| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1887 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2009-05-23 |
161,690,556 bytes |
71 |
7420 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
MOUNTAIN |
excelsiorTE.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| |
|
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, heathland course |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 9/10
A glorious veldt course set amid rolling grasslands with absorbing mountain panoramas, Excelsior serves up a test of golf every bit as absorbing as its visuals. There's some very subtle risk-reward and excellent use of elevation on the fairways, making every approach shot absolutely crucial. Amazingly realistic, I was fooled for a long time by the subtle small touches that made this appear like a real course. |
Appearance 10/10
Adriaan has proved to be a master of grass planting in the past, and he has served up a masterclass here in varying the low level planting superbly while keeping it realistic yet surprisingly sparse. Nor is this restricted to the lower levels: the trees are fairly incidental to play but are every bit as varied and precise. The water features and some functional pot bunkers round off the look perfectly. There's nothing to fault here. |
Playability 9/10
Again, looking at the variety of hole types and options here, it's a wonder that this is a fictional course. It seems to have evolved into the landscape, and the custom course settings match the dried-out environment perfectly. It's far from a traditional grasslands layout: the fairways are relatively accommodating and there are two ways into most greens for added replayability. |
Challenge 10/10
Par is the only score here at Excelsior. Certainly anyone would be happy with nine pars on the opening half, but crucially they wouldn't be too unhappy either. The difficulty gradient slowly increases towards the end of the round - as indeed it should - but there is a superb risk-reward Par 5 to close and possibly pick up the missing stroke. Three test rounds have not seen me deviate from an Even Par score for more than a couple of holes at a time: they don't come much better. |
Technical 9/10
I've always added technical credibility for creating a realistic environment, and there's none better than this, even from Mike Jones himself. A few scrubby, and tiling, textures aside, there's very little to fault here and the designer's embrace of custom textures is the perfect icing on a near-perfect cake. |
| Overall |
Right up there in the big time in my opinion. A terrific course which avoids some of the designer's previous excesses and ranks right up there with the best. |
47/50 |
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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