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Gales Croft Golf Club
by Brian Jameson
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1622 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2005-10-26 |
49,881,088 bytes |
72 |
7578 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
Gales Croft Golf Club_locked.crz.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Andrew Cray
I've had the pleasure of reviewing two prior releases of Mr. Jameson's work. With each course he releases, there's a steady stream of improvement. His APCD skills have improved immensely with time and effort and it's great to see him put it all together in this course design.
At 7,578 yards, Gales Croft isn't a short course. However, unlike previous designs, there are more variety in hole yardages. The course is well manicured, textures fit the course welland in general, the seam blends, planting, and bunkers were done nicely.
You'll notice that this course is fairly flat. And I've said in many of other reviews that a pet peeve of mine is to hit a shot in the fairway and have a hanging lie when I could have blocked a tee shot 10 yards right of the fairway and have a perfectly flat lie. I thought the course could use a little more elevation besides just the fairways and greens.Not only would it would look a little better, it would add more challenge to club selections off the tee, as well as putting a premium on accuracy.
On each tee box, you'll notice a fairly big extrusion. I just didn't like the look of it. Raise it up a little bit more or just have a flat tee box with a seam blend around it. It would look much better that way, in my opinion, The grass objects that grow from the 'earth grass' are fairly large and probably could have had the size reduced by a foot. Another small problem is that a few bunkers have sharp edges in them. There's only a handful that have that problem, but it's fairly noticeable since a few of them are in the driving areas on a few holes.
The last thing I'm going to discuss is a couple of things I noticed in the course design I didn't like. For example, the 8th hole is a par 5 that is only 537 yards from the back tee. Typically a hole like that is easily reachable in two shots with a driver and an iron. However, on this hole, the fairway ends about 260 yards out and you have to hit a 4 wood off the tee which with the mod settings will run you to the end of the fairway. From there you're still left with a 1 iron or a 4 wood into a green in which some of the pin positions are dangerously close to the bunkers which guard the green.
Also, holes 17 and 18 are par 4s over 500 yards long. If those holes were cut back by about 60 to 80 yards it would have made a better finish than trying to kill a drive and slug a wood to a green and pray for a chance at birdie.
In conclusion, the course played very well and I did enjoy my rounds played at Gales Croft Golf Club. As I said earlier, this course was well done technically, but a few improvements with yardages and hole strategy, I know Mr. Jameson's next course will be one we all will be talking about.Seeing that this course file is only 49kb, I definitely say it's worth a go, you'll enjoy yourself.
Gales Croft came with a readme, cameo screen, and hole previews.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, woodland course |
Location
Inspired by, if not set in, Liverpool |
Conditions
S*/S* only |
Concept 4/10
Despite the alleged English locale, the sheer length and demands of this course make it very reminiscent of an American Championship course. It's short of subtlety and, to be honest, pretty short on convincing location too. But Brian's consistency with the APCD has resulted in yet another playable course, and one which could well be kept around for a stiff test. |
Appearance 5/10
There are a lot of things done passably well. Underplanting, bunker lips and blends have all received their due attention, even if graphically the whole experience doesn't stand up and grab you. But there's a disconcerting cartoony feel to what should otherwise be a gritty course, particularly around the running water, a lack of interesting natural elevation work, and a noticeable lack of course extras. |
Playability 3/10
There's difficulty in engaging yourself with this course. It's long, often very difficult (occasionally unacceptably) and quite sterile. The hazards are pretty obviously presented, even if they have for the large part been well-placed. I can't really say I enjoyed my round very much. |
Challenge 3/10
Really problematic greening, particularly by today's standards, has resulted in some unmakeable putts due to slope, or pin position, or both. I also found a number of lies which - while not impossible - were certainly hard enough to prevent par. At least one hole made tree escapes an unwelcome proposition too. It's not going to win many favours in the modern links community. |
Technical 6/10
There has been a lot done very well here, but the course hasn't really come out to match. There's definitely problems in the elevation work and a lack of playtesting, but much of Gales Croft's problems stem from it just being very long and hard to play with enthusiasm, not through any design work. |
| Overall |
Not the best of this designer's courses. You'd do well to pass. |
21/50 |
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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