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Alder Waters Par 3 Academy
by Paul Seaman
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1213 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-01-18 |
14,641,789 bytes |
54 |
3286 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL Par 3 Course |
WOODLAND |
alder waters.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| d55f90832b1011d7a39800d059f1d51b |
53abf0f03cc382725354c7ce6f94f4ee |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Robert Rundel
February 2003
Alder Waters Par 3 Academy is quite a nice 9-hole par-3 course. As you might guess from the name, every hole plays across water, and two of the greens are islands. It is the third course from Mr. Seaman; his other two, Hales Meadow and Hales Meadow North Course are full 18-hole courses. The latter, posted in September, 2002, received a very good rating of 86, with 3 user stars.
The first screenshot, of my favorite 9th hole, shows many of the virtues, and a few faults, of the course. The scenery is quite lush, which is appropriate for a course with water seemingly everywhere. The water lilies in the pond are quite natural and effective. There is a particularly magnificent clubhouse, especially for such a short course. This is the shortest hole on the course, 136 yards, to an island green with a bunker guarding the front. There are golf carts parked by the clubhouse, but it's difficult to see how you could possibly get a cart around this course, with all the water and vegetation, and no cart paths. Note the tallest trees, in the background, are identical. This course has problems with tree cloning. It's not as bad as some courses I've played recently, but it does tend to stick out when the most prominent trees in sight are cloned. Note also the vertical edge where the water meets the land. All of the ponds have vertical edges, which to me is not nearly as natural as a gradual bank sloping down into the water.
Screenshot 2 shows the 3rd hole, 146 yards to another island green. The flower bed near the tee box is quite lovely, and water seems to be everywhere. But the two prominent trees to the left of the green are identical, as are the 4 white-trunk trees on the right. The ponds here have a short vertical edge, which makes the land appear extruded directly out of the water.
Screenshot 3 shows the 173 yard 5th hole, with more prominent identical trees in the background, and short vertical pond edges. It also shows a number of the various sheds and buildings distributed around the course, and the nice ball washers.
The short vertical edges are also used on most of the bunkers, as shown in screenshot 4, and there is a very sharp transition from sand to dirt, and then from dirt to grass. I do like the brownish texture of the sand, and in fact most of the textures used on this course are quite well-chosen.
Despite the problems, I did enjoy playing this course a great deal. It gave me quite a thrill to finish my round without going into the water. My playing partner, Arnold Palmer, hit the water once, for his only bogey. The greens are not highly difficult, but are always interesting. The lack of hole previews is relatively unimportant for a par-3 course, and the custom objects kept my interest up. It's a pretty small download at 12 Megs, and I recommend it if you would like to change your routine, and play an interesting and lovely short course.
Summary :
Details: Fictional parkland/woodland 9-hole course, par 27, 1643 yards, 9 par 3s, 5 tees per hole. Readme file, a cameo and a splash screen with course pictures, no hole handicaps, no hole previews, no hole signs, no cart path, some custom objects including ball washers, sheds, and a lovely clubhouse, no gallery or tournament objects. 11.6 Meg download. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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