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Links at Ingonish
by Dan Chisholm
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 548 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-08-26 |
28,227,866 bytes |
72 |
6582 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
WOODLAND |
ingonish.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 5ec80ac199bb11d5bd2c0080c8dd1eae |
e43d279483fcacb37345557ea438ada1 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Roger Worsham
Links at Ingonish by Dan Chisholm is based on a real design set in a forest setting. The course is based on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. The course is called 'Highlands Links'
Course statistics, Par 72, and plays short at 6582 Yards from the back tees, there are 3 tees to choose from, and the holes are not handicapped on the scorecard.
Goodies included with the course are the following; custom flags, custom textures for the rough and fringe, a splash screen and a few custom sounds. There are no hole previews, crowds or tournament objects.
The custom flag look good. The textures Dan used for the rough and fringe are nice, and colorful. Even though the fairway and green textures were stock I thought they blended well with the brighter textures. The panorama used was the stock Carolina one. The splash screen was not done at the right pixel setting so on my screen it was very pixelated, and didn't look very good. The customs sounds I heard I didn't care for. On one hole near the end of the round I heard what sounded like a dying Moose, and found it to be very distracting.
As I mentioned this course is set in a forest setting, and is based on a real design. I have never heard of the course, so I am not going to comment on the accuracy of the design. Based on the read me file Dan include he said didn't have enough information to completely and accurately do the course, but Dan has made the course feel as real as possible by adding nice cart paths and benches through out the course.
The course plays pretty easy. The fairways are very wide and allow both clickers and PS players to keep the ball in play. In fact I seemed to notice that while there are lots of well-made bunkers, because the fairways are so wide the hazards on this course don't come into play very often. In my two rounds here I only found one bunker and that was a green side one. The greens also follow the fairways in terms of size, and they are large. This can make putting a little difficult if you don't land the ball close to the flag. However, the elevation change on the greens was not very much and I didn't find putting to be very hard. As I mentioned the course only plays 6582 yards from the back tees. Because the course plays short, and the fairways are so wide, this is a course that is pretty easy to score well on. My two rounds were -8, and -6 under normal conditions, on Pro Click. The planting on this course is well done. I feel the signature hole is #6. This is a par 5 and shows off the planting, a nice water hazard and nice bunkers.
The only flaws I saw in the actually design were a few rough lines here and there. Also the elevation work in the fairways seemed a bit rough, and unnatural. Also the bunkers are well done, but there wasn't any lip extension on them. This gave the bunkers sort of an unfinished look. The depth and the shape however of the bunkers were well done.
In summary I am sort of mixed on recommending this course. It is not a large file at only 24 Megs, and the course is easy to score on. The only reason I wouldn't keep the course is in playing my two rounds I just didn't find anything special about it. There aren't any great risk/reward holes. There isn't much in the way of extras, and for a real design it isn't a famous course that I know. This appears to be Dan's first design and it is a very good first effort, just not enough for me to keep it long term. I would recommend things like adding the hole handicaps, hole previews, and crowds to future designs. This is a designer who I would like see more from.
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? No
Splash Screen? Yes
Text file? Yes
Hole Previews? No
24mb
Reviewed November 2001 |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Real, woodland course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 7/10
The title says links, but the course is anything but. This is a very woodland
course, and the design has made some convincing looking glades and
hollows. Individual holes show some nice touches of design, especially in
conjunction with the planting: trees do not intrude, but are intrinsic to the
play and the shot-shaping. Some of the fine detail lets this down, and it
drags in the second half, but the concept as a whole holds the course up
nicely. |
Appearance 7/10
This is an early APCD design and starting to show its age. The designer has tried hard with the woodland areas, but some clones are
apparent. The paths and other accessories look like an afterthought. But there are also genuine moments of beauty, none more so
than on the screenshot. |
Playability 5/10
A lack of variety and challenge hold back this course to some extent. Few holes offer a genuine playing choice, unlike a genuine Links,
and by the turn you can feel the game starting to drag. The second half is more lively, and gives you chance to really rip some tee
shots, but Ingonish really doesn't engage you all the way round. |
Challenge 3/10
Wide open and unprotected fairways; no serious trouble; shallow bunkers which are easy to escape. The greens are a stern test at
Ingonish, and this is the only reason your score will stay realistic. Otherwise a low-60s round would be a given on every play. Too easy
by far. |
Technical 4/10
Although the planting is careful, it could still use some careful refinement. A lot of shapes have hard edges, and a few are unaltered
from stock shapes. The rough is an odd, dark shade and doesn't really feel reminiscent of a Links. The first-cut is also an inappropriate
texture. Extrusions are visible, especially on the tee boxes. In short, there's a lot of work that could still be done on this, which is a
shame. |
| Overall |
A course with a few highlights, but a lack of good technical work and challenge
shows it up. There's potential here, but courses cannot subsist on potential alone. |
26/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
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