|
The Island
by Paul Nicholson
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 268 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2000-11-23 |
5,098,621 bytes |
73 |
7247 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
OCEAN |
theisland.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| e39565a0c0cb11d4a11f00105ac838ea |
7fe4676c2a468811cf0767661ce93dab |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Ian Downs
A Fantasy course that is horrendously harder than Devils Island. This Designer should be immediately marched into a dark room and left there, such is his darkest thoughts for any golf allowed on his course!
Let me take you through this one carefully, as both sides of Design and playability come into this course. Firstly, this is tough. One of the hardest courses I have seen so far with the layouts, elevations and greens.oh those greens. Set on an Island (you guessed it), the terrain is only playable with extreme caution. The trees block every route you want to go, the undulations cause you to think if you can actually lift the ball. The greens slope so sharp, and condition of hard and fast will leave you needing treatment of some disorder. The Skull & Crossbones on the 11th hole leave you in no doubt as to what type of course this is.
On the other side of things, there are a number of things that stand out that perhaps a little tweak or two could have improved things. The fringes are not as levelled as perhaps they could be, they simply tilt in some greens, and are raised in others. Bunkers are too elevated and sloped, it would take witchcraft to keep sand in some of those sloped bunkers. The 9th tee leaves you looking slightly too left to know where you are going, as do some of the holes leave you not fully sure of where the fairway is for that hole. Quite a few of the back 9 holes are very tough, obviously planned. The 16th hole appears to have water that doesn't reflect., perhaps the Dead Waters, I don't know. There are a lot of raised areas in the course that perhaps could have been sloped better, given more contours.
But to finish, I would have to say this isn't for the faint-hearted. First time out, take caution., you probably won't par this course. Even after a few plays, you will wish you had not seen or heard of this course for the destruction it may do to your game (fun intended).
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Reviewer Notes: by Doug Jensen
Designers Note:
I have no experience with the designer. This review is based on playability and looks alone. Other reviews will highlight the design aspects of this course.
Paul Nicholson is the designer of The Island. This is a tough tropical course and for the most part enjoyed my round. Visually, this course looked nice and the seaside tropical look was new and refreshing. From the 1st tee through #6, this was a challenging course. Starting with #7, this course started to resemble Devil's Island, which may or may not be a good thing. There were some design aspects that I did not care for but it is to each individual to decide its merits.
Visuals: The Island looks very good for the most part. There were some rough edges and I did not care for the look of the hill on #7. More about that below
Off the Tee: Your tee shots at The Island are fairly easy only if you know when to lay-up on your drive. If you take a chance off the tee, you will usually pay the penalty. Your drive on #10 will really test you. You cannot use your 1W because you will not clear a hill. If you use a 3W, you may have to fade or draw to miss a tree on top of the hill. On #17 if you use a driver, the slope in the fairway will probably draw the ball into a ravine with running water. Mine went there but for some reason was not in the water. You will have a blind shot out of the ravine since your player and ball will not be shown in the main view.
The Approach: Your approach shots onto the greens at The Island will be tough on most holes because of the slope you will have to negotiate. There are some tiered greens that make an accurate approach very important. On the par 5 #7hole, your 2nd shot in my opinion is impossible to get close. You will end up in the sand over the pin if you clear the hill in front of the green. If you do not clear the hill, you will end up in sand on top of the hill with a barrier you need to clear with your 3rd shot. In my opinion, this was not good and did not look realistic. I really like challenging courses and holes but this hole crossed the line in my opinion.
Putting: Putting is very difficult at The Island. There were no flat spots on any of the greens and there is a mix of moderate to severe slopes to negotiate when putting. There are some tiered greens that will funnel the ball down a hill if you mishit your approach making for a very difficult putt.
I really enjoyed playing The Island except for #7 and best of luck to Paul on his next design.
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? Yes
Splash Screen? Yes
Text file?
Hole Previews?
4mb
Reviewed March 2001 |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, tropical course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 4/10
An extraordinary creation with totally unrealistic use of elevations and
planting to create a rough, ready but surprisingly acceptable course. Only
those who hit long and straight will bear with it, but there's some
remarkable hole ideas hidden in the mangled landscape. Don't take it
seriously, that's all. |
Appearance 2/10
Massively cloned planting and a lack of subtleness in the elevation changes are most obvious. Players will quickly see that some
stretched and expansive textures don't help. Although the designer has done his best with some imaginative shapes, a nice panorama
and lovely splashscreen, it's just a bit too primitive to be satisfying. |
Playability 3/10
PS swingers will knock ball after ball into completely unplayable places and will inevitably pick up half a dozen times or so. Even
Clicking, it's no pushover, and it's easy to get frustrated. But, sporadically, The Island throws up a completely unpredictable situation
that positively invites you to hit balls into it. And even some of the best courses don't manage that. |
Challenge 0/10
Nothing doing here, I'm afraid. With completely ridiculous elevations, massive carries and universal deep rough, not to mention the
ocean as a frequent hazard, you'll be dropping shots faster than a Scottish goalkeeper. Tough stuff, tending towards the unfair. |
Technical 0/10
Far too much is required on this. The panorama is often out of fit with the foreground, elevations pay little heed to planting or - on
several ludicrous occasions - bunkers, and everything is blown out of scale, with very little finesse. The planting varies very little -
three or four palm trees being the limit. Worst of all are the greens, which are unrealistic at the best and utterly unplayable at the worst. |
| Overall |
A remarkably primitive but somehow exhilarating experience. Comparable to some
tropical courses in terms of style, but not even close in terms of appearance. |
9/50 |
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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