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The East @ Royal Melbourne
by Troy Olds
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 488 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-07-22 |
22,896,230 bytes |
72 |
6862 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
WOODLAND |
East@RM.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 25971f607ee111d5a3c7008464c10000 |
7fcd360b8495b0695b49926fb904a1a6 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mick Lenton
July 2001
Thoughts from the 1st: This is Troys first and a rendition of this Australian course. I admire him for choosing a real course for his first. I stand on the 1st looking over a pleasant woodland course, that looks quite well constructed for a first course.
The Course: I am of course unable to comment on the authenticity of this course. That is unless someone would like to fly me out!! This par 72 course is built, as I have said, in woodland. Stock textures have been used and they don't look too bad. Objects have been used quite well and I do like the hole display boards. The tee's are variable in design. All 5 positions are available. This leads to the rough texture. The striped fairways have stock fringe as the 1st cut. This has been debated and if you use fringe as a first cut the property needs changing to rough or fairway. The thing is, Troy has joined the fairway fringe to the greens fringe in places, so in this case changing the property would not work. The 1st cut/Rough edge has been exrtruded slightly and I did get the occasional bad bounce. The greens have the standard fringe. I will say to Troy though, just because there are three pin difficulties does not mean you only have to have 3 pin positions. Most courses seem to have around 10 to 15 on average. The thing is not to just do the first one as easy, second normal, etc. Vary them a bit for the people who arrange tournaments. The bunkers I will talk more of as I go round as I will the planting.
Playability: This is the first course I am using my new method on. I hope people like it. Here we go.
The 1st is a quite wide and short par 4. Nice planting with some in the rough anf the rest on a deep grass texture. Some underplanting. The large bunker on the right is quite nicely built with a little turned edge. For some reason the rest of the bunkers on this hole, have no turned edge, and don't look half as good. You have to be fairly accurate with your drive, as there are some undulations short of the green, which will throw you off the fairway. This leaves a short pitch to the upturned saucer shaped, slightly raised green. Don't leave a long putt.
The 2nd is a narrower par 4. The tee appears to built up a long way on the right and is planted around quite effectively. The driving area is close to trees on the right and can leave an uphill/sidehill lie. A mid to short iron will get you to the large, long oval green. Again, some of the bunkers have a turned edge, some don't. I would like to have seen some consistency here.
The 3rd is a par 4 with a bulbous fairway that narrows dramatically around drive distance with single trees either side at the narrowest point. If the shot is too far left you will be in the bunkers on the next hole. Also just beyond drive distance is a steep little ridge in the fairway. A wedge to the quite large ovalish green, protected at the front by bunkers, with a little tiny one at the back. Planting now seems to be more coniferous. Still looks fine.
The 4th is the first par 3. Quite a long one, with bunkers left and right on the approach. The tee on this one seems to sit in the rough and has been extruded slightly. Looks ok. A fairway wood, or long iron will take you to the medium sized green. The fringe does not look right in places and needs some work done. Troy, try and keep the green and fringe pretty much on the same level and leave any elevation changes for outside the protective ring so it looks smooth.
The 5th is a wide par 4. Again the tee has been raised quite a bit on the right and this time it does not look quite as good, as it is very sharp. A good drive will take you past a heavily sloping area of fairway. A shorter one may leave a sloping 2nd. A short pitch to the quite large round green which again suffers from a slight shadowing on the fringe.
The 6th is the next par 3. The path in front of the tee is very uneven. The bunkers here have a dirt edge. The problem is the dirt is not mapped correctly and the texture is too big and stretched in places. The edges are also sharp. A mid to long iron takes you to a large, oval green. All the sand in front or front left.
The 7th is our first par 5. On the tee the blue one appears to be slightly off the tee area. A good drive, to a fairly generous fairway, sand right, trees left, leaves a 300+ shot to the green. As this appears to be against the prevailing wind, a 3 wood will leave a short pitch, to quite a large green. Quite an open one this.
The 8th is another par 5. This one much narrower and shorter, and the wind is with you!! A nice, accurate, 300 yard drive down the narrowish, tree-lined fairway, will leave a nice simple long iron to the quite small, not very protected green. It is a bit slopey though, so a long putt can be difficult. Maybe a few too many of the same type of tree around the green.
