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The Woodlands
by Chris Spriggs
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 462 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-06-28 |
23,339,507 bytes |
72 |
7734 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
The Woodlands C.C..crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 11c45c29fe884f089b934c44552151d8 |
35c9d384ec45273c1c416d92616d5270 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mick Lenton
July 2001
Thoughts from the 1st: Looking over the small pond down the 1st, on Chris's first course to be put up to us, I see a heavily planted course, with a wide inviting fairway. They are certainly not all like that!!
The Course: This par 72 fictional course is set, as it's name suggests, in a very heavily wooded piece of land. As the planting is such a large part of this course we shall begin with it. Chris has used a very wide choice of trees, bushes, flowers and grasses, possibly too wide. There are also a few various objects dotted about and quite a few bridges. More of them later.
The planting itself is very thick. In places, much too thick. It is a very easy trap to get sucked into, overplanting. I am a culprit myself. It is so easy to say, 'a little bit more here would look so good. The problem is, what is the good of nicely planting the course, if you can't see more than a couple of yards into it!! On the first few holes it doesn't seem too bad. Maybe a little thick in places. The 4th has a very thickly planted area to the right, but as it is not too close to the fairway it is not too oppressive. On the par 3, 5th however, it does start to resemble an impenetrable wall. This continues to the 8th where there is an area of what appears to be very thick, tall grass, just off the fairway, in front of the very thickly planted trees. IMO it is far too much. On this hole especially, the grass is much too tall to be in front of the trees. Chris has used the dry grass texture to plant the tall grasses and where it is used on it's own it looks good, but not, IMO in front of the trees.
Also lots of different types of trees have been used in one area and it does look a bit unnatural. Also a little hint Chris. Watch out that you don't use trees that really stand out, too often. And definitely not next to each other!! The textures are a mixture of stock and custom. The tees, all 5 are available, sit straight on the deep green, heavy rough. The fairway has a 1st cut of light rough that sits with the heavy quite well. The greens have the normal fringe. This actually is one of the first noticeable mistakes. The fact that the 1st green has a darker fringe than the rest. Also the greens are very large on all the holes, and a quite similar shape. The stock brown sand bunkers, are very well shaped, if maybe lacking a bit in construction technique. There are a lot of sharp edges, just requiring the usual protective edges and also some very bad edges, mostly caused, I think, by a lack of verts. Verts, although sometimes a pain, are very necessary for smoothness and I always feel, must be kept even and fairly tidy, for a good texture transition.
The lakes again are well shaped, but lack the internal ring of verts, so the reflection problem is rife. Especially on the larger ones. That ring is essential. The textures mostly used for planting are dry grass and mulch. Dry grass for the very deep rough and long grass and mulch for the thickly planted trees. As I say, there are a lot of sharp edges, folds and the like, but this is a first course and therefore can, I suppose, be expected. I will say again though, as I have said so many times, that before these course are put up, they should be beta tested by other designers, as well as players and the faults found, put right before release. I mentioned above that there are a lot of bridges. Some seem to have been put in just for the sake of it, as they are just over the corner of a lake that can easily be walked round. Also some of them have been grossly oversized to fit the gap rather than using a more suitable bridge. Another weird thing about this course is that after the 13th, the lakeside planting changes. Red rocks appear at lakeside and also the lake banks, previously bare, suddenly become planted. Consistency is the name of the game here. If the course is going to look different in certain parts, more has to be done to make it an obvious, natural change.
Playability: A very playable course with a couple of very tough spots and one I just didn't like. Also, the now, seemingly obligatory, long par 4. The 1st being a fairly easy hole to get your swing sorted. Quite a wide fairway to the corner of the right hand dogleg and then an easy long iron, or fairway wood to the the large green. Oh and Chris, that fairway has a real wierd shaped edge. The 2nd is a nice, long, straightaway par 4. Again a wide fairway to really allow you to let rip. As long as you avoid the bunkers on the left and the very close, heavily planted rough, on the right. This is also probably the narrowest green.
