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Xilver Hollow
by Rick Weathers
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 327 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-02-10 |
5,620,430 bytes |
27 |
1017 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL Par 3 Course |
PARKLAND |
XHollow.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| b2a72f60ed9811d4bd2c444553540000 |
cf0c54c53b39b75e02569d817d08b604 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Dave Campbell on August 2001
Expectations: I wasn't sure what to expect from this course. I don't even remember hearing about this course. I'm going in with an open mind.
First Impressions: Xilver Hollow is Rick Weather's first course offering and was posted at the Links Corner on 2/10/01. He followed this design with the critically acclaimed Xilver Lagoon, which is a course I've always found just a bit too tough for my anaemic powerstroke champ game. It is a beautifully done course for sure. To my surprise, Xilver Hollow is a 9-hole par 3 pitch and putt course. It is a par 27 and is a total of 1,017 yards from the back tees with holes ranging from 96-126 yards. There are five tee choices, with the red tees totalling 215 yards for the whole course, each hole somewhere in the 20-30 yard range. It is a wide-open parkland design that is very delightful.
Playability: This is a very nice course, wide open and fairly plain with no hazards at all. You'll need nothing in your bag more than a 9 iron as the longest hole from the back tees are 130 yards. It is totally a pitch and putt and is a great setting to practice your short game. Holes are constructed so that in between club choices are normal off the tee so you have the opportunity to play with your shot setup.
The tees are elevated and mounded in a most appealing way. Obviously Rick was able to hone his APCD skills while working on this course and then apply them to a more ambitious project such as Xilver Lagoon.
Greens are spacious and slightly undulating, with the occasional big break if the pin is set up right. They can play any way you want them to depending on wind, greens and pin difficulty. Like I mentioned there are no sand traps or water, this is strictly a no pressure practice session type setup.
The planting is wonderful and very realistic. Surprising considering it isn't a real course. Lodge pole trees and strong under planting dominate the landscape. Very pleasing to the eye overall and makes the tedium of practice more bearable.
Drawbacks: Hard to say much here being that this is a practice venue and most things I usually look at are from a 'total course' perspective. I will say that the APCD stuff I'm normally concerned with such as mesh shadows, pulled verts and texture mismatches are not a problem. This design is surprisingly crisp and the planting is superb.
Make sure you know what your getting if you d/l this course. Strictly iron approach and putting practice. There is virtually no difference in hole length and strategy during the whole round. Par 3 only is all right, but I might suggest varying some of the hole lengths. Maybe the occasional hazard would've be nice too.
Best Hole: I'll tab the 4th and 5th because I missed a HIO by 18' on the 4th and sunk a 20', big breaking birdie putt on the 5th.
Test round stats: -5 in the above conditions but some of the greens could be nasty if you set them to f/f.
Comparable courses: Golfcom Tee's by Dan Deshaney
Overall: If you're looking to practice your short game then this course is perfect. It is a par 3, short iron and putting venue in a lovely setting. This would be a perfect course for a new powerstroker to go fine-tune his/her swing. At 3.5 meg I would suggest everyone take a look because at one time or another we all need to practice, so we might as well practice on a pretty design such as this. Thanks Rick, this one was real fun to play.
Filesize 4MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? No
Cameo Screen? Yes
Text file? No
Hole Previews? No
This review will be based on playability, aesthetics and originality. Please keep in mind that this is only my opinion following my play-testing of the completed course.
I fully understand the hard work and immense skill that is involved in the designing of these courses and my comments will try to be constructive and without bias.
Tested on Power Stroke swing - Champ level - from the back tees - N/M/M Mod
PIII 667 / 256 meg memory / 32 meg GeForce2 MX video card / Hardware Rendering |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, short course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 4/10
As a practice facility, Xilver Hollow has one or two edges on its nearest
rival, The Complex. The huge range of tees allow players to practice
virtually any length from 25 yards to 125 yards, and the greens feature a
range of slopes, from nearly flat to nearly ridiculous. The whole thing is set
amid believable woodland and the occasional small touch on the part of
the designer will bring a smile of acknowledgement. Earth-shattering it is
not, but it might find an unexpected place in close-to-pin and other 'bet'
competitions as well as for the function is was created. |
Appearance 3/10
The hastily-extruded tee boxes look silly, and the textures were clearly a matter of convenience, rather than hard work. The trees blend
well with the panorama, although it is slightly disconcerting to gaze upon the infinite numbers of trees stretching into the distance. The
occasional bit of planting and the nice clubhouse does not go amiss, but this is still a course that was put together hastily. |
Playability 4/10
It would have been better to have greens that were a little missable, or a bunker or two. I know the course isn't supposed to be a
dazzling feat of complexity, but a little variety wouldn't have hurt. There's decent fun enough to be had in trying to get close to the pins,
particularly from different tees; you'll want an MoP other than strokeplay to get the most out of this course. |
Challenge 2/10
Thanks to some tricky green moulding, Xilver Hollow isn't quite a complete pushover, although in many cases you'll be close enough to
the pin for gradients to make little difference. The pin positions will inevitably be a major - if not the only - factor in deciding your score. |
Technical 4/10
It's not much of a technical exercise, this, but what has been done has been done acceptably. It was nice to see the designer using the
clubhouse as an excuse for a bit of flamboyance. |
| Overall |
A decent practice facility and possible home to a 'bet' game or two. |
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.
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