The Willows Golf & Country Club (Lakes/Island)
by Jack Stewart

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1629 Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length 2005-11-20  22,986,752  bytes 71  6848 yards Type Style CRZ Filename REAL  LINKS  The Willows Golf & C.C. Lakes.Is.crz  Course ID Course Key     COURSE SCREENSHOTS COURSE NOTES The Canadian Tour used to be played in the Willows Golf Country Club in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan more than 10 years ago. LINKS CORNER REVIEW Designer: This is Jack Stewart's second release after his initial real course rendition of The Ranch Golf and Country Club. Course History: Situated just outside of Saskatoon, Canada, The Willows is a 36 hole precinct that will challenge golfers of all skill levels. With 144 bunkers and 14 lakes, The Willows also features a Southwestern style clubhouse and is sure to provide a wonderful experience to all players that visit. More information can be found at http://www.willowsgolf.com. Course: If you judged this course from the very first shot of the round, you may not think much of it, but you would soon find out how excellent this layout actually is. The hole designs of this real life layout adapt really well to Links, with bunkers and water providing excellent protection on each of the holes. Visually the course will never stand out at any stage, but if you concentrate on the playability of the design, you are sure to enjoy your round. The course is very reminiscent in it's styling of some holes in comparison to Bay Hill and TPC At Sawgrass, so if you like either of those courses, you should find The Willows an enjoyable course to play. Favourite Hole: The Par 3 on Hole 17, and the courses signature hole, was my favoruite hole on the course, as with some well placed bunkers and the looming water hazard, this will test the nerve of all golfers, even more so in windy conditions. Playability: Even though quite short in it's overall length, it's important to think carefully about how you approach each hole around the layout, as the Par 3's and Par 5's are especially strategic, and will certainly play a major part in determining what your scorecard will look like at the end of the round. The hole designs vary from simplistic to complex, so repetition will never become a factor, but the visuals do become tiring, so rely on the playability aspect of the course for true enjoyment. In regard to the Par 5's, Hole 3 and 13 are reachable with two good shots, while only truly gifted players will reach Hole 9 and 16 for a possible eagle opportunity. The greens can be quite tricky depending on where your ball lands, so really try to aim for certain areas of the green, rather than just working out a good distance to hit the ball. If you play safe and attack when the opportunity is right, you should be able to shoot a decent score, but be aware, this course is not a scoring paradise, so never underestimate the many hazards scattered around the layout, as they can and will hurt you. Technically: Right off the first tee, the course is generally clean and doesn't contain any major errors throughout the design, but unfortunately, when no advanced APCD techniques or custom textures are used, the course will only suffer in comparison with so many other design's that are incorporating such features into the layout. This itself is not an issue, but considering how good the course layout and playability actually is, the course may regrettably be overlooked because of the lack of high quality APCD work. Repetitive planting was evident, on some holes more than others, while it was a shame to see the bunkers with no lips, especially when they played such an important part in the challenge and look of the course. The tee areas and water walls could have done with a bit more attention, while the clubhouse seemed overtly large in proportion to everything else, but overall, the rendition of the course in comparison to the real life version was created quite well. Other: The course only contains a cameo and splash screen, while even though that may be satisfactory, the splash screen is of a poor quality, which is a shame considering the ease of taking a good screenshot in the game and simply adding that at best. Having released a similar quality course, the designer may simply wish to produce a course of satisfactory nature, which itself is fine, but if advanced APCD techniques were included and more time was spent designing a particular course, I'm sure the designer could produce an excellent looking design. With so many tutorials available on the APCD, there isn't anything stopping this designer from producing something exceptional if he wished, but at best, it would be great to at least see customary extras included both in the zip file and the course in any future release. Download Value: Being just over 17mb in size, the course is an easy download, unfortunately is missing extras one might be used to seeing accompany most courses, with the zip file only containing the course file. Even though the design doesn't contain any advanced APCD techniques, the layout itself is wonderful to play and is a course not to be missed, so I would recommend people check out the course, as I certainly will be burning it to CD. Information: Course Statistics: 2003 - Real Links - Par 71 - 5 Tees 6848yds (Back) - 5839yds (Forward) Par 3's: 5 - Par 4's: 9 - Par 5's: 4 This course is available as a FREE download. Download course Please support Links Corner