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Arrowhead Country Club SE
by Art Patscheck
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 477 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-07-15 |
20,775,470 bytes |
72 |
6646 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
WOODLAND |
ArrowheadCCSE.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 646b645b783844d9a398a63e863dc14d |
905c495d6c7a2180f8d8b432f7c7663a |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by James Wood
July 2001
Course History:
Located only minutes from downtown Myrtle Beach, is a 27-hole golf complex that has earned a reputation for its challenging layout and superior maintenance. Arrowhead Country Club features three unique 9-hole tracts: The Waterway, The Cypress and The Lakes, each one with a feel all of its own.
Working closely with architect Tom Jackson, Ray Floyd has designed one of the most unique and challenging courses in the Carolinas with the feel of a course set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Floyd's competitive spirit clearly flows over to his design philosophy as he challenges players to think strategically and rewards good course management.
For Art's rendition of the Arrowhead complex, he has taken The Waterway as the front 9 and The Cypress as the back 9.
First Impressions:
Art has a knack for giving us courses that seem to be greener than every one else's for some reason. If you hadn't told me the designer of the course I could have told you who it was on the first tee box. Fairways have been done with quite a bit of roll to them and some mounding. There are actually two cuts of fairway here. The usual mowed cut and then a small second cut where you would expect to find a first cut of rough. After that the expected first cut makes it's appearance and then you'll finally run into the primary rough. The texture used for the pine forest is really a beautiful texture. It's looks much better than the standard forest texture having a richer and more varied look to it. The bunkers and water are also well done with a second extrusion and a mapped topsoil under the lip. There are not too many objects present here. They mainly consist of tournament objects that are scattered around the course. The greens are contoured but very fair and the pin positions are right where you would expect them to be. Good under planting can be found under the pine forest and the planting in the water looks appropriate for the setting.
Strategy
Narrow fairways are the main source of difficulty at Arrowhead. It is not difficult to recover when you do miss the fairway however as the pine forest has been cut back well away from the fairways. I'm not going to go over every hole on the course but I will cover quite a few to give you some highlights and tell you what to expect as you play your round. All of the yardages are from the back tees with difficult pin positions.
2nd Hole Par 4
This is a 90-degree dogleg right with water down the right hand side. You can cut the dogleg off if you wish but this is a narrow driving hole with the landing point at 250 yards. This will however leave you with a shot of less than 60 yards into the green and a good birdie opportunity.
4th Hole Par 5 518 yards
This hole is a very reachable par 5 with a bunker down the entire left hand side. This drive is extremely tight. A good solid drive will leave you with around 240 yards to the green. This hole is a good eagle opportunity and a sure birdie if played correctly.
8th Hole Par 4 367 yards
There's water down the left again but it should not be in play. There are three bunkers guarding the green in front. The second shot is almost 20 feet uphill so take enough club from just over 100 yards.
9th Hole Par 5 492 yards
Another reachable par 5 with a second shot of only 200 yards after a well struck drive. This hole features a peninsula green but the water shouldn't keep you from making a good score here. This is another good eagle opportunity.
11th Hole Par 5 576 yards
From in front of the back tee box the water runs all the way down to the green and then past it cutting off the green from the fairway. You'll be faced with a very long second shot of around 270 yards. A stand of trees to your left cuts off your view of the green here. Driver/Driver may get you there if you can pull it off but it's a very risky gamble. I tried it several times finally making it on my third try with a pegged out shot and perfect snap from 276 yards out. I was 40 feet away chipping from the rough. This may be the toughest green on the course though. There is quite a bit of undulation here. A much safer play is to just lay up and try to knock one close here. The risk is not worth the reward.
13th Hole Par 4 352 yards
This is the 11th hole in reverse only shorter. A 3-wood off of the tee box leaves a side hill lie of slightly less than 100 yards.
17th Hole Par 5 537 yards
What a pretty golf hole this is. A fairway split by the ever-present water it's framed extremely well. Top and bottom here on your drive should leave you around 250 yards remaining with a left to right hanging lie. Play your 3-wood slightly out to the left and over hit just a bit and you should pocket another eagle here.
Favorite Hole:
The 18th hole is gorgeous the 17th hole is a real beauty and so is the course. I'll pick the 17th but really there were quite a few choices.
Overall:
If you were to say to me that I had to pick only one designer and give back all of the other courses I've ever accumulated I'd pick Art Patscheck. That is how much I enjoy playing his designs. Great choices of courses to recreate and great selections of textures are his two strong points. This course will be played in tournaments and mentioned as player's favorites for a long time. Congratulations on another fine effort.
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Pete Dixon's thoughts...
I had the pleasure to review the original version of this which still is one of the best small downloads available. This is a reworking using custom textures, more planting and general tidying up and still comes out at a very respectable 15MB's.
The course now looks even better than before, Art was one of the first designers to use custom textures. He is highly skilled in his use of the APCD and this is one of a number of exceptionally good courses he has released this year.
The course is very nicely recreated and looks very real with the colours, textures etc used. The only area I can really fault are some elevation changes are a touch off in places but not in any way that detracts from the course as a whole and something that you are not going to see on one of his courses from now on.
Fairways, bunkers, tees, cart paths, bridges and greens look splendid and the rough texture is one of the best I have seen and looks fantastic around the bunkers and alongside the fringe of the green.
Overall: If you like your courses to have water a plenty, fir trees and some huge bunkers coupled with a chance of a good score depending on how you get on with some risk/reward shots all presented absolutely beautifully then no doubt you will already have the course, if you haven't then you should be going to download it now, although it may be worth waiting for an update of the update as Art has now added hole previews and fixed a bug that now allows you to play in a virtual tournament which you couldn't do before.
Filesize 17MB
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? Yes
Splash Screen? Yes
Panorama Used? Yes
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. |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Real, woodland course |
Location
South Carolina |
Conditions
I'd stick to S*/M* owing to some of the greens after the turn. |
Concept 8/10
There's a pleasing reclusivity to Arrowhead, isolated as it is among dense forest. The course starts slowly, although with notable and heavy use of water, and becomes a glorious riot of trademark holes from the 11th onwards. It has to be said that modern big-hitters are in the process of negating some of the course's charms, and some holes are less than imaginative, but the test on your driving game is consistent throughout. |
Appearance 5/10
While there are signs of the course showing its age - some pretty awful cloning and no texture blends - there are also the hallmarks of a great at work. The water hazards are expertly elevated and the choice of textures is delightful. The enclosure of the course is complete and convincing and it still looks pretty sound several years on. Certainly better than the age, and small filesize, might suggest. |
Playability 8/10
The back nine is a veritable treat, calling upon a host of well-known hole types, but giving each one an Arrowhead twist. It's terrific golf, requiring bravery and a working knowledge of the course, and the shaping of nearly all holes demands accuracy and imagination. The course is short, it's true, but the precision required means that length is rarely a factor. Classy stuff. |
Challenge 5/10
There are quite a few reachable holes, particularly from the middle tees, and one Par 5 that is short enough to be a Par 4 anywhere else. This has been negated by an undesirable amount of green contouring, rendering several putts all but unmakeable. Put together, this might keep your score in check, but it's hardly the perfect balance. |
Technical 6/10
Even as long ago as this course's release date, there couldn't be any excuse for such a huge amount of cloning, and it sadly does detract from play at point. Elsewhere, the designer has very much exhibited the high standards that have we have come to expect, and credit must also be given for the choice of course. |
| Overall |
Aging but still compulsive and very playable, particularly down the home stretch. Don't pass this one up. |
32/50 |
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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