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Maple Ranch Country Club
by Aaron Lapointe
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 439 |
| Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-06-15 |
35,927,668 bytes |
71 |
7194 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
Maple Ranch.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 0e938320605611d5a365525400ecc903 |
a2c8089a0ff123556e8c6a5c34db93eb |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mick Lenton
September 2001
Thoughts from the 1st: I have to say when I first opened the course I nearly put it away again. Remember I am a champ PSer, not a very good one at that and was very nearly totally put off by the width, or lack of it, of the tightly treed fairways. However I thought to myself, 'Come on, pull yourself together. Are you a man or a mouse?' So after girding my loins and taking my 2 wood from my bag I played the course. Then I played it again and eventually managed to find my way round this very difficult course.
The Course: This 7200 yard par 71 course is carved out of thick woodland on a mountainside. The builders obviously were a bit work shy so not a lot of trees have been removed, meaning the fairways are very narrow J It has been constructed almost exclusively from stock textures, but does not suffer from that. The tees, of which all 5 are available, sit in an edge of rough, which then leads into deep grass. The striped fairway has a rough fringe, then the deep grass and the majority of the planting is done in pine needles, although the large area of trees left of the 1st tee is done in the rough texture. The well-shaped greens have a standard fringe. There are not many bunkers on this course but the ones present are quite well done. The pale gold sand is used with a thing but unmapped dirt lip and a sharp edge to the surrounding texture. They do look nice. Personally I would like to have seen another extrusion on top of the dirt of the surrounding texture and smoothed slightly. But that is a totally personal thing. The lakes on the course are a bit basic in construction and would have looked better with some mapping and a bit more work, but do not look too bad and a bit more planting would have improved them. The tree planting has been done well. The underplanting would maybe have benefited from a bit more variation and perhaps a bit of colour. In general though nothing stands out and really catches your eye as being bad.
Playability: The 1st is a par 4 with a dogleg left. There is no point me keeping mentioning that the fairways are narrow. But they are!! Also remember for this review that I am using a 3 wood for driving. A shot to the corner will leave you with anything from a mid iron to maybe even a wedge, to the mid sized green. You could be left with a difficult putt, as there is quite a slope on this one and a bit of a ridge in the middle. Slight prob with the blue tee not sitting totally on the tee.
The 2nd is a long par 4 with a bend to the right. Your 2nd shot will be quite a long one to the smallish green, protected by a lake down the right side. Again you could have quite an up and downer.
The 3rd hole is a long, straightaway par 4. Slightly downhill, with your drive over a lake, that should not come into play. You have quite a large green to aim at and you'll need it, as you will be coming in from quite a way. Quite a general slope on this one though so not so difficult as the others so far.
The 4th is our 1st par 3. A long one over a lake all the way to a very narrow green almost set across the line of flight. Very difficult to stick the green here as you only have around 15 yards of green to land on. When you get there, to be really close to the pin you have to pitch in the very narrow strip between the water and green. Another slopey old green here, but not too difficult.
Number 5 is another long par 4 with a gentle bend to the left. I have to say that this one is particularly narrow and position of the drive is important. There is quite a large kidney shaped green to accept you mid to long iron shot and is not too difficult, but it does have a bit of a ridge.
The 6th is a fairly straightaway par 5, water all down the right and crosses the fairway just in front of the green, which is doglegged to the right. The green is well reachable in 2, but the shot is not easy, over a stand of high pines and the final 40 yards or so, over water. The option is an iron to the end of the fairway and then a wedge onto the largish green. Another one where a difficult putt can be left. I have to say I would like to have seen more work on the water's edge, as it is very square and the drop unmapped.
The 7th is another par 3 over water. Not so long this time and the green is a bit wider, but has quite a hump in the middle.
The 8th is a shorter par 4 with a bit of a dogleg right. You drive out of a kind of a chute formed by a few trees, over a heavily planted area that shouldn't come into play. You should be left with a mid or short iron, to the weird shaped green, that is almost in 2 halves with a ridge separating the two. Some tournament objects sit behind the green. You also encounter the 1st bunker at the right of the green.
Half way and the 9th is a sharp dogleg right, par 5. The drive is quite difficult as on the corner is the 2nd bunker on the course. You come out of another chute and there is quite a small landing area on the corner to aim for. I would say, that to reach the green in 2 your drive would have to be perfectly positioned, as trees will block you out down the right. The approach to the small green has it's own dogleg further right. More tournament objects and the clubhouse greet you on this small green with quite a few subtle borrows.
