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Xilver Plaine (2005)
by Rick Weathers
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1553 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2005-02-21 |
60,604,416 bytes |
72 |
7016 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
XPlaine2005_locked.crz.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 2fb84e5016b44ee0b1e99abff28b1a04 |
3d0443de7e7b9fe148aceeb0c9ae93af |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by: Big Three
Designer Background: Xilver Plaine (2005) is the 7th course released by Rick Weathers. Two of the releases were replaced by updates. The 4 courses remaining by Mr. Weathers are: Xilver Hollow, Xilver Lagoon 2002, Xilver Plaine (V2) and Xilver Prairie. Xilver Plaine (2005) is the third course design by Rick that has received a Links Corner Recommended award, along with Xilver Plaine (V2) and Xilver Prairie. Rick is also known for his custom panorama work, which grace not only his own courses, but also several of the top designs out there today.
Course Overview: Xilver Plaine is a Par 72 fictional parkland design playing 7016 yards from the back tees. The course is arranged in the standard two Par 3's and two Par 5's per nine setup. The course is set in the foothills beside a mountain range along the California/Nevada border in the United States. The panorama is another exceptional example of Mr. Weather's custom pano work. This is a 2K3 update of the 2K1 Xilver Plaine (V2) design. Those of you who are familiar with the 2K1 design will instantly recognize this as the same track, although it has been reworked (literally) from the ground up. The changes are too extensive to list, so I would encourage you to check out the readme for the total story.
Layout/Playability: Standing on the first tee, you are greeted with the first of what will be many beautiful vistas. A large mountain range stands out in the not too far distance, with the fairway of the first hole falling away before you. The snake-like fairway is characteristic of one of the two types that are prevalent on the course, the other type being one that has multiple lobes or areas to shoot for. The multi-lobed fairway design drifts toward fantasy, but the course maintains a realistic feel at all times. Playing Xilver Plaine features thoughtful shots from the tee, either in shot location and/or choice of club, so that the course is one that you really need to play several times before you get the feel for where you should and shouldn't be. An early example of that is the 3rd hole, a 547 yard Par 5. From the elevated tee, you are looking at a big wide fairway that extends slightly off line to the right and runs all the way to the green. There is a 'lobe' of fairway that extends to the left that ends before the distance a driver would go. The seemingly obvious choice then is to take out the driver, whack it out to the right to take full advantage of the distance and elevation drop. That would be the wrong choice as the right fairway is quite mounded and many drives will deflect into the rough. The smart choice is to take a 3 wood and play out to the left. With the slight downhill shot, you will get plenty of distance from the 3 wood while staying far enough back from the trees near the end of the fairway for a decent shot at the green in two. Of course you can play out to the right and make the green from the rough or from an uneven fairway lie, but the shot to the left leaves a far easier approach shot. This is the kind of thought process that makes this course great fun to play.
Being in the foothills, the fairways are somewhat crumpled in design so most approach shots will have to take elevation as well as uphill/downhill/sidehill lies into account. The key here is, unlike that which would define a fantasy course, Xilver Plaine does all this while maintaining an important sense of fairness and realism. I wanted to be careful not to come across making this sound like a fantasy course while at the same time giving the reader a sense of the challenge, and in the end decided that Rick did it best in his readme:
The course layout was designed to give the player ample opportunity to score well and to be able to recover from an ocassional stray shot. Very long tee shots are possible, but proper club selection and course management will produce the best results. Be prepared for uneven lies and elevation changes for the approach shots. Even though this version was reworked with "mod" play in mind, the greens are undulating and tiered. A bad approach shot will kill the birdie chance almost without exception.
There is plenty of room in the fairways if you use proper shot selection, with run-off room into rough. There are some tall grass areas that come into play, beyond the rough. There are also some 'green brush' hazard areas, but these require a pretty wild shot or using too much club to reach in most cases. The bunkering is well placed to give the golfer a challenge while maintaining that sense of fairness.
The greens are very fair, although as Rick mentions, you do need to be careful and thoughtful with your approach shots. Overall, the course can be had for a good score without too much trouble, but you can also crank up your score in a hurry if you are careless. All of the par 5's are reachable if played well, and some shorter Par 4's on the back nine provide plenty of opportunity to shoot a great score or recover some lost strokes.
