| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 406 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-05-24 |
6,067,934 bytes |
72 |
6919 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
TROPICAL |
Pomo Springs.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 87346c3740f24b4c8722823ec80aa192 |
fce942792a1b34f857a5797ac981301a |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Dave Campbell
July 2001
Expectations: Pomo Springs doesn't bring anything to mind nor have I played a Duane Rucker design before. A 5 meg download is on the small side but I'm entering with an open mind.
First Impressions: Pomo Springs is Duane's third course uploaded to the Links Corner and was made available on 5/24/01. It is a fictional woodland, ocean setting and is a par 72 measuring 6,919 from the tips. At 5 meg it's a very manageable download and packs a punch for the size.
Playability: The layout here is open and you can really be aggressive for the most part. Scoring opportunities will present themselves often and if you stay out of the wooded fairway boundaries you should be fine. There is water everywhere, I didn't specifically count but I think there is a pond on each hole. Maybe a bit too repetitive but pretty well done, and teeming with wildlife. These water areas can get pretty noisy with planted bird sounds and such and had me turning down the volume a bit.
The tees are standard but look OK and are functional. All tee shots are open to the intended target and most of the time you will have a generous landing zone. Many times the ever-present pond will have to be taken into account and there are some drastic, but nicely done, elevations right up to the fairway and green edges in some places. Really be careful around these elevations because many have dense plantings with some elevations approaching 90 degrees and can saddle you with a snowman or worse on your scorecard. The fairway does not have a 1st cut but they look good overall.
Greens are standard fare with some elevation work and a fringe border. I only played the moderate pin settings but I can't imagine the difficult pins being too hard. My test round had me putting 28 times without using the grid.
Sand is also on this course in the form of fairway and greenside bunkers but they are not formidable. The brown sand texture is used and the construction is decent. There is a nice sand bank around all the water. This and the plantings give the ponds a nice finish (see screenshot).
Planting itself was above average with the occasional overuse of certain trees in the same area. Ground planting could have been a bit stronger but the woodlands looked real and present a constant danger throughout the whole round. The entire object planting, except ball washers, consists of wildlife. In real life you probably wouldn't get anywhere near one of these ponds as almost all are alligator habitats. And there are many brave birds that call the ponds home as well. Check out my screenshot for an example of the many ponds on this course.
This is a course you can really score on and if a good links player keeps it on the short grass he/she will murder this layout. All in all a fun, if not a bit repetitive, relaxing round of cyber golf.
Drawbacks: The aforementioned ponds pop up on every hole and even though they are the eye catching part of the course it's just too much. I noticed small reflection problems on the water during my test round and most had to do with a gap between the objects being reflected, particularly over the beginning holes. For example the animals in the pond on the 3rd hole appear to be floating above the water, if you go by the reflection. If you notice in my screenshot the water bank directly in front the same gap appears between the water bank and the plants and rock. Pretty minor stuff and it doesn't affect playability but I think it needs to be mentioned here.
I noticed some funny angles around the 5th green, particularly in the dynamic cam. A few mesh shadows appeared but nothing of major proportions.
The 14th and 17th holes are almost identical in layout, although one is a par 4 and one a par 5. I found myself having to look back in my notes to make sure I wasn't playing the same hole, feeling a bit of dejavu.
Best Hole: Without a doubt the hole that is the prettiest and stands out the most is the 165-yard par 3 16th. This hole looks sweet, with a pond that fronts the tee box and water sweeping right and left all the way to the hole. Little bit of palm tree influence to get you thinking, although they're easy to clear. Just keep those gators away from the tee.
Test round stats: -6 71%FIR 77%GIR 28 putts in the above conditions. Pretty decent round, I managed to avoid those troubling severe elevation areas. This could be an easy double digit under par course for a good links player.
Comparable courses: Hemby Bridge by Steve Arrowood
Overall: Is Pomo Springs worth the download? It's hard to go wrong with only 5 meg but it's not in the upper echelon of courses available now. However, I do think there are redeeming qualities in every course and the good far outweighs the bad in this design. It was a pleasure to play and review your course Duane, I hope to play another of yours soon.
Filesize 5MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
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 |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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