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Lava Rock
by Bob Hankla
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 997 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-08-06 |
18,183,412 bytes |
72 |
7205 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
lavarock.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| ae7ecc5abeb844f38264873a6b159efc |
b07d317f2eaeb9ae170ef199dc8e6a0a |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Randy McMinn
September 2002
From Design ReadMe
"Lava Rock is a fictional course modelled after the lava courses on the big island of Hawaii. Although a 'fictional' course, my intention is for it to be as close to real life as possible. It is intended to put a premium on shot-making, with several risky alternatives to consider. The greens provide gentle breaks for the most part, with an occasional big break thrown in. As you would expect in this venue, the wind and breeze can play a big part in your round. Windy conditions will be quite a challenge."
This a Fantasy Course set on the big island Hawaii, this is Bob Hankla first official design after having Lava Rock available in to separate Beta versions'.
Appearance
Lava Rock has spacious fairway, beautiful bunkers, while being surround by Lava!
While I enjoyed playing this design, the planting was very ordinary to say the least ...but the Course to me was just missing some of the extras' we have become a custom too...Planting was very redundant
Playability
While the designer placed a premium on shotmaking, kind of a risk and reward layout, I personally found the design to be very easy... I played two rounds' one from back tees and one from forward tees - and found the Course to be very easy to post good Scores
APCD
While I do not consider myself an expert by no means I do have some knowledge of APCD!
I was very impressed with how clean his mesh looked when I open his layout in APCD.. most all of the shapes in the layout where very well placed and very nicely done especially his bunkers.. I found some bad mapping and a couple of 2d objects where oversized and most all of the ballwashers where on Tee Box? ..and some of the cartpaths ran thru the Lava area!
Extra's
Included: Recorded Round, Splash Screen, Cameo, Ballwashers, Cartpaths, Custom Flags, Hole Previews, Custom panorama??
Not included: Hole Signs, Crowds, Tournament Objects
Overall
I enjoyed my round at Lava Rock . very well done for Bob's first design...very deserving of it's 3 star rating..with a few extra's added ...who know what might have been..However, Lava Rock is not a Course that I could play over and over again.. I want to recommend the Course , some players will love Lava Rock and wanna play it over and over again ... This Course will get boring for advanced skill level players like myself.....So if you considered yourself an advanced player you might wanna skip this Course but if you're a player looking for nice and very Easy Scoring Course this is your cup of Tea!
Thx for reading my review...
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, ocean course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 7/10
Lava Rock somehow manages to squeeze several course styles into one.
As if the innovative use of the lava regions wasn't enough, there are
desert-style holes, ocean-style holes and at least one hole that is almost
concept-like in its layout. Does this mish-mash work? Surprisingly, yes; for
the large part, this is far more coherent and believable than it has any right
to be, given the somewhat basic design of the course. |
Appearance 5/10
Even Bob Hankla had to have a first course, and this is it. Its age shows somewhat in the proliferation of unmapped lava texture, some
awkward 2D objects, and some hard transitions and extrusion marks. There are moments of beauty, and some of the oceanside
scenes look good compared to other early courses, but the ambition that went into this course does not have the APCD resources to
match. Today, of course, it might come away a lot better. |
Playability 9/10
Like all Hankla courses, Lava Rock is an unexpected knockout. You don't fall into the clichéd traps of bunker carries and ocean drives,
and at the same time the holes look fresh and interesting. The back nine has some smashing and ingenious risk/reward holes too, and
I wouldn't be surprised if this course has acted as influence to more than one successor. Perhaps, in this case, an injection of realism
would help even more, and elevate Lava Rock to something like The Crusoe Course. |
Challenge 8/10
The lava rock is delimited as hazard, and you might feel this is constricting, but in truth it rarely comes into play: only on one or two 'do
or die' holes is it a real problem. The course's difficulties stem from some tricky use of rolling elevations on the fairways, and some
steep-ish greens (although I'd be at pains to point out that the greens do not reach the unfair extent that we've seen elsewhere). There
are birdie opportunities for both the conservative and brave golfer: don't expect a challenge like you'd find on any real course, though! |
Technical 7/10
There's glimmerings of what is to come in this course. Bob has a superlative idea of what makes exciting and fun golf, even if his
realism quotient isn't particularly high. Yes, there's some work required on a few techniques here and the course might benefit from up
to twice as many different textures. But let's not forget this is both an early course and a first design: the in-play textures work well, and
the planting shows care and clone-avoidance. |
| Overall |
Better than you could have any right to expect. An impressive set of 18, let down
only by an old-fashioned look to the course. Unjustly slated by the fantasy-course
cynics. |
36/50 |
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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