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Sandlot Shores 1.1
by Johnny Holland
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1022 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-09-06 |
37,532,308 bytes |
71 |
6703 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
OCEAN |
Sandlot Shore 1.1.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 40230329e44d4df99c110eb2e8a01439 |
510f195bd3f97d8d775dc61b31d55a92 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Joe Turner `Loner'
September 2002
I seem to making a habit of this, this is a downloadable course. It's also a definite fantasy course to the point of being gaudy and garish in its appearance but not outlandish. The 'many other objects I mentioned in the 'Included section' should have listed some of the objects. Included, that I could see were, flying seagulls, bridges, giant palms large orange boulders, benches, rocks in the sea, buildings, boats, scoreboards, cacti, automobiles, and I believe I saw a satellite dish and I'm certain I missed a few items. This all sounds disgusting but surprisingly enough they all fit into the theme of his playable course. He had a lightly patterned tee area quite often decorated with flowerbeds, a mowed fairway with first cut, a two-inch rough and patterned greens with a fringe. This seaside course had a very nice texture for the water, white caps, foam and a very tropical feel about he course even when you didn't see the holes by the water. The fairways were ample in size not heavily bunkered but they had a 'winding' pattern to them with enough rough jutting out into the main part to prove hazardous to your swing. At times the landing area itself seemed to narrow down, the imaginative hole shapes proved to be hazard enough. The greens however had more bunkers it seems than the fairways even though they were small and gave you chips as an option more often than not. They were sloped but fair even with their breaks. To his credit he didn't fall back on the old standby, undulations that are not mowable let alone puttable.
As I said he has quite an imagination when it comes to hole shapes. Hole # 7 was a perfect example of a risk/reward hole with a bit of target golf thrown in. Hole # 14 a 4 par, I had to use a 3w off the tee and on hole 15 a flop driver off the tee and a chip gave me an eagle.yes me. Hole # 17 a 4 par only needed a flop 3w to put me within 6 feet of the cup, am I getting better.nahhhh. He mixed up his hole shapes, his elevations and his club choices off the tees. His elevations matched perfectly with his caddie and the entire course was done well. At times the target golf entered the picture but not often enough to hold down my driving average.
What about his strange colorful course. It's a love hate relationship. At times you hate looking at the fantasy aspect of it but love to play his unusually but very playable holes. He certainly succeeded where I have seen others fail miserably with the same general idea. He is far from the perfect designer as far as edges and other fine points go but these are cosmetic and take a back seat to the look of the course. You will be to busy playing and looking for some thing that I missed to worry about it. This is a fine change from the usual fair that we get and I not only think but also I know that you will find the course different and enjoyable to play and to gawk at. Download it and have a good time, I did.
Reviewer Note
I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players.
Summary :
Included: readme, cameo, splash, custom flag, hole previews and numbers, ball washers, crowds, tournament objects and many other objects.
Not Included: custom tees, hole signs and a recorded round.
Statistical Information: par 71, 6703y, 5 sets of tees, 5-3 pars, 9-4 pars, 4-5 pars. |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, ocean course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 6/10
What a bizarre mish-mash Sandlot Shores is! Part ocean, part desert, part
out-and-out crazy. Some stunning hole designs are thrown together in a
higgledy-piggledy environment where, it seems, just about anything goes.
There's great progression to the holes: several can share fairways as
alternate routes, and there's an unusual layout with 4 Par 5s on the front
nine, but there's not much sense of location and the course feels too
packed and bustling. |
Appearance 8/10
There are some amazing views to be had here, the ocean work is done very neatly and a large amount of customisation contributes a
lot to the course appearance. Possibly the best element is the creation of several visual illusions which will test (although not unfairly)
those who play without the Top View. The textures aren't to my taste, though, and there are problems with the elevation work which
impinge on the view. |
Playability 10/10
The unusual hole layout works wonders here. Three consecutive Par 5s are markedly different and in this instance it is an inspired
decision to put them together. Nearly every hole throws up a new challenge, or the opportunity to play in several ways, and you just get
dragged round on a wave of enthusiasm. Even the sceptics will adore playing Sandlot Shores: that's a given. |
Challenge 6/10
The challenge will largely depend on how conservative a player you are. It's easy to wriggle out of trouble if you're in it, but the
'blasters' will inevitably drop strokes unless they're uncannily accurate. The course veers towards the unfair in points, with tough
bunkering at sharply angled greens, and bogeys should be considered an inevitability. As such, it's a contrived challenge and depends
a lot more on the player than on the course. |
Technical 5/10
Despite the massive amount of excellent customisation, this is a glaring example of designer overkill. Was there any need to use four
different sand textures (count them if you don't believe me)? Were the flamboyant sandstone rock formations necessary, when some
modest planting or elevation work would have hidden the plot edge better? Is there too much squeezed into a tiny plot? There are
technical errors, too, such as bad transitions, elevation work and misaligned tees (all visible in the screenshot); thankfull;y all these are
cosmetic and don't ruin a great round of golf. |
| Overall |
A curate's egg. Great in parts, but massively over-managed in others. It's a jolly
good fantasy course which a lot of people will want to own, but it's also a mass of
ideas looking for some sense of order |
35/50 |
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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