The 3rd is the first par 3. A long iron over heavy rough. The 4th and Chris starts to turn the screws. A long par 5, you drive to a fairly narrow landing area. Sand right, water off to the left. Then a long fairway wood towards the end of the fairway, followed by a short iron or wedge to the green, which is on it's own, to the right. Bit large for a 3 shot par 5. The 5th is is the second par 3. Over water all the way, you have a large green. But if you are wild the thick planting is very close. In there and you will be needing a new ball. The 6th and the thumbscrews start to tighten. A blind dogleg left, to a very skinny fairway. The trees are quite close, so a driver is out of the question, in fact I used a 5 wood. A draw is really necessary though to make sure of sticking the fairway. This left a nice easy short iron to a big green, protected by sand. On to the 7th. A short par 4, very narrow. The hole may have been reachable if it were not for the water all down the left and the bunker in front of the green. So a drive to the slightly wider area short of the bunker and a pitch on. Have a go for the green if you want to. On your own head be it!.
The 8th is another skinny par 4, with a bunker on the corner of the slight, right hand dogleg. A gentle fade to the corner will leave a mid iron to another large green, sand front and back. The 9th is a very nice, long, par 5. A drive to an area narrowed by an interestingly shaped bunker, followed by a second with a long iron or small fairway wood, leaves a short shot over water to yet another large green. Which again is much too large for the club you will be using. I suppose with a strong helping wind this hole may just be reachable.. But then again...... The back 9 starts with another par 5. This one is quite interesting, because instead of an island green, this one has two island fairways!! If the wind is not on your side, you have a drive to the quite narrow 1st fairway followed by probably a long iron to the wider 2nd fairway and a pitch onto the large green. If you have some help, you may just be able to reach the green in 2. If not it's another ball. 11 is a simple, straightaway par 4. Fairly wide fairway, big green.
The 12th is a long, snaking par 5. A nice drive to the narrowish part will leave a shot of not far short of 300 yards, over heavy rough. Have a go if you want to. I will knock it up the fairway and pitch on. Maybe!! Why is 13 quite often the bad one. Is it psychological??? If you hit a cracking drive down the narrow ribbon of fairway you are ok. The thing is there is a bunker where a lot of people's drives will land. Now, if the hole was a little shorter I would be happy, but to play short of the bunker leaves you a very long second over sand short of the green. Not much shorter, only a bit. This hole is closely protected by thick trees, very close to the fairway. The 14th is a nice par 3 over water. The only thing here is the unnecessary bridge over the corner of the lake. 15 is a nice par 4, curving around a lake. Room to drive into and a mid iron over sand to the large green, with heavy stuff immediately behind. The 16th is the last par 3, to a very long, wide green. Sand to left, water right.
The 17th is a nice but narrow par 4. Driving out between the trees to a narrow fairway, you are left with a longish iron to the large, round green. Trees very close. Now I really like the 18th. I do. I am going to moan about it. Nothing new there I hear you say. But it IS too long. I keep saying this. A par 4's maximum length is 475 yards unless there are exceptional circumstances. This one seems to average around 480 to 495. And it is slightly uphill. However I still like it and it is my favourite hole. Perverse I know. But to people who know me....... I like the planting on this hole too. Water splits the fairway and I HAVE managed to clear it. But this is not normal. So a 3 wood leaves a long shot to the large, oval green, surrounded by bunkers. I really enjoyed the round. One thing I did notice however, in my wander round in APCD, was that some of the hard pin placements, are VERY near the edge of the green. We are talking feet here, not yards. Far too close.
Good Points: Very good first course. Well designed and very playable.
Bad Points: Lots of construction errors. Overplanting and those pin placements.
Favourite Hole: The 18th, above, even if it is a bit long!!!
Least Favourite Hole: That 13th, with the penalising bunker.
