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Anglewood GC
by Ross Anthony
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 491 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-07-24 |
30,545,117 bytes |
72 |
7388 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
IMAGINARY |
WOODLAND |
AnglewoodGC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 080656a2808011d5a37dd65a5e1feb3e |
69ea0bb00c846ab4d8a32800a5bcb810 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mick Lenton
August 2001
Thoughts from the 1st: I am standing on the tee of Ross's second submission. A par 72 woodland course with a bit of water dotted about. This is a very high tee, looking down to the 1st. It is a LONG way down. A VERY long way. Can someone come and help me please. I am getting vertigo.
The Course: You start off thinking, "This is a normal course, not a fantasy". When you get to the back 9 though......... Stock textures are used here with the tees sitting direct in the rough. The unmapped, striped fairway has a first cut of dormant grass and this leads to deep grass and then pine needles where most of the trees are planted. There is little or no underplanting. Several other textures are used on the course as well as the attempt to do some rock outcrops. These do not come off very well. The stock green has the stock fringe. Planting is quite good with the trees being used well especially close to the fairway. Flowers have been used quite liberally in places. The lakes are fairly well constructed and good attempts have been made with the brooks. The bunkers are ok but I would have liked to have seen them worked on much more. I comment on them more in the Playability section. But a lot of the edges were pulled and sharp. Not a bad course though and definitely playable.
Playability: The 1st is that unusual beast. The drivable par 4. It is a difficult drive, with a fairly narrow gap between the bunkers. Also the land tends to pull the ball into the right hand one from quite a way away. It doesn't help having to work out the 120+ foot drop and the wind. So if you reach the green you have a putt. If not it is a sand shot or a short pitch. The green is a quite large and fairly gently sloping. Some of the bunker edges need a lot of work as they are very sharp and have some edges that have not been smoothed or are badly turned. Some unnatural points on the fairway edge too.
Hole 2 Is a nice par 3 over water to a roundish green. Bunker to the left. This one is much better than the ones on the 1st. Ross does have problems where two textures meet on an extrusion. You will tend to find Ross, that most designers will run the same texture all round the bunker, to prevent this difficult to correct, problem. Again, this quite large green is gently sloping.
The 3rd is the first par 5. A downhill shot to a widening fairway should leave a long iron to the island green connected to dry land by a nicely planted walkway. Do not be left with your drive as the trees will block you from the green. However a nice drive in the right half of the fairway will leave an reasonably easy second, setting up that birdie, or even eagle!!
The 4th tee is in a small canyon and you drive downhill to a wide fairway that is protected by a very large, unusually shaped bunker. You will be left with a mid iron to the figure 8 shaped green. Bunkers front and back. The fairway bunker looks better as Ross put a texture all round it. However at the green he went back to trying to join textures and also has some stretched texture on the edges.
The 5th is a nice, dogleg left, par 4 with a wide fairway, a bunker either side at the corner and a brook running across the fairway just round the corner. A mid iron should get you to the quite large, pear shaped green, sand all round. These bunkers are much better. The one at the back of the green though is still a bit stretched in places with a couple of bad edges. Getting better though.
6 is the next par 3 with the tee shot over water again, to a medium, egg shaped green, sand all round. These bunkers are totally different, with the sand sitting in a deep ring of dirt. They don't look too bad, just a bit of work to smooth things a bit. I did notice some torn edges on the fringe.
The 7th is IMO a really nicely designed par 4 with options. There is a very wide fairway. A large bunker down the left and a couple of small ones on the right corner. Then there is a quite large bunker centre left with a few plantings. This means you have a choice of which way to go. Left of the bunker is very narrow but leaves a shorter shot than if you take the easy, wide way. The green is oval and comparatively narrow, bunker and a patch of rough front and a bunker back. I like this hole.
Number 8 is a gentle dogleg right, sand both sides of the wide fairway. You are left with a short iron to the smallish, round green. Sand both sides, tree's and water at the back.
