|
Trysting Tree GC
by G. Fitting / F. Briggson / B.Fournier
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 298 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-02-09 |
45,831,880 bytes |
72 |
7413 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
Trysting Tree.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| f087d0e1fe9211d4a0a0444553540000 |
a9d0565f498e862b5286b47277ad3890 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Dave Campbell
Expectations: I had played this course upon initial release. 'Tryst' means a meeting place that has been agreed upon. I eagerly awaited playing this course upon download.
First Impressions: Trysting Tree G.C. is a joint design and is the first offering from George Fitting (Bub of 'Bubsnews'), who provided the layout, which is based on a course in Corvallis Oregon. George provides an awesome readme text file with the download zip and I would suggest reading it. You may want to print it for reference during your round since he offers hole-by-hole sage advice. I will call it a fictional, parkland/woodland setting that is a par 72 playing 7,413 yards from the back tees. Most Links Corner regulars should be familiar with the work of Bob Fornier and Fred Briggson who did the bulk of the APCD work for Trysting Tree. Bob is a prodigious designer with the following courses to his credit; Fox Quarry, Desert Palms, TPC@ Rolling Hills, Cedar Creek, Riverbend, and Albatross Pointe. He is currently working on Blackstone National. Fred Briggson has simply produced a couple of the best APCD courses so far with Langolier and the recently released Eagle Mountain. To be honest I only played this course once and never played again until my review assignment. I originally replied in a negative manner about some of the holes and their difficulty and commented in the 'Review Forum' about it. The reason it stayed on my drive was because of the APCD work, which is as good as any you'll see. I must say that I fell in love with this course during my review rounds (what was I thinking the first time?). Maybe my power stroke game is stronger now. I just might count this among my favourites after playing several rounds this week.
I think I can sum up Trysting Tree in a few sentences. It is a very hard, testing round of virtual golf. You will have to think on every shot from the 1st tee to the last putt on the 18th. One word that jumped into my mind the whole round was ELEVATION. The elevations on this course are spectacular, the only flat lie you'll ever have is on the tee. Rolling fairways, elevated tees and greens offer views that are little short of breathtaking. The greens themselves have many breaks and multi-tier looks, a difficult but realistic test for sure. All water on the course has wood plank bulkheads along parts of the bank that proved a very eye-appealing feature (see screenshot).
It is lightly planted with a variety of trees (including the Trysting Tree on the 1st hole) with a sparse amount of ground planting and an occasional floral group visible from the tee box. There were some 'wild' brown sand bunkers that were planted with scrub, rocks and trees that really looked nice. There were custom objects placed about including custom tee markers, yardage stakes, a maintenance building including bulldozer and other equipment, fences, houses (and maybe a church?) and bridges of several types. A particularly nice looking bridge is visible from the par 3 17th tee. Nice custom sounds were planted too. You putt to church chimes on the 4th green, hear a nice train whistle on the fifth tee and were greeted by chirping crickets on the 13th green just to name a few.
The fairways were of a decent width but to have the best approach you need to know where to place it, not all fairway lies are desirable. No first cut is evident on the fairways. Trees are cunningly placed and forced me into the occasional flop, chip or punch shot to stay clear of the branches. There are also some pinched landing areas with strategically placed fairway bunkering throughout. I teed off most times with my 3W for control and placement. There were several drives (10th and 11th and 18th) that had forced carries over water in between 220-240 yards. I negotiated each successfully but with wind these drives could be formidable, particularly to the power stroker only carrying a 3W.
The bunkers are all well done. I mentioned the 'wild' looking bunkers on some of the fairways. Most had plantings in the sand and can be very tough to get out of cleanly. My advice would be to miss on the opposite side of one of these hazards, unless the other side is worse :o) The other type of trap was more conventional and had the raked, white sand texture.
I mentioned the greens already. You won't find a sterner test on any save a 'fantasy' course. More often than not I was just trying to lag my putts close, not even thinking of holing out (gimmie range PLEASE). They are not tricked up but elevated very nicely and they fit perfect with the rolling fairway elevations.
The water deserves special mention. It is one of the highlights of this course, beautifully and realistically placed. The woodwork bulkheads along the lake banks are as nice as any you will see and can be seen throughout the round on many holes. It is a hazard in most cases to be sure but is worth it. Some of the best APCD water work that has ever been done.
Drawbacks: If you're used to scoring big this course is not for you, it's as tough as they come. For my game par is a great score here, my test round in the above conditions was +3 and I fought like heck to shoot that low. I believe this is what originally turned me off about this course. I loved every moment of my +3 round though, and literally jumped out of my chair on some of my par saves. I only mention this in the drawbacks section because I know some don't like these 'take your par and move on' types of courses. I saw that George has a 'King of the Course' round of -8 so it's possible shoot low. It proves what I said earlier. If you know the strategic places to hit your shots you'll have a better chance of getting the elusive bird or eagle.
