The Golf Club of Oklahoma - Designed by Keith Haney
Reviewed by Joe Turner `Loner' April 2002
Taken from the designers readme:
History on The Golf Club Of Oklahoma!
The 20th century golf club was designed to reflect the strong history and traditions of the game. The facility, located on 525-acres in Broken Arrow, offers accommodations for golfers of all abilities in addition to serving as an ideal retreat for business and entertainment.
The brilliantly conceived 7,183 yard course, a study in classical form, boasts the beauty of each green in a setting. World-renowned golf course designer Tom Fazio sought to preserve the area's natural terrain, its 32-acre spring-fled lake, groves of aged oaks, strands of sumac and wild plum, and its abundance of wild flowers, birds and wildlife. Several tee placements allow golfers the opportunity to enjoy a relaxed round from the 6,211 yard members tees or move to the championship yardage and experience one of the counrty's sternest tests of golf.
With beautifully made tee boxes, mowed fairways with a faint first cut leading into a beautifully textured rough, ending with a lightly colored fringe on a pale green this course starts out looking like the classic that it will be. From the tall grass that is occasionally spotted on front of the tee boxes but does not obstruct or interfere either with the view or the shot, to the tall grass which serves as an undergrowth that runs its way into the heavily planted wide variety of trees, this course is beauty in motion. The extremely well done bunkers with their brown-tan sand only serve the fact that this is a natural looking course. The water hazards have a fringe of shrub around the edges and this too only serves to enhance the elegance of a course that the designer saw and was able to convey to us, the players.
The generous fairways, which a long hitter will appreciate, only show off the extremely well done elevations and the caddie settings that were done on this course. The greens, yes the greens tell a story all by themselves. Go to far into them and you’ll run into the tiered sections and the undulations that will be a certain test to your prowess as a putter. Hit close to the cup and you will find that you are rewarded with a slight break or even a flat area to grab your birdie and run with it. All of the tiers and undulations are gently done so not to frustrate you, but are there for your pleasure, and I use an easy setting. Since this is a “real” course we must understand that we are doomed to play many unimaginative holes but there are enough interesting ones interspersed throughout the course to keep your enjoyment going strong. The more common of the holes seem to have that little something, a tree that causes you to fade or draw, a bunker that seems to be in the way, a truly enjoyable layout. Only one hole caught my interest enough to tell you about it.
#8 hole, par 5, 554y, a dogleg left with four fairway bunkers and two green bunkers is an excellent example of a “risk reward” hole that should be an example to others. Because of the creek crossing the fairway at 226y-242y and the following tall grass, rough and first cut ending at 254y this spot with its narrow entrance ending with a large bunker at 276y can and will be a problem. Aiming slightly to the left I was able to drive 287y up the fairway missing all the problem areas and had 263y left to the pin. Next is your choice, I wasn’t able to reach the pin with a 3w so you can either lay-up with a 2 iron or go for the pin with that 3w and have a long putt.
#17 hole, par 3, 192y, with a 14ft drop, what could he have to say about a par 3, not much. After being handed a 4 iron by the caddie I decided to try a 5 iron and with the aid of a few mulligans and then a few more I hit a perfect drive. I hit both hash marks, both the 12 and 6 o’clock. I wound up 19 inches, pin high, from the cup. If my aiming stick had been put in the right place, an ace would have been the result. The moral of this story is lost on me. No, change clubs for that pin range.
In spite of being forced by the “real” category he made this into not only a beautiful course but also a very interesting and at times under my simple conditions a challenging one. With the ample fairways and semi medium greens, wind should be a very interesting option for a round here. If your looking for a course to sit on your hard drive for a long time to come I believe that this is it. It’s a definite download and a more than likely keeper. It’s a rather small download by today’s standards, try it I know you’ll enjoy the game.
Screenshots
Filesize 30MB
Reviewer Note
I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players.
Summary :
Included: readme (beautifully done with a scorecard), cameo, splash, custom tees, custom flag, hole previews, ball washers, cart path and a recorded round.
Not Included: hole signs or numbers.
Statistical Information: par 72, 7333, an “R” type parkland course, 4 sets of tees, 4-3 pars, 10-4 pars, 4-5 pars, played pro, clicker, bck/nw/m/m/e and a 29.9mb download. |
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