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Shawnee Lakes CC
by Mike (Pecos Bill) Nicely
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 667 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-11-28 |
33,942,053 bytes |
72 |
7067 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
Shawnee Lakes CC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 97967b97ae7948ac869eb4599fce67ed |
52702589bfd13c7f92e098e37e6ff7b4 |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Dave Campbell
December 2001
Expectations: I've enjoyed playing every Mike Nicely course and I was glad to see that the review of his new course came my way. Not sure what to expect from this new course but I bet there is some water involved.
First Impressions: Shawnee Lakes C.C. was made available on November 28, 2001 and is the last of six designs Mike has uploaded to the Links Corner. It is a fictional, woodland par 72 measuring 7,067 from the longest of five tee choices. His other courses in order of release are; Arid Lakes, Desert Hole (I did the review), Rough Rider GC, River Styx (I added a follow-up review) and its evil twin, Fiddlestyx. Shawnee Lakes utilizes a low, rolling hill panorama and with the wonderful planting it gives the whole course a most realistic look and feel. All of Mike's courses that I've played (which is every one but Arid Lakes) have a very crisp, clean finish to them. This gives his courses a bit of a signature of sorts, not totally distinct but I can recognize it when I play one of his designs. Now for the good stuff!
Playability: Shawnee Lakes is a very pretty woodland course with lots of water. As usual Mike has achieved that 'Nicely' look, very sharp looking and really tight from the APCD standpoint. The course is stunningly beautiful in places with lakeside planting that is second to none. I particularly like his use of rocks and boulders throughout the design, it gives it an identity of sorts. Planting is outstanding and I thought all the textures worked great. It is playable for sure but a little tight for the Champ player. If your snap is off expect to get into some trouble, maybe the most severe kind.
The tee boxes are nice, if a bit unremarkable. All have been modified a bit from the stock shapes and the views from almost all tees are beautiful and open. The fairways are very well done with a diagonal, mowed look to the texture and a nice fringe border around all of them. Some, if not most are very tight and hazards abound around the landing areas. In fact I'd say the key to your round might be how accurate you are off the tee. Get it on the short stuff and you can score. Miss the fairway consistently and it will be a fight for par. You will also have to hit more lofted woods and maybe even irons off of many tees. Many split fairways and the presence of water will have the big dog in the doghouse most of the round. This is not a complaint! In fact I like these types of thinking shots off the tee. What Mike has done is take a par 72 that is a shade over 7,000 yards and made it play much tougher, very nice designing.
Oh the hazards . you will have to take one form of hazard or another into account on virtually every shot. There are many unusual, but well-done and visually pleasing bunkers. Almost all the sand itself is flat, with elevations feeding down into the trap. There is also a unique looking sand lip texture (I think it may be the same as used on Desert Hole) and this more than anything else is the defining part of the bunker design. Just check my screenshot on the left and look at the sweet bunker. Because they are mostly flat I found them fairly easy (as sand traps go) to play from. The real danger is the abundant water, presented in many different ways. Large lakes, small ponds, little creeks, fingers that jut into the fairway. Some little ponds appear to even be placed like bunkers near some greens. I already talked about the planting along the water banks but need to mention it again. It is simply outstanding, as good as I've ever seen. Many rocks and marsh grasses and ground level brush seems to be growing lush along all the water. My screenie above shows one of the ponds splitting the 9th fairway. Great job here Mike.
The greens are nice too, offering good approach targets and a fair putting test. Mike has used a cross mowed texture and a fringe collar around them all. You will find greenside bunker protection around most, and water lurking around many as well. I didn't putt particularly well so my 29 putts may not be a good number to gauge these greens. I found them very fair but not too easy.
Several objects are placed about the course. Ball washers and other things near the tees, circular yardage markers in the middle of the fairways, and lots of bridges spanning all that water. For the most part it is uncluttered which is a look that suits the course well.
Drawbacks: When my ball came to rest on the fairway fringe it must still have greenside fringe properties because I was 280+ yards out and it was telling me that I was going for a double-eagle. I wish I had a legitimate chance. This has no affect on playability at all but I had to do a double take the first time I saw it.
In my humble opinion the elevations surrounding much of the water was too penal. What I mean is that it would feed a rolling ball right into the hazard. There is a lot of water and to have a ball rolling near and getting 'sucked' into the hazard was disheartening. I guess my word of warning to you all is to stay WAY clear of all water.
I play in panoramic view (except near the pin) and a tree blocks the tee shot on the 15th. Not the actual shot itself but your main cam view of the fairway. All you can see is a tree limb in front of you. Once again it didn't affect playability as I just aimed from the top cam and hit a straight tee shot.
On the 18th tee some of the marsh grass appears to be floating above the water. Not bad but I noticed it.
Some fairways were very tight, almost approaching the fantasy realm. I think the pro level players would find this as a challenge but it may make it unpopular with the Champ players of both swing types.
Best Hole: All are good and playable and some are great. All the par 3's were gorgeous and I liked them all. Some of the tight fairways were a turnoff when playing Champ level on the par 4's and 5's. I really liked the 384-yard par 4 9th hole as it forced a more lofted club off the tee and demanded a precise drive. You are then left with a semi-blind approach shot to a green fronted by a large bunker. My screenshot shows my approach, and a good example of the abundant beauty in this design.
Test round stats: -2 92% FIR 72% GIR 29 putts. Real good round for me on these tight driving holes. Fortunately the snap was pretty dialed in.
Comparable courses: Blue Heron by Jim Wood, Blackclough Forest by Alan Toft.
Overall: Shawnee Lakes C.C. is another winner offered to us by Mike Nicely and just furthers his reputation as a very solid designer. Every one of his courses requires thought to play decently, this one maybe more so than his others. I do believe that this course will appeal more to the pro level player, either powerstoke or click. If you tackle this one as a Champ player you'll have your work cut out for you. Even though I shot -2 it was because I hit 92% of the fairways. Stray off the fairways and it will be a struggle, particularly with the unforgiving main hazard. I would recommend that everyone takes a look at least, it's a fairly manageable 32 meg download. It is very beautiful and nicely (pardon the pun) finished from an APCD standpoint. Thanks for giving us this one Mike, you are one of several designers I will always download sight unseen. I just love how that 'Nicely' look translates to your courses.
Filesize 32MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Text file? Yes
Hole Previews? No
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