|
Redcastle Desert Golf Club
by Kyle Ostermann
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 549 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-08-26 |
35,996,652 bytes |
73 |
7259 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
IMAGINARY |
DESERT |
redcastle_desert.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| d135f4533b9c4b2abefa20911cc2f28e |
927c5774d3348db79e9866b68275397c |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Roger Worsham
Redcastle Desert Golf Club by Kyle Ostermann is a fantasy design set in a very stunning desert world.
Course statistics, Par 73, and plays 7259 Yards from the back tees, there are 5 tees to choose from, and the holes are handicapped.
Goodies included with the course are the following; hole previews, custom objects, custom flags, custom textures, a custom panorama, and a splash screen. There are no crowds or tournament objects.
The hole previews are great, and are the best I have seen to date. The custom 2D includes ball washers, and benches, and well placed buildings, and well-done fences and bridges throughout the course. The panorama is a desert one, and is well done, although the mountains in the background don't have much detail. The splash screen is a very pretty and well done.
Finally the textures and colors used for this course are custom and need to be talked about. The look of this course is bright. In fact some people might even be turned off by how bright it is. The fairways, and tee boxes are a very strong bright green. This shows a strong contrast to the desert landscape. Also the rocks are a dark red, hence the name Redcastle. I liked the colors and the look, but be warned they are bright. The only other thing note about the texture used is the one Kyle chose from the fairways. He used a mat looking texture, which doesn't help in the giving the fairways a grass look or feel.
As I mentioned this course is what I would call a fantasy desert course. Kyle has done a lot of things to make the course seem like a real or fictional course. He uses cart paths, and benches to this effect. Also restroom buildings are all well placed, but it is the layout of the holes that tell you are playing a fantasy design. This is by no means a bad thing, and there are a lot of very fun, and challenging holes. First example is the 4th hole, which is a 690 par 5. For this review I played the hole twice, once with no wind, and once in windy conditions. With no wind I hit two near perfect shots, and my third shot was still 145 yards out. I played again with windy conditions, and thank all the powers in the world the wind was at my back. Again with two good drives my third shot was still 84 yards out! I just found this to be a little to unrealistic for my tastes.
There are a lot of elevation changes, and Kyle's work in doing them is fantastic. Several of the Par 3's have a great view and great elevation drops to the holes. I found this fun to view and of course play. Each hole I felt was very well thought out and the water and very well done bunkers are placed well on most holes to catch wayward shots, in other words great risk/reward shots await you here.
The planting on this course is well done, but there are a few spots that either seemed to busy, or didn't look natural, because of the overuse of palm trees, or other bushes. Again it keeps bringing me back to why this is a fantasy design. I feel the signature hole is #6. This is a par 3 and shows off the Redcastle rocks, a good use of the water, and colors, as well as the nice elevation work.
The only flaws I saw in the actually design were a few rough lines here and there. They seemed to show up in the overhead and dyna-cam shots more then they did in just looking at the course, but they were noticeable. Again it didn't affect play at all.
The greens are nice and have good elevation work to them. I found they provided for a sound putting challenge if you weren't real close on your approach shots. This is a good course for clickers, and also one I would think PS players would like. The fairways are good sized, but not all of them. The big problem for PS players would be 4th hole because of the length, but after that there are 4 other Par 5's that are much shorter to make up for this one hole.
In summary I want to say this is a course I do recommended. Why? Because it such a fun course to play. The great risk/reward holes are a lot. The beautiful elevation work makes club selection fun. The 5 par 5's will give you a good chance of still shooting a low score despite how you do on the par 4's and par 3's. I look forward to Kyle's next design.
Course Info :
Cameo Screen? Yes
Splash Screen? Yes
Text file? Yes
Hole Previews? Yes
33mb
Reviewed October 2001 |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, desert course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 7/10
A desert course with added pizzazz would be the most apt way to describe
Redcastle. As well as many of the more usual desert features, it brings an
oasis heavily into play and features some outlandish and painstakingly
impressive bunker design and positioning. The desert is very highly
planted, which makes it not very desert-like at all! Hole designs, though,
are impressive and distinct, and put Redcastle a cut above the rest. |
Appearance 8/10
The dark green used for the grass textures doesn't sit happily with a desert location, in my opinion, and count against the course, as do
a few bad extrusion marks. But the rest is impressive. The panorama is convincing, the rockwork a talking point of the course (although
I would have liked it to come into play more) and the variety of planting is hugely impressive. For an aging course, this still looks pretty
damn good. |
Playability 9/10
The exciting and innovative hole designs offer you a variety of options and styles of play (the 10th gave me three completely separate
options off the tee), and the open fairways will be well-received by all types of swingers (if you'll excuse the phrase). As long as your
hazard play is up to scratch, you'll have a riot here enjoying the views and solving some excellent golfing puzzles. The 18th is a real
heart-stopper: a Par 5, with a genuine chance of making Eagle, and is worth waiting for because it turns so many rounds around. |
Challenge 4/10
You'll undoubtedly flirt with the water at times, and the fairway bunkers are a constant menace. The desert surface has been made
playable (and not too hard), but some of the greens are an utter nightmare, particularly with the Mod. It\'s just a bit too easy to wreck
your round here. |
Technical 7/10
I think the texture choices could be better inspired, and some extruded edges could use a tidy-up, but on the whole this course ticks all
the right boxes. Elevations are mixed without being unrealistic, and the planting and panorama are beautiful. Redcastle has really used
the most of the first generation of APCD. |
| Overall |
Certainly a course that's worth owning. A lot of fun and an awful lot of replayability.
It's not ultra-realistic, but it has the golfer's best interests at heart and that counts
for a lot |
35/50 |
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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