| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 986 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-07-27 |
43,402,436 bytes |
72 |
7085 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
PARKLAND |
The Belfry 2002.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 2a9ecb50b9e14130b63f6c394c65c411 |
9c348fadfa5cc643e9ee9883ccdeef38 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Mat Leclair
November 2002
I'm sure most everyone knows this course from long before Roland put this nice rendition of the course out. I believe that it was put out with the first of the Links series that has been put out by Microsoft. That said, this course is really great. The planting was just superb and everything else was for the most part very accurate.
Technical Merit:
For the most part, the technical portion of the course was very well done. The only things that may have been out of place were a few verts here and there. There was one in particular in the left fairway bunker on 9 that was way out of place. Some of the bunkers were a little off too. Such as the cross bunkers on 17. They looked different than what I saw in the TV coverage of the Belfry during the 34th Ryder Cup matches. I also thought that some had a very steep slope on then when that wasn't necessary to make. Lastly, by the side of the 10th green the side could have been raised more so there was a steeper slope by the bunkers so it could have been more realistic in relation to the real course during the Ryder Cup matches.
Creativity Aspect:
I understand that you really can't do much in the lines of creativity when creating a real course. That is probably one of the hardest things to do in the APCD. Creating a real course inhibits you so much that you are confined to making a course just the way that you see it. When making a fictional course, you can use your imagination to create slopes and other things that you can think of. In my mind, creating a real course is the hardest thing to do in the APCD, so hats off to you Roland, you have made a great rendition.
Playability:
The Belfry must be one of the best courses when it comes to strategy. Maybe this is just me, but the Ryder Cup has been there 4 of the last 5 times that it was played in Europe (1997 at Valderrama) It must have critical shot values throughout the entire course because that is what match play is all about. If your opponent risks the shot and fails, then it leaves the door wide open for you to play safe and take advantage. That's what the Ryder Cup matches are all about: risk / reward. The risk reward showed when I arrived at the 10th hole. Greed took over me and I went for the green. I hit what I thought would be an excellent tee shot and it found the water. It goes to show you that this course still has some bite to it no matter what route you take on shot around the course. Any miscue and you could be looking at bogey and sometimes seven more. Thus, I have to give the playability a very high number due to its really good layout and strategy. Great recreation of the playability aspect, and so very well done.
Extras:
Throughout the course there were many extra things that added to the course to make it more and more realistic to how I viewed the course during the Ryder Cup matches in the end of September. The course previews were excellently made and helped a lot with the shot strategies. The only thing that I noticed that could have been done better were the cartpaths. They only showed up on the tee boxes and most only ran from the tee to the fairway and not the usual cart paths that you see on the entire course. But, there were others that you just wouldn't see on other courses such as the large score board near the 9th and 18th greens. It was nice to see and felt like you were actually playing in the Ryder Cup. I didn't have the crowds on but I'm sure that would have added to the realism of the Ryder Cup.
Overall:
Overall the course played magnificently and looked almost exactly like it did in the Ryder Cup. It was a great re make of the course and the new changes that were made to the course made it play more difficult that it did when Microsoft produced the course way back. The only thing that I could say for improvement is do a little work on the bunkers everywhere it would be even more realistic than it is now. Roland, thank you so much for making this great course for us. And those grasses underneath the trees were great. They looked just right. Thanks for making this great course with the new changes.
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