The original version was worked on by Sage and Sean Landry and released in June 2020. I thought it seemed like it might be a really nice course and very much looked forward to play a full round on it, but on at least one green, I couldnt find any pin that I considered realistic or enjoyable on the green speeds I enjoy using. So I never actually played the course, and instead made a note to one day ask Sage if I could make an update with modified greens and pins.
So thats mostly what this update is all about - I spent a lot of time on the green elevations, so I believe they are fairly accurate to real life. I also reworked various elevations immediately around the greens, plus some fairways and dunes to be a bit more authentic and/or links-like. Secondly, I added a fifth set of tees to play slightly longer than the Back tees (Back tees are 7164 yds, Ladies are 7512 yds - par is 72), I placed them where I personally felt like they would be most fun to play in Links (where tee areas where available, anyway), so I highly recommend playing the course from the Ladies tees unless you like relaxing rounds (the course has some really large fairways and many really tall elevated tees, so it plays easy for its yardage - at least unless you use windy). I also made the 2D grasses play more consistent/predictable, they dampen the ball slightly (but not that much), so it is wise to be careful and consider laying up safe if you end up in the rough (just as one often would, in real-life linksland rough). Either way, you're usually kind of unlikely to hit the grasses on the way up since they are so thin. There are plenty other less significant changes, a full list of them can be found in the .txt file included in the download link.
The course is a real linksland course in Washington state at the coast of Puget Bay, which is an extension of the Pacific Ocean. It is a really rather spectacular layout with extremely dramatic dunes and elevations, along with gigantic bunker complexes. It was famously used for the 2015 US Open where most people hated it because of the green surfaces being too young and in very poor condition, making putting a bumpy lottery. The bad reputation earned from then doesnt take away that it is one of the most spectacular layouts you could find around the world, and I think it plays wonderfully in Links, as long as you dont use too easy settings or conditions.
Since the course loads so slowly in APCD, this time more than any other, I do not promise to change suggested or observed things. But that doesnt mean I don't want to hear all suggestions, so any observations and feedback you can think of is, as always, very welcome.
Thank you so much Sage, for making the course (I frankly have no idea how he managed to have enough patience to create all those huge and complex bunkers - very impressive!), for letting me freely update it, and for helping me with one part of the update
Download link: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aapxesztzvch ... j6k2a?dl=0
