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Prestnoch Public Golf Links
by Dominique Bois
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1772 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2007-06-15 |
63,602,688 bytes |
71 |
7128 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
LINKS |
PPGL_planted.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 26409417a5c3430db24bdd63b56ea10b |
c8ec986cd4a01c2d52df7e3473104ffd |
| COURSE NOTES |
This course was for a long time in my head and on my H.D. under the shape of a JNSE course than I first designed several years ago. This one was called "Deep dunes" and was never released. From that course, many holes have changed. Still, you can have some idea of it as the 1st, the 6th, 9th and 10th are clearly inspired from that old design. The 10th, for example, was far better in the JNSE version, but didn't reached to create the same hole with APCD (I must say that as the JNSE graphics were rather poor, and a lot of this hole look stays only in my imagination...)
Then, I started the APCD project with the aim of practicing for a real course that I have not done yet, but still hope for. I left the terrain routed and elevated but quit the design as I didn't have a convenient panorama and the course stayed forgotten on my H.D. since I played Enniscrone “the Dunes”. I thought that its pano would be ideal for my course, and with the permission of the designers of the course and the pano, I got this one and, with a little tuning (widening the open sea) it fits perfectly with the course. So I decided to go on and complete this design.
Though the course is fictional, it is obviously inspired by the great links courses of the British Isles. The name of the course is clear enough, I think, though there are no real direct references at those two courses.
I hope many linksters will enjoy the links style of golf play. The course is not really difficult, but it can be as fun as punishing for the incautious player and when the wind comes up to defend it.
Dominique |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, links course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 8/10
As tends to be the case in the APCD, this is links golf with the dial turned
up a little. The screenshot is the exception rather than the rule, but even
then, some of the hole designs don't exactly match the ideal that was
created for links golf in the 19th century. Despite this, there are several
hallmarks, here: punishing gorse-like rough, short holes (in general), and
playing to the landscape rather than the designer's whims. If you can
leave a few sensibilities at the clubhouse, it's a great round in Ballylecum
Castle style. |
Appearance 9/10
Magnificent planting sets the tone right from the first tee. A well-created combination of gorse and grasses, it really is the hallmark of
the course. Add this to a perfect, not-too-neat, texture set, and the superb creation of the surrounding environment with an extended
plot and (familiar-looking) panorama, and you're close to perfection. And then, sadly, you come across the coastline. The closing three
holes were designed to be dramatic show-stoppers, but they fail because of some hastily designed breakers. |
Playability 10/10
Even those who hold a few reservations about links-style golf should be wowed by Prestnoch. It uses all the best features of the
classic Scottish links: a demand on the player to use the shape of the landscape, and frequent 'bail-out or shoot' risk-rewards. Every
hole presents its own set of challenges, and the Hole Previews are tantalisingly vague, to which extent actually playing the hole is a bit
like unwrapping your Christmas presents - you're pretty sure what to expect, but there's always an element of uncertainty. It all makes
for enticing and addictive golf. |
Challenge 10/10
Hit the generous fairways on the longer holes, and you should be in a very good position for birdie; miss them, and it'll cost you at least
a shot. Although the rough, and all its attendant planting, is punishing, you really feel that no less is requisite on a proper links. Things
such as bunkers play a fairly marginal part: your real battle is with the landscape. And it should make for an absolutely first-class battle. |
Technical 9/10
Prestnoch might be one of the few courses that has been designed (or at least, tweaked) to match an existing panorama, and there
have been no items overlooked, save of course some iffy shoreline work. It's unlikely to leave even the most fussy linkster unsatisfied. |
| Overall |
Right up there alongside Ballylecum Castle, to which it makes the ideal
complement. A bright, breezy and (mostly) believable Scottish links. |
46/50 |
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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