The last on the back 9 has a very floral tee. It leads downhill to a double dogleg par 5. The first is a gentle bend to the right and the second a very sharp 90 degree, just short of the green. You drive will leave you within range of the small green, but the shot is very difficult, through straggly trees, over water. The easy way is a long iron up to the corner and a pitch on. There are bunkers at the 2nd corner and around the green. A quick one in the clubhouse and away we go.
The 10th is a long, right angled dogleg left, par 4. A really good drive will clear the bunker on the corner, but it will have to be long. There is also a bunker on the opposite corner to catch the slice. You will be left with a mid to long iron to the two tiered green that resembles Mickey Mouse's head, with big ears. Sorry!! Sand front and back, with quite small landing areas, and the very steep slope between the two levels of the green.
The 11th is a par 3. I'm scared. How do I get across. It is a vast, deep cavern. Trees, water, eagles screeching, six bunkers back of the hole. I was glad to get this one behind me!! Bunker edges needed smoothing.
12 is a cracking par 5. Drive towards water, sand both sides, trying to keep as left as you dare. You are left with a long iron, missing the two trees that may block you, to the largish green with a tiny bunker in the centre. Go for the bunker, you will at least be safe. Water and sand around the fairly large green.
the 13th. A drive to a very large piece of fairway, unfortunately mostly taken up by a couple of Neolithic chalk figures. Oh, they're bunkers. Sorry!!. Missing them leaves a mid to long iron to another shapely and undulating green. Lots more sand. VERY sharp edges on the bunker fringes though.
The 14th. Ross is really getting into his stride now. This is really getting to be a Fantasy course. You drive to a narrow point between 2 bunkers on the corner of the gentle left dogleg and are left with quite a long shot to the round green atop a rock outcrop!!! Thunder!! I'm outta here.
15 is a very narrow, dogleg right, par 4. The drive is to a bit wider part of the fairway, between two bunkers. If you miss them you are left with a long iron to the Christmas tree shaped green, situated in the middle of a large bunker.
The 16th is the last par 3. Ross has really got a thing about water and par 3's. This one sticks out into the lake on a narrow finger of land. If you clear the bunker in front and stick the green with your long iron, you have done well.
The penultimate hole is a slight dogleg right. You drive between two lakes towards a bunker. Then a mid to long iron over a brook to the smallish green, large bunker, back right.
The last hole is a par 5. You drive to quite a wide fairway, between two bunkers. The bunker on the right has been worked on quite a bit to get an unusual effect with the fairway, 1st cut and the rough. Then a nice fairway wood over the water and off the rock cliff at the back onto the green. Well, that's how I did it :-))) The option is a shot down the fairway and a wedge on. The rock wall does look a bit stretched. I do know how difficult that is though!!.
An Unusual course. Well worth a play!
Good Points: Nice course that is fun to play. Quite well planted. Interesting holes that are mostly ok for PSer's
Bad Points: Bunkers could do with some work. Rock faces are not mapped.
Favourite Hole: I know I said I liked the 7th. But I did love the feel and the view from this tee. The 16th. Above.
Least Favourite Hole: The 14th. I know this is supposed to be a Fantasy course. But it is a very small green on top of those rocks!!!
Final thoughts: Not a bad course Ross. You still have things to learn. After all we all do. You have not used any mapping anywhere and it shows. Particularly in you rocks. As for your bunkers you really ought to find a style for the course that you are happy with and stick to it. You need particularly to work on smoothing your edges. I found quite a few at 1 or above that should have been 0. A tip is to go into display and click on 'View sharp edges only' This shows all sharp edges as a bright pinky mauve. You can then quickly pick out the ones that shouldn't be there and remove them. Not being familiar with your 1st course I did go and have a look at Daves review of Eagle Canyon. It sounds as if you have definitely improved but I would say that you need to study some of the better bunkers, learn mapping and especially - clean up your mesh!!!!
So - Anglewood is a nice little fantasy course. Nothing really special, but some nice holes and worth a look if you are into different courses. Doesn't quite make the grade enough to be a keeper. There is a hint of quality in the designer though, so hopefully, in the future.......