Final thoughts: Chris has designed a nice course here and had it been finished it would have scored highly. Chris, get your courses tested by recognised designers and heed their words. Don't overplant. I know how easy it is to do!!! Clean up your mesh a bit and read all the tuts, particularly the ones on mesh and edges. You must have those protective verts. Especially the ones in the lakes. Also take the time to do a cameo and splash screens. It really makes a difference. If you can put the mistakes aside it is a nice course to play. Probably not a keeper though.
Dave Campbell's thoughts..
The Woodlands is one of two courses posted by Chris on 6/28/01 along with Forest Lakes G.C. It is a fictional, woodland par 72 measuring a whooping 7,734 yards from the back tees. There are five tee choices that can shorten the course to as little as 6,345 yards (I suggest one of the shorter tee options). From the first tee you get a good idea of what this course is about, deep lush green textures with many hazards and very open fairways (for the most part). The fairways are the only forgiving part of this course though as the massive length and deep grass right next to the fairway are a constant threat.
Water and sand come into play often coupled with constantly undulating greens and many illegal pin placements. For me it was a fight to save par, a fight I lost badly. In my first test round from the back tees I was +8 with no wind, m/m greens and difficult pins. For the better Links players this course will offer you a good challenge, for the average player and powerstroker it may be a bit much. Even during my second test round I chose middle tees and was +3 for the front 9. The par 5 10th was my undoing, five straight tee shots into the water and I finished with a 14 on the hole. To be honest I stopped playing at this point and ended the round. The par 5 10th is only 550 yards but has two island fairways you need to hit to before you get to the green, the first of which is impossibly narrow. If narrow wasn't bad enough a fairway bunker sits right in the landing zone (see screenshot). It looks like this design should be easier but it seemed like I was always looking at a fairly long, undulating par putt (which I normally missed).
As I mentioned it is a pretty course and I liked the textures Chris used. He has many dry grass, heavily planted areas that are particularly well done. Avoid these at all cost or you may feel like you're in jail. If fact the planting overall is one of the strong points in this design, many different looks and done realistically. The bunkers on this course are wild, definitely not the stock variety. They come in all shapes and sizes and you can tell Chris put some time and effort into them. Their construction could be a bit more polished and I noticed the occasional mesh error but great bunkers for a first design.
A few things to point out; some mesh shadows but not too bad. I noticed a funny water reflection on the 7th hole. Some of the light rough collar around the fairways had a 'freehand drawn' look to it. In other words it didn't follow the same lines as the fairway. This may have been planned but had a funny look to me. The difficult pin placements on many greens are too close to the edge. I didn't actually measure but I'm sure several were illegal. The use of the same tee sign really stuck out, I believe that is the one used in Harbor Town. It would have been better to leave it out all together (see screenshot).
The Woodlands is a fairly well constructed and playable (if not a tad on the hard side) woodland course with very deep green textures and extremely good planting. Remember that this review has a powerstrokers slant to it and this sort of challenge may be exactly what some of you are looking for. I think it's a great effort for a first course and for 19 meg may be worth a look. Thanks for the time and effort Chris, I'll be looking for your designs in the future.
Comparable courses: Lion's Paw by Bud McNew
Best hole: There are many good holes on this course. I like the par 3 14th, visually very appealing, as is the par 3 5th. The par 4 11th is creative with a huge bunker in front of the tee box and well-done plantings within. The tee shot on the 1st is awesome too, the tees are islands with bridges connecting them to the fairway. I think my favorite is the par 4 15th. Simply gorgeous off the tee with a big lake on the right the length of the hole and some of the best planting on the course. The fairway has a bit of a fantasy feel but that's all right, it's an awesome hole. I chose a screenshot from the dreaded 10th hole so you can see if this type of hole is to your liking. This is one of the toughest so if the skinny island fairway doesn't scare you then you should give the rest of the course a try.
Filesize 19MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? No
Cameo Screen? No
Custom Flag? No
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? No
Readme file? Short note.
Par - 72 7734yds
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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