The 9th is a slightly curving par 4. Fairly wide, not much left, but trees tight right. The probably uphill, blind 2nd over a ridge will need a middish iron to the egg shaped green. There are some really bad bunkers here with bad extrusions and edges. Also Troy, you maybe need to look at your planting a bit more carefully. It's not bad, just a bit repetitive in places.
The back nine starts with a par 5, short, but with a split fairway that restricts your drive. So a nice little 3 wood to the wide open spaces, a bit of sand right, leaves a quite difficult fairway wood into quite a well protected green. IMO a nice slice around the bunkers. Not a really large green though and may be difficult to stick sometimes. Quite sloping too.
The short par 4 11th looks like a dogleg. At second look though you realise how short it is and you just blast it over the trees. I haven't quite made the green yet. But close. The green is not TOO big and has a few slopes.
The 12th. I will have to tell you now that I am playing champ level and driving a 3 wood at the moment. Yes, the 12th. The long par 4. I will say it again. 475 yards unless there are exceptional circumstances. I am afraid I don't call an elevation change of <1" exceptional. Especially on a 500+ yard hole. I know this is a real course and if the yardages are correct then fair enough. I have never played the other course so I don't know. Anyway, a wide straightaway, that narrows considerably around drive point. You are left with quite a long shot to quite a small, circular green. A quite receptive one though, well protected at the front sides.
The 13th is a nice little par 3 to a kidney shaped green. Everything here seems a bit sharp as if there are not enough verts. Bunkers front and sides.
No 14 is a nice bendy to the left, par 4. A nice 3 wood at 117 CHS left me on the corner with a long iron to the medium sized, round green, with a solitary small bunker on the left. Not a bad little hole.
The 15th is a wide open, short par 4. Smack one down the middle, short of the large bunkers short of the green - quite nicely done, by the way - leaving a little wedge to the quite large green.
The 16th. Nice par 3. Mid iron to the bunker surrounded, medium sized green. Bunkers are not too bad. Still a bit of 'samey' planting with the trees. Not really bad, but noticeable.
17th. Nice long, narrow par 5. A blind drive over a planted mound to a narrow fairway. Then depending on your drive you are left with laying up short of a line of bunkers, or if you are long enough, the big yahoo over them. I doubt the green can be reached though. Maybe by the few. The green is the smallest on the course though I think. Very bad edge between the green and the last bunker.
The 18th is a wide wide open par 4. All the room in the world. Wish I had my driver :-) Again the tee positions seem very close, or even slightly off the tee surface. Smash one down the middle. Plonk the short iron close the pin, on the large green. Birdie. Job done. Nice little bit of fencing here.
Nice playable course. Nothing really difficult. No really sloping greens, but you could leave a difficult long putt.
Good Points: For a first course, well done Troy. Nicely laid out, playable course. Quite well planted, if a little 'samey' in places.
Bad Points: Few shadows here and there. not really bad. Few bad edges, some have been mentioned. The badly leveled green fringes, some where quite bad and could cause a weird roll. The inconsistencies in the bunkers. Some were quite well done, some were very poor with very bad and pulled edges. Some tee positions seeming to be off the tee area slightly.
Favourite Hole: I did like the drive out between the trees on the 2nd, watching out far a bad kick if you are too far left and then the second shot over the hill to the large green. It is a shame the bunkers do not play a larger part in a lot of these holes. If there had been hole previews I would probably said No 4. Mind you I really like the 5th too. I think I am going to have to stop doing this favorite hole thing. It takes as long as the rest of the review :-)))
Least Favourite Hole: Nope. Nothing stood out here really.
Final thoughts: Well done Troy. Very nice first course. Especially as you took on a real one. A few dark edges and shadows as I have said. Get some good, designer, beta testers. And then listen to what they say. What I do want to talk to you about are the bunkers. Some were done very well. Some were really bad. Get a bunker design, or two if you have to and then stick to them. And work hard on your bunkers. They can make or break a course. As can anything else. So what I am saying is. Check and re-check your course. Hole by hole. Check everything. Especially if a bit of planting looks a bit odd, or a couple of distinctive trees are next to each other. You WILL build good courses. But it is hard work and can be very repetitive sometimes. Well done again Troy. Is it a keeper? Probably not as there are much better out there as we know. But worth a look. And you may get to love it!!!
Filesize 21MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Custom Flag? Yes
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? No
Readme file? Yes, short explanation
Par - 72 6862yds
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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