Along the toughness theme I feel I need to mention some of the par 3's. This might be the hardest four par 3's I've ever seen on one golf course. The 4th and 7th holes are both about 215 yards with a carry over rough all the way to the smallish size greens. With wind this could be a nightmare. The 17th was a spectacular but tough 225 yards with trouble all the way down the right side and behind in the form of a lake. The toughest of all is the shortest, the 170 yard 13th. George mentions in the readme text that this is his tribute to Augusta's 12th hole. I can't imagine the original being any tougher than this. A creek and bunker front the green with two traps behind as well. There is a GUR OB texture to the right and the green elevation slopes severely toward the front creek hazard (found it twice in a row on my original round). Now that I've played it a few times I know to miss long here and hope to make par because a birdie will be rare. In F/F green conditions a strong putt to a front green pin placement may roll past the hole and right into the creek.
As mentioned previously there were some force carries over water that may be considered excessive. All my test rounds were with no wind but on some of these, if the wind is in your face you may have to hit the driver perfect just to get to the fairway.
Best Hole: All holes were great. My favorites were the 6th, 9th 12th and 17th. My choice goes to the long and beautiful par 5 9th hole. It's an elevated tee, gorgeous, straight 590 yards. Two bunkers cross the fairway as well as one creek / pond. There is water left and back of the green and a greenside bunker. The fairway elevations and wood plank bulkheads make this hole a visual delight, one of the best APCD created holes in my opinion. The screenshot is a dynamic cam view of my second shot (I chickened out and was playing it safe).
Comparable courses: Falcon Ridge by John Borycheski, Canyon Hills by Steve Pope, Zanzibar by Eric Loft
Overall: This is a very tough, beautiful course exhibiting unbelievable use of the APCD elevation tools. Your scorecard will get humbled and you will be happy just achieving par on this bad boy. I've seen widely ranging views on this course and I myself did a complete 180 in my opinion from the first time I played it. I'll quite possible take some heat on my course rating but I challenge you to go back and play it and tell me if you can honestly say it's not one of the most beautiful produced yet. I personally think the layout is great too. If you haven't played this course since the dynamic cam option you need to try it again. Its beauty really comes out with those high angle shots. Like I said I shot +3 in my test round but routinely shoot +5 or more at Northern Dunes that many see as the top course produced yet. I recommend you download and try this one for yourself.
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? Yes
Splash Screen? Yes
Text file? Yes
Hole Previews?
38mb
Reviewed May 2001 |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, parkland course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 3/10
According to my research, a Trysting Tree can either be a meeting place,
or a location singled out by certain animals for crapping on. I'll let you
ponder that one.
There's not much to Trysting Tree (the course), to be honest. A few arty
holes, one too many long water carries, and lots of elevations that were
presumably aimed at causing difficulties, but actually look like landscapedistorting
desperation. I can't claim that I was very impressed at all. |
Appearance 2/10
Really quite poor. Large stretches of empty, blurred rough texture do little to sell the course, and the use of stock textures elsewhere
do the designer few favours. The planting is too thin and frequently cloned, and the water features are much too bland. Heavy hands
with the elevations mean that there is little to feast one's eyes upon. |
Playability 6/10
Despite the basic appearance, this is a moderately enjoyable round of golf. The holes have clearly been meticulously planned to get
the most out of players, there's some excellent risk/reward, and hitting the greens in regulation feels like a genuine achievement.
There's some neat sound effects too. But you've seen it all after the first round, and there's not much incentive to go back. |
Challenge 4/10
Trysting Tree has a reputation for being horrendously hard, thanks to some ill-judged green gradients and pin positions. It's not all that
bad if you can stay out of the final tier of rough, but shots will inevitably be dropped by even the most cautious of players, especially on
the water holes. Perhaps the most ill-advised move is the proximity of many greens to a sharp water-bound gradient, which will punish
otherwise judicious shots and is quite unfair. |
Technical 2/10
An early design, there's frankly an awful lot to pick up upon here. Textures and transitions are poorly thought-through, bunkers are
without lips and look very primitive, and the scarcity of good planting is very noticeable. I spotted a couple of floating trees on the way
round. Worst of all, though, are the jerky gradients and edges, which give the course a lingering amateurish feel. |
| Overall |
Not particularly notable or worth your while. A course fading rapidly into APCD
obscurity. |
17/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
|
|
Download course
|
Please support Links Corner
|
|
|
