| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1976 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2010-12-12 |
123,214,627 bytes |
71 |
7131 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
HEATHLAND |
RKenya.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| |
|
| COURSE NOTES |
This course is based on a real life design by GNGCD. It's an African course and you will see examples of African bush and wildlife as you play your way around the course. The design has been altered slightly to play better in Links. Many thanks my son Daniel who created the hole previews, Rob Miller who created the clubhouse (awesome job mate) and Rick Weathers who made the panorama based on real photos from the actual course location. This is as real as it gets folks, a real design based on real plans in a real location. I hope you have many happy round at Royal Kenya CC.
Merry Christmas!
Mike Jones |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Real, heathland course |
Location
Kenya, or thereabouts, one assumes. |
Conditions
Playable on F*/F* |
Concept 7/10
An unusual inclusion in the canon of Mike Jones course, this is a real-life construction, albeit disguised with a new name and a token
giraffe or two, and shorn of the fanciness that hallmarks Mike's imaginative hole design. Indeed, it's a bit out of the mould for African
courses as well; many holes could be right at home in the Yorkshire or Northumberland hills. But there are a lot of classy designs on
the back nine to elevate Royal Kenya well above the norm, and the inimitable class of Mike Jones helps just a little bit too. |
Appearance 9/10
The lovely hi-res textures are this time over-shadowed by shadowy, realistic and extensive grass planting - the one reminder of the
veldt in this course. All the usual boxes are ticked, although the creeks do - from certain angles - look somewhat odd, and the
construction of the bunkers feels a little routine after a while. |
Playability 8/10
A brilliant sense of location underpins Royal Kenya, and the holes cohere very well. The standout holes play very well, but there is a
nagging sameness to the extensive straight fairways and bottlenecking fairway bunkers. It's undoubtedly a course that you'll want to
come back to, but it might seem just a touch too familiar when you do. |
Challenge 6/10
The occasional tricky slope will certainly mean that not all your putts go down, and the use of the elevations to kick your ball into
trouble are clever without being excessive. But for the large part, the targets are big, the hazards obvious, and the bunkers shallow and
easy to escape. The Par 5s should encourage all big hitters to try and run the course down. They won't always succeed, but birdies
are not an unreasonable goal. |
Technical 10/10
It's impossible to fault Mike Jones as usual. The extent of his talents is obvious here through the true-to-life grasses and watersides, and
his inventiveness with textures is still the best in the game. |
| Overall |
A rare outing in the real world from the links master. The work is faultless, but it's
not a variety of strategic golf that is automatically associated with his name. |
40/50 |
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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