Coombs Mill by Michael Ballard
Reviewed by Simon Kent
March 2003
Designer: This is Michael Ballard’s first attempt as a designer, and for a 2001 course, it’s a good start.
Course History: The Course was designed with the 2001 version of APCD, so that the course is playable in both Links 2001 and 2003. Here is a quote from the designer straight from the Read-me file.
“My overall goal was to make the final product look very much like what I had envisioned for a real golf course. The idea for Coombs Mill started about 5 years ago when I was walking in the woods behind my parent’s home in Augusta, Maine and realized that this would be an interesting site for a golf course.”
Playability: I shot a -6 (66) with 88% Fairways and 72% Greens in regulation, with a total of 26 Putts. The course design really does make for an interesting game, and if you play well enough to capitalize on the Par 4’s and 5’s that are easily reachable, you may walk away with a great score. However due to the planting of the trees and the wide variety of natural hazards, the course itself can turn out to be a killer, which means staying in the middle of the fairway is crucial if you wish to break Par for the round.
The Course: Coombs Mill includes detailed Hole Previews to rival those of many other courses, and also provides a Handicap for each hole. The designs of each hole are certainly challenging and leave no room for errors, and if a shot lands in the trees or deep rough, it could take many shots to get back out. Even though this is similar to many other Fictional Woodland courses that have been released, the reachable greens on the Par 4’s and risky Par 3’s make this course very enjoyable. Coming down the 18th Fairway, the last green is reachable in two shots and in a tournament situation, could lead to a great finish. The course itself doesn’t have any Tournament options, but this can be a good thing, because it would take away from the natural side of the course that the designer wanted.
Best Hole: My favourite hole was definitely the first (Screenshot 1), and it simply is one of the best opening holes I have ever seen. It allowed you to take a risky shot and get to the green instantly, but if you swayed offline or left it short, you could easily have water or trees to contend with.
Technically: The planting was varied, with many different types of trees and plants, mixed in with natural rocks and along with the elevation changes, each hole was quite different. The only thing that confused me were the bunkers; because on many holes they were shaped quite weird, even using straight lines in some cases, and along with the brick lining they had on the lips, it certainly was unique, but didn’t really achieve the natural affect the course was supposed to have. The fairway and greens had great variation in their sloping and elevation changes, which made for correct placement of your drives on every hole, and for a first design, the technical aspects of the course were pretty good.
Other: Don’t hit too far over on the 10th Hole, or else you’re ball might get stuck in the wall, and on every hole, make sure you do not hook or slice the ball, because if you get lost in the trees, you may not ever be able to get back out.
Download Value: For a 2001 Course, this is a pretty good download. The course design is interesting and there’s plenty of risk/reward holes. However the use of APCD 1.5 was really needed to make this course become a “standout” and puts behind many other similar courses that have used APCD 1.5. It is a large download and for people with slow internet it may not be a good choice unless you really want to play the first hole (Screenshot 1).
Designer: Michael Ballard
Review No: 6
(This review is based on the playability for users of Links Golf. It is only my opinion, but comes from a thorough analysis of the course. Disregarding my opinion, I know the difficulty involved in designing a course and I congratulate the designer on a job well done. My comments are objective, are based on a number of criteria, and any comments are from a players stand point and not from a designers).
Screenshots
Filesize 56MB
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Course Stats: Par 72, Fictional Woodland, 5 Tees, Back- 6300m Forward 5539m,
File Sizes- Zip 55.9mb, Crz 61.8mm, No Sha File.
Test Round Stats: Played- Back/B/M/M/Pro/Classic, -6 (66) |
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