely done in game splash screens along with a custom cameo and flag are included. Leigh states that this was his first attempt at Hole Previews, and he did a very nice job of them. The visual presentation of them is well done, although they could contain more distance information. That being said, the cyber-golfer that relies on hole previews to get around the course can certainly get an idea of where to go from them. The course lacks crowds and tournament objects, which Leigh freely acknowledged in his readme. He also mentioned that he left the course unlocked expressly for the purpose of allowing anyone who feels so inclined to add them.
MOD Notes: For those that play with the MOD, there are a few difficult pin placements that will be tough to play, especially one Difficult pin setting on the 17th that is on the top edge the tier on the shared green. Most others should be playable at moderate levels. The MOD makes the toughest holes (5th, 17th and 18th) play easier since clearing the hazards and/or trouble is easier to accomplish with the increased distance of the driver.
Summary: Do yourself a favor and check this course out and marvel at what this young man is able to accomplish. I would recommend this course to most people. I hope you have read this far because there are aspects of the review that may seem like I do not care for this course. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pro level players should find this course great fun to play, while champ and elite players are definitely going to be tested. I have to admit that this course is between rankings for me, making for a tough choice. I also admit that, Leigh being just 14 makes me want to give him the benefit of the doubt. But ultimately that wouldn't be fair to him or others. Some of the hole designs, lack of tournament options and a few minor flaws are just enough to keep this course from getting a higher ranking. If you are looking for a visually splendid course mixed with a challenging, fun round, then Laddleton Lake Golf & C.C. Championship Course is for you.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, lakeside course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 6/10
Lacking a tangible location through the lack of environmental structures,
and the all-too-obviously human placement of various course features,
Laddleton Lake nevertheless offers a great line in target golf and a course
which has clearly been meticulously plotted and graded throughout. The
unusual layout of pars (just three Par 4s on the back nine) helps to give
the course individuality, and there's no denying the time that's been
lavished on the fine detail. A touch more realism, in this instance, would
not go amiss, though. |
Appearance 7/10
Some superb texture work and a careful eye for low-level planting can't disguise the fact that this is not a particularly good-looking
course. Flattish, on the whole (although the elevations lack very little in fine detail), there is little in the way of spectacular features
which one might expect from a fictional course such as this. |
Playability 7/10
Although the course is somewhat tricked up and the hazards are altogether too carefully placed, this is a good ride and the trickery is
sufficient for you to fight back and not be beaten down. The mix of hole types helps immensely, and the pure target golf gives very little
doubt as to the designer's intentions. In this case, it's reasonably rewarding. |
Challenge 6/10
The big difficulty with creating target golf is pitching the difficulty level. With water hazards contrived, to say the least, and several pin
positions and greens bordering on the impossible, the back nine forces you to struggle. There are birdies available, but the mix of
difficulties is all wrong, and it's very much the weak link of this course. |
Technical 9/10
Given Leigh Seaman's age, this has been produced to an exceedingly high standard and there are no obvious flaws. On closer
observation, there is a certain amount of work required to make the course Mod-friendly, but the proficiency with texture mapping and
blends is outstanding and right up there with the best. |
| Overall |
A very atypical British course. An open target-style set of holes with much to
recommend it. An inspiration to young designers everywhere. |
35/50 |
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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