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East Lothian G.C.
by Jim McGhee
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1624 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2005-11-06 |
45,641,728 bytes |
72 |
7300 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
LINKS |
East Lothian GC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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| COURSE NOTES |
ELGC is a fictional course of 7300 yards and is a mixture of links and inland terrains. It is designed for play with the MOD. File size: 45Mb.
This is my second course, the first being the real life Dunbar G.C., released in January 2005.
Pictures and notes for each course are at http://golflinks.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk
Jim McGhee, East Lothian, Scotland, November 5, 2005. |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewer - Michael Hubbard
INTRODUCTION
East Lothian G.C is Jim's second design in which he has switched to a fictional links with a Scottish setting.
Extract from the Readme - by Jim McGhee
'The course is built on a peninsula which has hills in the centre. It hugs the seashore for several holes in each half and at one stage, only a narrow bridge of land separates the North Sea from the freshwater Aberlady Loch.'
'It is designed for play with the MOD'
'The aim has been to create variation of terrain and habitat with interest in terms of design, planting and elevation.'
'The aim has been to create the feeling that the fairways have been cut through wild and natural terrain. There are large expanses of long grass just off the fairways, which is a feature of real life courses in the area, but larger plantings are deliberately sparse to keep the sense of openness. Bunkers are a mixture of regular and pot and the prevailing wind is likely to be onshore, tending to create crosswinds on the majority of holes.'
In addition the readme file contains a written preview of every hole on the course.
COURSE
East Lothian G.C is, overall, pretty plain by design, looking flat with only occasional outbursts of colouration, with heather, poppies, lilies and thistles - Screenshots 1 & 4. It relies heavily on large open expanses of tall wild grasses which are well done if a little monotonous. The tones of the course are fine and although the greens are a little coarse in nature they seem very well suited to the setting. The sand traps are a pleasant salmon pink with earthen lips along with a few dangerous pot bunkers with grassed walls - Screenshot 2.
The flags are a pale orange with no logo. Hole previews are very basic and there are now crowds or tournament objects. The panorama is the old St Andrews feature which is not out of keeping with the venue, though looking a little tired. The clubhouse here, whilst diminutive in stature, comes into view on the closing two holes - Screenshot 7.
The greens are a goodly size overall and contain heavily sloping terrain which requires good positioning on approach - Screenshot 6. The sound file works well opening with skylarks, gulls by the coastal reaches and other birds mingled in. There is a good mixture of both doglegs and straight away par 4 holes along with two fine par three holes playing with the ocean background - Screenshot 3 & 5.
PLAYABILITY
7300 yards is the measurement from the tips with 3 reachable par fives and 3 par 4's over 450 yards in length. The Par 4, 15th hole is drivable under the right conditions too. Much difficulty surrounds the East Lothian G.C. The fairways are very tight and include fairway bunkers around the driving distance on a fair few holes. As such the landing area on the 17th is just 7 yards wide! Added to this there is no fairway fringe or light rough. An errant tee shot is straight into the rough and soon into the tall heavy grasses. Having said that the rough does not play too badly, and even the tall grass is playable from about a 7 Iron down. Accuracy off of the tee therefore is a necessity here.
Whilst the greens are not heavily protected from approach there is difficulty here too. With the narrow fairways, entrance to the greens is very confined. Added to this is the surrounding collar of rough that is present on a number of greens which means that most running approach shots get snagged up and fail to make the putting surface. The greens themselves contain some quite severe slopes in places which make putting most arduous with the mod, despite the read me claiming that the course was designed for such.
DESIGNER INTERVIEW - JIM MCGHEE
1. Did the final course production fulfil your expectations?
'I did it for recreation, to develop skills and to have a course I would enjoy playing now and again, one that makes you feel good to be out in the wide open spaces but which makes you think whether to play safe rather than just blast away and shoot crazy scores.
The course notes say more but I also wanted a course with a wide variety of elevation, plantings, sounds and views, creating different challenges all the way round. So, yes, it ticks my boxes.'
2. What part of your design did you find most difficult to achieve?
'Seam-blending, re-blending and re-blending were challenging but eventually worked out okay - I think.
A major problem was when I encountered the dreaded "Foresting Bug" (program refusal to allow mass planting of e.g. thousands of grasses), which would have made completion impossible. But I eventually discovered how to fix the problem by creating a "New User" in Windows XP, which was a bit of a blast at the time. I since reported this discovery on the forums and last I heard, it has helped at least some other designers. (So even if people don't like the course, I am chuffed to have paid a little back for all the design tutorials and help I got online!)'
3. Do you feel that East Lothian G.C. well represents the challenges of Scottish Links play?
'It was not intended to be a typical Scottish Links, which are more likely to have the same look throughout - but ELGC incorporates essential Scottish Links elements such as tight fairways, heavy rough, pot bunkers, few trees in play (just a few favourites for views), undulating greens and a number of coast-hugging holes. And like real links courses, it bears playing a few rounds to know where the surprises are, when to play safe and when and where to hit it to birdie par fives etc. So yes, the level of challenge is equivalent to a good links.'
4. Are you working on another design at the moment?
'No. Other interests have since taken up my time. I hope to return at some stage to do my favourite Scottish course and ideally, a more advanced version of my home club Dunbar, making use of what I have learned since making it my first attempt in the APCD...... that is if I don't forget it all in the meantime!'
CONCLUSION
In truth the design work done here is fine. However there is nothing to excite one either visually or competitively I feel. The course looks very flat and unadorned, whilst playing frustratingly difficult with little reward for good shots due to such tight doglegged fairways and heavily sloping greens.
With no tournament options available I found there to be very few redeeming factors although it is technically pretty sound.
IN A WORD
Uneventfully bland |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, links course |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 6/10
An undeniably wild and rough Scottish links, East Lothian is set largely among heather-coated seaside dunes, with a handful of challenging seaside holes thrown in for good measure. It starts off very convincingly in its Carnoustie-style design, and there are some smashing Par 3 holes on the route, but the finish is a little antiseptic and flat which to some extent destroys an otherwise very convincing illusion. |
Appearance 7/10
Clearly, great effort has been expended with planting the dense heather, and the rough regions of this course look magnificently menacing and wild. The coastline is brilliant too, and uses a brilliant selection of textures, albeit ones a bit blue. But there's something not quite right at East Lothian: perhaps it's a bit neat around the edges; perhaps it's cut somewhat too tight around the fairways. Perhaps it's the odd combination of colours, but it's not quite right. |
Playability 7/10
As long as you've got a decent recovery game and a fairly open mind, there are 18 holes of fair entertainment here. The course does its best to look natural and relies on very few gimmicks. Many will find the lack of options restricting, though; perhaps nine holes is better than eighteen in this instance. |
Challenge 5/10
Take your best game out with you, or you'll end up against a wall. The fairways are unconscionably narrow, and plenty of deep rough will take distance off your approach. Some well-placed hazarding means that GIRs really are a treat to be savoured. Add this to the constantly rolling elevations, and it's quite feasible that you could score upwards of 75. |
Technical 6/10
A very sound technical achievement, if only to keep the wild dunes looking natural and uncloned. I would suggest that perhaps a little more research into the distinctive features of links courses might be in order, as would a gentler hand with some of the gradients, but there is clearly plenty of work committed here, and not in vain. |
| Overall |
An under-rated and oft-overlooked course. Not easy, by any means, and occasionally some way short of totally convincing, but an enjoyable round nevertheless. |
31/50 |
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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