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Chesapeake Valley Golf Club
by Steve & Tim Bausch
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 964 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-07-11 |
41,832,995 bytes |
72 |
7303 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
Chesapeake Valley.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 8d821940936211d6a8560010b5069d1b |
e5f0fb8b57260245854c9c0c5af7dec0 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Joe Turner `Loner'
August 2002
A portion of the readme:
"This is our fifth course designed and released to Links Corner following Twin Lakes Mountain Resort, Cedar Creek Country Club, Ocean Pines Golf Club, and Quail Ridge Falls Resort."
"The course is fictional. We tried our best to make the course look & feel like a course in the Chesapeake Bay Region of the State of Maryland."
"The fairways are fairly wide and should be an attractive venue for both the 'Clickers & Power Strokers'. However, trouble does loom not too far from the beaten path."
This is a pleasant looking course with its checkerboard tee boxes, fairways and greens, if this sounds like too much 'checker-boarding' it isn't. The tee boxes and the greens have just a faint hint and the fairways show a heavier pattern. The light rough, heavy rough and fringe are welcoming finishing touches to this fine course. Their selections of trees is wide and all fit well together and are complemented by an undergrowth consisting of bushes and brush, a nice touch. The well made bunkers look especially good with the bit of rough that surrounds them. The fairways were ample in size and made for enjoyable 'from the heels drives'. Unfortunately some of them were very well guarded while others didn't seem to have any or very few hazards. The greens tended towards the small side, although I've seen much smaller ones these were very manageable even with the nice slopes and gentle breaks. The few greens that had tiers made putting interesting but not overly difficult. The fairways had the slope because of the course being by a large body of water, this made me sit up and pay attention to where I would have to place the aiming stick. The bridge by the tee on hole # 7 wasn't done too well; it didn't seem to fit properly.
The caddie had a workout with the varying elevations on this course and it worked perfectly. On hole # 4, par 4, the combination of the reading by the caddie and the strange elevation of the green made for an interesting decision and a fun second shot. It was very cleverly done. The holes on this course weren't overly difficult because of the size of the fairways but they did show enough imagination to keep me interested in the play. On holes # 5 and hole # 9 both 5 pars they had very little protection on either the fairways or at the greens, which was a little disappointing, a good beta test would have shown this to them. Fictional courses can be made extremely interesting and challenging whereas real courses have to stick to the actual layout.
They have made a few nice courses before and I feel that this is one of their best. It's a long driving, short putting and good chipping course and I hope they follow this formula with their next endeavor. They used very little in the way of hazards here and I would certainly like to see more bunkers and water used to set up some challenging risk/reward type holes next time. I don't think it's too large of a download for what you're getting and would strongly advise you to download this course for a good time.
Reviewer Note:
I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players.
Summary :
Included: readme, cameo, splash. 2 recorded rounds, custom flag, ball washers, crowds and buildings.
Not Included: hole previews, signs, numbers or custom tees.
Statistical Information: par 72, 7303y, 3 sets of tees, 4-3 pars, 10-4 pars, 4-5 pars. |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, woodland course |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 7/10
There's a glimmer of the glories that were to come in this early creation from the Bausch Brothers. It's nice to see two halves with distinct styles: the opening nine are carefully delineated between trees, whereas the back nine open up a little more into something closer to heathland golf, with more to see and do. All the way through, whichever style has been chosen, the course is shot through with imaginative but realistic golf. |
Appearance 4/10
A texture update is much needed; the rough texture in particular is stretched, blurred and too widespread. There are occasional folds in the mesh that might have been avoided. The course is saved somewhat by a keen eye for spectacular planting, but for the most part it looks distinctly old-fashioned. |
Playability 8/10
There's something about Bausch creations that render them compulsively playable, and on close analysis the cleverness of the hole design is very much responsible. The variety is not immediately evident, but it becomes easier to appreciate towards the end of the round, especially when you can employ more bravado in shooting for birdies and eagles. |
Challenge 5/10
Without deep rough and anything seriously threatening by way of hazards, Chesapeake Valley is difficult to score bogeys on. Both of my test rounds were bogey-free, with only some tough greens saving a complete birdie-fest. |
Technical 4/10
Sadly, the course has dated faster than many others from the same time: a better choice of textures would certainly have helped stay the course's age. Only the planting and the careful eye for variety remains as any great sign of the designers' abilities, but let's not forget the excellent golfing values that lie beneath the somewhat underwhelming surface. |
| Overall |
A pleasing course of two subtle halves: showing its age a little, but worth playing in light of the designers' reputations. |
28/50 |
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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