The 10th is a short, dogleg right, par 4. Trees and a lake block a direct shot to the green, so you left with a difficult shot over the corner, to the narrow fairway, avoiding the trees and lake on the way. Hopefully! You will be left with a very short pitch to the quite small, round green that has quite a few slopes.
11 is a fairly straightaway par 4 with only a gentle bend to the left. You drive should leave a mid to short iron to the cloverleaf green, protected by a lake at the back. Quite a gentle green, but a very bad shadow at the front caused by the lack of 1 vert needed to even the fringe edge.
The 12th is a long par 3 to a really weird green. Half the green is a steep slope to what I presume is the normal putting surface. Quite a difficult shot because if you're short, you ARE short and at the bottom of the steep slope. The actual landing area is quite small, but is virtually flat.
The 13th is definitely an unlucky one for the poor PSer. As not many will be carrying a driver on this course it will be virtually impossible to get a view of the small green round the very sharp dogleg left. In fact if you are at all short of the corner you may not feel you can even get anywhere near the green. Now as it happened you can shoot through the trees on the right. But those of you used to 'concrete' trees will not realize this and may be a bit put off at this hole. It is fine if you are using a driver and are very accurate as you can reach the tiny gap protected by the lake on the right of the fairway. However if you are using a 3 wood you will be left with a shot 'through' the trees. Don't expect the ball to get through EVERY time though. Bit unfair this one.
The 14th is a par 4 with just a gentle bend to the right. The drive position is crucial, as if you are right you will be blocked out from the green by trees. So either be on the left of the fairway, or long. This should give you a view to the kidney shaped green, hiding behind one of the few bunkers. A fairly gentle one this time.
The 15th is a shortish par 4 with a fairly narrow fairway and nowhere to go if you miss. This is because the lake surrounds the fairway. The green is quite small and round, with a few nasty borrows.
The 16th is yet another dogleg, this time to the left. It does get you down a bit after a time, dogleg after dogleg. This one is a par 5, a very long one, unreachable in 2, I would say, due to the pond situated in front of the green. So for me it was just basically 2, 3 woods and a wedge to what, when you get there, is a quite large green, with a general slope, front to back.
The penultimate hole is an island green par 3. A small round bunker protects the front right of the round island that is just green and fringe. Quite a gentle green this one.
The last hole is another dogleg. Right this time. Almost impossible for a 3 wood to make the corner, so a little unfair again. With my 3 wood set to punch and a CHS of 114 AND perfect positioning I was just able to get a shot at green. As most PSer's will tell you, this is the exception rather than the rule. To hit a perfectly good shot down the fairway, as far as you possibly can and not be rewarded with ANY sort of shot to the green, is unfair.
Good Points: Quite a well-constructed course with good planting, if a bit lacking in colour.
Bad Points: This course is far too penal and contains too many holes that are unfair to all but the best players. Also IMO there are too many severe doglegs. 12 of the holes have some sort of bend in the fairway hiding the green from the tee.
Favourite Hole: The 6th. A nice looking par 5 with options.
Least Favourite Hole: The very unfair 18th, along with that 13th.
Final thoughts: If this course was a bit different in someway I may have been able to look at it in a better light. It is however just another woodland course. Quite well constructed, but far too difficult for the average player and most PSer's. There needs to be some chance for anyone, to maybe get a par with well struck shots. What Aaron has forgotten is that as his course is so difficult a lot of people will not be carrying a driver, especially PSer's. He has made no provision for this on some holes. It is a 'driver or bust'. I understand how easy it is for me, a PSer, to see this. But with the upsurge of PS I feel this must be considered in all but real courses, where of course there is no option.
Filesize 30MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? No
Custom Flag? No
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? No
Readme file? Much needed hole by hole info.
Par - 71 7194yds
This review will be based on playability, aesthetics, design, originality and construction. 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 as I am a designer myself and my comments will try to be constructive and without bias.
Tested on Power Stroke swing - Champ level - from the back tees - Breezy/M/M Moderate
I have changed my method of reviewing to try and give more value for money. I have a knock around the course to get the overall picture. I then play a round in a window, writing as I go, reviewing hole by hole. In hope people enjoy this method. I am always open to input. micklenton@hotmail.com Not too much hate mail please!!!
Test Machine - AMD Athlon 1.4 266, 512 meg DDR ram, ATI 64 meg DDR Radeon VIVO |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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