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Dave Campbell's thoughts..
Anglewood G.C. is the second design uploaded to the Links Corner by Ross, following his initial offering of Eagle Canyon C.C. It is an imaginary par 72 measuring almost 7,400 yards from the back tees. I reviewed his first course and remember liking it, particularly for a first design. Both courses are from the same mold as they are in a wooded setting, near a famous (or is that infamous) mountain panorama. This course is listed as imaginary and at a glance would seem to be a fairly traditional layout, certainly not super gimmicky. As you progress through your round there are plenty of fantasy elements and I think the imaginary classification is valid. Remember that it is a very realistic and well thought out design so don't let the 'fantasy' tag scare you off, if you do you'll miss a pretty memorable round of cyber golf. It is a most unusual looking design that I found very appealing.
This course is very interesting in that most of the fairways are spacious (with a few exceptions) and can lull you into a false sense of security. Then before you know it some water, a canyon, an oddly placed fairway hazard or a unusually shaped green will come up to bite you. There is water everywhere, a couple of full island greens (3rd and 16th)and others that are butted up right next to water (2nd, 6th, 12th and 18th). There are creeks near two other greens and a water presence along many fairways, or in the case of the 17th on both sides of the fairway. On the par 3 11th you need to fully carry a canyon some 180 yards, over a fence to the green (lovely hole). The par 4 4th has you driving between two canyon walls with a long force carry over water. The weirdest hole of all is the 460 yard par 4 14th, without even looking at the handicaps I knew this was #1. A testy drive between two fairway bunkers leaves you a long approach to a green perched atop a rocky knoll. My approach shot was an elevated 184 yards and I took seven straight mulligans before I got one to stick on the green. This one may be better playing as a par 5 where you lay up your approach and just hope to make par. Interesting hole though.
Many strange looking bunkers on this course. I saw one that resembled a wishbone (4th fairway) and others of every other shape and size imaginable. All looked good and were easy to play from. All in all the course was nicely planted and nothing caught my eye as out of the ordinary. There were some tee boxes with some stunning floral plantings (the 5th and 9th come to mind but there are others). Good sound planting in places, loved the thunder and running water near the creeks.
There are some things that didn't look right to me. Do you provide a 4W drive golf cart for some of the wild cart paths, yikes! Actually they might be fun to tackle on a quad runner. Many of the texture transitions are very sharp, drawing my attention to the seam. This is undoubtedly one of the things Mick touched on in his review. It was noticeable in several places. I also thought the buttercup texture didn't work, particularly on dynamic cam and reverse cam shots. Seems like it was laid in and left like a patch on a quilt with sharp angles.
I favor the powerstroke swing method which means some of the long force carries in this design gave me problems. Do I go with the driver and take a chance of really hitting it offline or use my reliable 3W and barely carry the hazard. There are three or four times I felt this way during the round.
In summation Anglewood G.C. is a fun, challenging and visually beautiful course design. It is fantasy course with a real golf course look and feel, with the occasional trick up its sleeve. Ross has come far since his initial course I reviewed and I would expect some really great things in the future from him. It is a very fun course to play online with some buddies (you can laugh as they try and get on the 14th green in two and bounce all over the rocks) and I heartily endorse a download to all.
Comparable courses: Kerry Glen by Brent Aschacher, Cogitara by Lars Rudbeck
Best hole: I've touched on many already and there are plenty of good ones. I'll go with the par 5 18th, a possible eagle or bogie hole epitomizing truly a risk/reward opportunity. The fairway looks spacious but bunkers are lurking and the fairway narrows right about 1W distance. If you have a good lie you can easily go for the green in two but you need to carry a lake all the way to the green. If you reach for that extra club to make sure you clear the water then you may hit the cliffs behind the green and bounce into the water anyway. My screenshot shows my approach to across the lake to the 18th green. Great finishing hole Ross.
Filesize 27MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Custom Flag? Yes
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? No
Readme file? Excellent read me including hole handicaps and you also get an MOP for good measure
Par - 72 7388 yds
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
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