| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 655 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-11-17 |
37,566,122 bytes |
72 |
8001 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
MOUNTAIN |
Mineral Lakes Country Club.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 9bed5c3ca3784fa282dec28aa02d31f3 |
26fc2dc0a59cd1b2f7806043bc6b2e9e |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Chuck Clark
January 2002
Background: I had never downloaded a single course from Mr. Harding until recently, so I am not too familiar with his courses. He is our most prolific designer here at Links Corner. He has posted 16 golf courses over the last year. For some reason, 10 of them are now listed as "discontinued". I don't know why. This is the latest course for Mr. Harding, so I figure it must be his best. I know from my courses, that I learn more things about the APCD with every course I do. Therefore, my courses get better and better as I go along (in theory at least, lol). Mr. Harding's courses however, have not been well received by the Links community. Like I said, having never played one of his courses previously I don't know why this is the case. Maybe this course will reveal the mystery, maybe not. The Read-Me tells us very little, other than this is a fictional course. So, with no other choice, we move on to the course.
Overall Impression: The first of many weird things jumps out at me on viewing the splash screen. At the bottom Mr. Harding has put a copyright mark in front of his name and the year. Now considering that this course is public property once he posts it to Links Corner, this is kind of strange. Oh well, it's nice and official looking I guess. The next weird thing that gets to me is the length of the first hole. 509-yard par 4! Wow, I am thinking to myself, you don't see that everyday. I checked the scorecard and find that the course is 8001 yards from the back tees. Yowza! I guess you better be hitting your driver pretty good on this course. The shortest par 4 is 446 yards! So much for the concept of drivable par 4's! This is a mountain course using the Whistler pano again. The course is pretty flat though, not much elevation work despite the 'mountain' environment. The rest of the course had a lot of other unusual things. Unfortunately, most of them are badly done. There are numerous unmapped surfaces. There are technical errors and glitches everywhere. The layout it pretty interesting and it is a fun course to play (the length notwithstanding) but the errors just drag it down.
Good Points: Like I said above, I liked the layout. There were some good holes. I also like the planting for the most part. It is well done and fits the environment. There are a lot of objects added to this course too. There are buildings and rocks and lots of other things. They add to the ambience immensely.
Not So Good: There were a lot of not so good things about this course. There were way too many technical errors for someone who has done 16 courses. There were badly done bunkers, unmapped faces, floating objects and obviously poorly completed mesh. As mentioned above I think the course is too long. Considering the scorecard length (8001 yards), I think he deliberately stretched the course to get it just over the 8000 yard mark. This is contrived to say the least. I also did not like the 'drifting' desert sand texture used for the bunkers. This looks totally out of place in a mountain environment. Another thing that I thought was weird was the house just off the 16th green. It was between the cart path and the green. Now, how do you suppose the people who live there get to their house? I don't know, other than by golf cart.
Summary: To summarize, this is an interesting golf course with lots of interesting holes. However, there are just too many errors to really recommend downloading it to anyone, especially considering the file size. At 30 plus MB, you are getting into top course territory. This is not a top course by any stretch of the imagination. If you want a long and brawny course to test your long iron and fairway wood play then you may want to get it. The thing that is most disappointing to me however, is the lack of progress made by Mr. Harding in his use of the APCD. It is obvious that he has a thirst for golf course design and that he has some good ideas for golf holes. For some reason though, he just won't put in the hours it takes to make a golf course look good in the APCD. Mr. Harding please resist from releasing golf courses willy-nilly until you are willing to learn and use the APCD to its fullest extent. You will be doing yourself and us a big favor. We would all love to see and play a well done golf course by you.
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Hole Previews: No
Tee Signs: No
Custom Tee Markers: No
Custom Flags: Yes
Handicaps: No
Custom Sounds: No
I am both a player and a designer. I review courses primarily from the standpoint of fun and playability. I appreciate courses that are beautiful to look at, but first and foremost I want a fun experience. I have spent many hours designing courses myself, so I understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into the design process. Any critical comments made here are meant to be constructive and helpful. |
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