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Lions Municipal Golf Course
by John Rowsey
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1200 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-01-12 |
6,405,368 bytes |
71 |
6099 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
PARKLAND |
.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| c5644b05cf3445bfac7db4a078947f46 |
37c9e453103f7b63b033d105a05b13f6 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Robert Rundel
January 2003
Lions Municipal Golf Club is the first Links design from Mr. Rowsey. It was designed with the APCD 1.0 for Links 2001. Although it has a few interesting features, it is not up to the usual standard of quality even for Links 2k1.
The first major problem I encountered is cloned trees. This is a well-wooded course, but certain trees are repeated over and over, both on a given hole and from one hole to the next. Screenshot 1 shows rows of identical trees marching down both sides of the fairway. In screenshot 4, identical trees populate the hill behind the pond, and three taller clones rise in back of them. The number and extent of cloned trees throughout this course is not acceptable, in my opinion.
The second problem is a serious lack of bunkers. I counted a total of 9 bunkers on the entire course, and 11 holes have no bunkers at all. Perhaps this is because the designer has not developed his skills with bunkers, so is reluctant to use them. Screenshot 5 shows an example: it looks to me like an outsized beanbag chair plopped down next to the green.
There are some interesting custom objects, but I don't think they contribute much to the golfing experience. The second hole has a large wire fence running the length of the fairway on the right (screenshot 2), an effect I don't remember seeing before on a Links course. However, the fence itself is too pixilated to be effective. There's a bridge on the twelfth hole that is very strange. It's out of scale, it's not functional as a bridge, and it's not necessary right at the end of the pond. Note that the cartpath runs under the bridge, through the water. A few holes have improbable wildlife, such as the tenth hole, which features two male elk on the fairway in front of the green, and a pond with pink flamingoes, ducks, and an alligator (screenshot 4).
It is also unfortunate that Mr. Rowsey has not included a readme file at all. I have listed this as a real course because it is posted that way on Links Corner, but I have no idea where this course may be if it exists in the real world. Also lacking are hole previews, hole handicaps, and hole signs. There is a cartpath which wanders around the course, sometimes even across the fairways, and on occasion looks more like a stone wall than a cartpath.
The best feature of this course, in my opinion, is the design of the greens. Many of them are elevated, requiring an accurate approach. The putting surfaces are interesting and challenging, with a variety of hills, valleys, and slopes. You are doing well if you can play this course with less than 30 putts. I think Mr. Rowsey has a real talent for greens.
Overall, it is quite an easy course to play. It is short, at just over 6000 yards, and many of the fairways are invitingly wide. All the par fives are reachable in two shots, and the green can be driven, or nearly so, on several of the par fours. My playing partner, Arnold Palmer, shot 55, although with 29 putts. It is a particularly small download at under 5 Meg, but even so, this course is hard to recommend except perhaps if you wish to practice your putting.
Summary :
Details: Real wooded parkland 18-hole course, par 71, 6099 yards, 5 par 3s, 9 par 4s, 4 par 5s, 5 tees per hole. No readme file, a cameo with a stone lion, and a splash screen with a course picture, no hole handicaps, no hole previews, no hole signs, cart path, some unusual custom objects including a large wire fence, a bridge, and animals and birds. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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