Favourite Courses of 2023

[Adelade]

It is that time of year again, where I like to do a little summary of the past year and celebrate my personal favourite courses released, feel free to join in.

Links to the similar threads about courses from:
2020: viewtopic.php?p=8523#p8523
2021: viewtopic.php?p=12835#p12835
2022: viewtopic.php?p=16665#p16665

The amount of courses released keeps decreasing, in fact we just barely avoided hitting an all-time low in terms of quantity in 2023, but to me it doesnt feel that way at ALL - there may be fewer courses, but the average quality of courses released keeps going up, and maybe my memory is just poor but I kind of feel like we have more active designers at the moment than we've ever had in the past... well... 10 years? (perhaps with an exception for 2020 because of covid).

However, the main reason for the shifts in quantity of courses is of course down to Sage and Brooks, with Sage having had a major break in the first half of the year and I believe taking more time with his courses lately as well (and the results have been wonderful). John Brooks, Im afraid, might be on a bigger type of break. Taking a look at his mighty release history ever since 2008, one can only conclude that he definitely deserves a rest, but I still hope we get to see him make a return one day.

And how can we summarize 2024 without mentioning linkster, who has had a hand in the majority of courses of the year with his LIDAR conversion DEM terrain imports. I will admit that I was initially in some doubt as to whether such massive vert imports could be cleanly tamed and converted into smooth-running course products, at least on a regular basis, but throughout 2023 we have now had plenty different designers prove that it can be done, so I can only thank and applaud everyone involved and especially linkster. I hope no designer shies away from making courses without DEM methods because of this, because all the great courses from the past will always remain as great as ever, and I think there is still a great space for future such courses, but there is no denying that the LIDAR revolution has indeed been a true success story that will keep being interesting to follow in 2024 and beyond.

Speaking of which, it looks already like 2024 is shaping up to be a great year for Links courses as well...

Thank you to everyone who released a course during 2023 or helped with one, all courses deserve to be celebrated! And for that matter, thank you to everyone who downloaded and played the courses, without the players there would probably be no courses made.

Alright it is time for my list, and as always, I dont intend this as some kind of measure for which course is best-made in APCD, simply my overall favourite courses, which has a lot to do with how fun the layouts are to play according to my personal taste. There were plenty other good courses outside of these below.

My favourite courses of 2023 (in no particular order, and as per my usual definition):
Mountaintop Golf and Lake Club by Ian Wells
Los Angeles CC - North Course by Glenn Braden
Tobacco Road Golf Club by Sage Vanni
Desperation Hills by Todd Meyers (AKA Duck Hook)
Crooked Stick by Ian Wells
Harding Park by Eric Dorsey
Ballyhack Golf Club by Sage Vanni
National Golf Links of America by Glenn Braden
Cape Kidnappers - Te Kauwae-a-Maui by Sage Vanni

In terms of updates and new versions, I would also like to mention:
Coeur d'Alene Tournament Edition by Dan DeShaney
Bakers Flat by Jeff Kramer and Todd Meyers
The National GC of Kansas City V2 by Dan DeShaney

Thank you all so much for these wonderful additions to the course library For anyone who hasnt checked them out - please do!

There are also two betas released during the year that might have made the lists, Augusta National 2023 by linkster , and Oak Hill - East by Sean Landry and Glenn Braden, but I would like to see how their final versions turn out, so they might pop up next year instead.

And my personal Course Of The Year 2023 award goes to......... Ballyhack! (with Crooked Stick as runner-up). I never posted after playing Ballyhack, so let me add a few words about it here: Playing Ballyhack is like being taken on a really fun ride that no one should miss, the layout is quite a unique one, and from an APCD craftsmanship perspective, I do think it is Sage's best one too. Quality and playability wrapped in a wonderful package.

Thank you again, to everyone working on these courses and to everyone in the community for keeping this wonderful game alive.

[Edit: corrected "Crooked Creek" into "Crooked Stick"]

[ChuckH]

These are all great courses. But...can't forget Sheshan by Adalade and a favorite...Sand Hollow by Sage.
And..almost there and fully playable in 2023 and all by Sage:
Wolf Creek
Oak Quarry
Boulder Ridge
The Saint Andrews GC
Black Horse
Bayonet

Anybody heard from Sage lately?

[jwgriffingca]

It's been a good year! Interesting that the vast majority of the year's new courses were real courses. I guess that's not surprising with the emergence of LIDAR imports, plus most folks seem to prefer real courses (especially ones that host/have hosted tour events). It's hard to argue with courses released like NGLA, LACC North, Tobacco Road, and Cape Kidnappers!

But I tend to prefer fictional courses because I like to see the imagination of others - especially fictional courses that could easily pass for real courses. In that regard, I think Sage's "Trails at Countyline" was the best fictional course of the year. The holes were thoroughly engaging, the look & feel was reminiscent of the Australian Sandbelt - albeit a bit more rolling - and it was just plain fun to play. Todd's Desperation Hills was a very close second for me.

John