Planting/Textures: The planting and texture set on Xilver Plaine is simply outstanding. Mix in an awesome pano and a course design that begs you to stand on the tee and take it all in and you have one of the most beautiful looking courses designed for Links. The planting has been totally redone to better match the new hi-res textures, while maintaining that soft pastel look that was such a striking feature of the first Xilver Plaine. Mr. Weathers has even custom designed the top views for many of the trees so that they give off a much softer shadow than the harsh dark shadows of the MS top views. This technique adds to the overall soft look of the course. The mix of trees, bushes, scrub and tall grasses is incredibly realistic looking and all of it blends together marvelously. A nicely designed cart path texture blends well with the surroundings. Another feature of the course are the stone walls. The unique aspect of the walls on Xilver Plaine is that they are all done as retaining walls, placed alongside the edge of elevated areas so that the ground and the top of the wall are at the same level. It is one of those courses that even a non-Links player comes in and looks at the screen and simply says 'Wow' in a jaw dropping kind of way. Even if you usually don't use the 1X Reverse replay, you'll want to do it here. The views are awesome and stunning. Fantastic stuff Rick!
APCD: Mr. Weathers' APCD technique is exceptional. There were no flaws that I could find. Everything about the course construction is top notch. One tiny complaint I have is that the texture used on the stone walls looks too flat or two dimensional in some places, detracting from the overall appeal of the walls. That is a very minor issue and Mr. Weather's gets outstanding marks in this category as well.
Extras: Xilver Plaine has a lot of extras, many of which were not in the 2K1 version. Custom tees and a custom flag have been added to the course. Crowds have also been planted, for those who like the tournament feel. There are some 3D objects also included in the design (benches and a picket fence are examples). The texture set is custom work from photos of real grass, and of course the aforementioned pano. As expected with a course of this caliber, hole previews are included with some handy tips and some crucial tee distances. Because of the custom top view/shadow work, the shadow file is bigger than normal, so Rick has included it in the download so all you have to do is load it into the course folder to avoid the initial shadow draw.
MOD Notes: Mr. Weather's has reworked the course with the MOD in mind. I tested it in M/M conditions and found the greens to play very fair. An interesting impact of the MOD is that the increased distance of the driver and long woods makes club selection a bit more difficult and even more critical than with the standard distances. Remember the added length and roll of the clubs.
Summary: Quit reading and go download this course. I mean it, what are you waiting for? If you are hesitant to pay for an 'upgrade', forget about that and go download the course. It is so much more than just an upgrade. If you loved the original, you'll still recognize the design while appreciating all of the great improvements. Xilver Plaine strikes the hard to obtain balance between challenge and fair play to give you one of the most fun rounds you've had in Links, while looking at one of the most artistically beautiful designs you'll ever see.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, heathland course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 9/10
At the time, Xilver Plaine marked an immense step up for its designer.
From the breathtaking view on the 1st tee, to the superb risk/reward
options that follow, the course offers you a massive variety of challenges
and straddles the fine line between countryside and club golf by twisting
through unusual, terraced terrain. It's great golf in good surroundings, and
you can't ask for a lot more. |
Appearance 10/10
The repeated iterations of this course have led to incredibly realistic standards of planting and a lot of attention applied to the
peripheral areas. The bunkers are delightfully sculpted, and the brick terraces look a great deal more natural than they could in the
hands of a less experienced designer. Textures are excellent on the whole, and the elevation is convincing, even in these extreme
surroundings. |
Playability 9/10
The large fairways, and the constant thought that you will need to apply to the risk/reward options, mean that there is an innate set of
luxuriousness about Xilver Plaine. Perhaps most gratifyingly, the trademark holes are spread evenly throughout the course, which
gives the area a sense of natural balance that is rarely present in fictional creations. |
Challenge 6/10
The course is pretty tricky, all told. There's no guarantee of making any greens, and the Par 3s - surprisingly, given their short length
and lack of hazards - are pretty tricky. Even when you get there, there will be fairly awkward pin placements and gradients to deal
with. If it weren't so much fun to play, I could see a few players giving up in disgust. |
Technical 9/10
The course looks absolutely terrific. All the right boxes have been ticked, and the designer's careful hand with unusual but realistic
landscape has rarely - if ever - been exceeded. I can't say I'm overly fond of the habit of extruding the rough areas above the tee
boxes; it does look artificial, and probably will do until somebody decides to sculpt individual blades of grass. |
| Overall |
A great course on the boundary between wild country and tame club surroundings,
and the best of the Xilver family. A lot of good, original challenges without being
overtly gimmicky. |
43/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
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