|
Eagle Canyon Country Club V2
by Ross Anthony
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 845 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-04-03 |
35,586,557 bytes |
72 |
7808 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
MOUNTAIN |
EagleCanyonV2.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 24ac60ec7e7c433d916c4b1ffba4d75b |
0c385e0528f5971fa056196177b5b389 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mike Nifong April 2002
Course type: Eagle Canyon is a fictional, mountain-style course that uses the Whistler pano. (Before you groan, consider that this is a version 2, so Ross could not really change the setting; at any rate, it fits the course and never seemed to get intrusive.)
Historical perspective: The original version of Eagle Canyon, released on June 21, 2001, was Ross Anthony's first course, and the only one of his courses that I have not played. (His other two courses, Anglewood and The Crusoe Course, are permanent residents on my hard drive.) Although it received a very respectable LC review score of 70, EC1 was the only one of Ross's courses not to fare well in the user reviews, receiving a one-star rating; each of his subsequent courses, including the subject of this review, has received a four-star user rating.
Eagle Canyon, version 2, which was released on April 3, 2002, is, at 32.6MB, slightly smaller than the original. While it has been very favorably received for the most part, a few people have commented unfavorably on the boards about the use of stock textures, objects, and shapes, and its (consequent?) lack of distinctiveness.
What is included: Just about everything you could ask for (short of those lamented custom objects): there is a thorough read-me file with a comprehensive hole guide, an attractive cameo, and a nice splash screen. There are also excellent hole previews that include alternate strategies for a few holes (#1, #3, #17 & #18) and even suggestions about when you might want to shape your tee shot. (I could be mistaken, but I do not believe hole previews were even possible when EC1 was released, so getting such good ones and a smaller package to boot is quite a bonus.)
There is another extra that, to my knowledge, has not been included in any previous APCD package: a nineteenth hole! Eagle Island (recognizable because it is shaped like an eagle's head) has a funnel-shaped green with a hole at its center. It is reachable from the tee on #15, the fairways on #16 & #18, and most likely several other places I failed to discover; of course, you will want to be in practice mode, or at least have mulligans turned on, but it makes for a pleasant mid-round diversion - real target golf.
How it looks: Since I never played the original Eagle Canyon, I cannot tell you precisely how the new version compares. The official LC review of that course, however, cites several visual shortcomings: below average bunkers and water areas, mesh shadows, and sharp angles at texture transitions. With respect to the mesh shadows and sharp edges, I can tell you that this new version is almost pristine in these regards. The only exception I found was on the left side of the green on #16, which had both a noticeable shadow and a straight-line angle at the fringe texture transition; an unfortunate glitch, to be sure, but not much to complain about in the overall scheme of things.
I also noticed one other visual anomaly: in one round, with difficult pins, the hole was not visible in the main view on #17 (it was visible in the top view). As far as I could determine, only the pin placement at the back of the green was affected.
With respect to the bunkers and the water treatments, it appears that the revision effects a significant improvement. The bunkers are very consistently done, with believable depth and smooth, rolled lips. And the water treatments are excellent, with realistic and varied edge planting and nice mud banks or rock edging. I also found the planting to be quite good, especially the way that small clumps of vegetation were placed at the bases of trees that stood out in the open, making them look much more natural than is often the case in the shadowless world of the APCD.
Textures are nothing special, but they go well together and seem reasonably well chosen.
How it plays: For one thing, it plays considerably shorter than its listed yardage. This is primarily due to the elevations, which make it easy to go long off the tee without being too artificial (drives in the 300+ yard range are often possible, in other words, but you are not likely to hit anything over 325 yards). Another contributing factor is the absence of forced lay ups, even on the sharper doglegs: you can still hit your driver off the tee, although you may opt instead for a 3W on some holes. As you would probably expect at this length, there is nothing approaching a drivable par-4, but only one of the par-3's is over 200 yards, and two of the four par-5's (#3 and #12) are normally reachable in two from the back. #3 will likely give you your only shot at an eagle, but most holes provide good to excellent birdie opportunities. Pro clickers are likely to find it plays a little on the easy side, as a matter of fact, but that should be good news for everyone else.
Eagle Canyon gives you a little more room than is the norm for mountain courses. You may occasionally have to put your tee shot through a little bit of a chute formed by the trees lining the beginning of the fairway, but the landing areas are almost always quite generous. For the most part, if you are on the fairway, you will be okay, but you may sometimes find that your second shot will not be as clear as you would like. The fairway bunkers tend to be quite large, but not too deep. Their placement is usually far enough out to make them only modestly threatening if you are playing from the back tees. There is also usually a healthy expanse of rough, which is not too punitive, before you get into the really thick stuff. (Ross indicates in his read-me that virtually all textures are playable, but there are some places you will not want to be.)
The greens tend to be relatively large, but configured in such a way that they can be hard to hold (especially since you will normally hit your approach shots with the longer irons). This makes the greenside bunkers (particularly those behind the greens) more of a hazard than they might appear at first glance. Fortunately, the ones containing sand are generally not too deep, although the rolled lips can be a problem if you are close to the edge; the bunkers filled with vegetation labeled 'cabbage' are considerably more treacherous unless you are at the edge. The greens also have a fairly wide, flat surround of fringe/fairway textures, making this a good chipping course. The putting surface itself is 'gently rolling' (Ross's description, and an apt one), making short putts easy and long ones challenging but not impossible.
Risk/reward opportunities are somewhat limited, generally to the four previously mentioned holes with the alternative strategies outlined. The good part is that you have some right off the bat (#1 and #3) and some more at the finish (#17 and #18).
The bottom line: In case you could not tell, I am a fan of Ross's courses. This one is no exception. It may not be the most beautiful mountain course out there, or have the most original layout, but I found it to be very fair and lots of fun (not least because it is a course on which it is possible to score very well). A keeper for me, and recommended for you.
Course Statistics :
Par 72; 4 sets of tees; 7808 yards from back tees; holes are handicapped |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, woodland course |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 3/10
A somewhat basic course, Eagle Canyon is a pure exercise in target golf. While the holes have been set up reasonably well, there is a distinct lack of polish, with many errors being made too obvious. There's precious little coherence or credibility to the whole thing: the course is best approached purely from a golfing puzzle point of view. |
Appearance 2/10
The first indicator that something isn't quite right is the presence of too many APCD default shapes, which isn't right. Other shapes have been toyed with in an amateur and frankly irritating way. The stock panorama, textures and planting all create the impression of a hasty release, and there's precious little other than neat mesh-work to commend the visuals. |
Playability 2/10
Despite what should be entertaining 'strategy golf', the course is little more than routine drive-and-pitch play. There is precious little variety, nor any replayability value in these depressing one-way holes. Stick with it for a gem or two on the back nine, but there's really not all that much to be going back for. |
Challenge 3/10
It's nice to see some reasonably moderate greens in such an early release, but it's also nice to be able to hit them. Greens in Regulation will be second nature, and therefore so will the birdie putts. You could reasonably expect to shoot well down into the mid-60s here. |
Technical 1/10
The unforgivability of not finishing a course properly ranks among the worst designer crimes, and stock shapes and token adjustments stand out like a sore thumb. Regrettably, though the designer would go on to much better things, Eagle Canyon really stocks out on good value. |
| Overall |
Too primitive and too dot-to-dot to appeal to many. |
11/50 |
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.
|
|
Download course
|
Please support Links Corner
|
|
|
