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Schloss Hohenfels e.V.
by Jorg Jobmann
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1268 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-04-23 |
70,711,253 bytes |
72 |
7166 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
Schloss2003.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 05a5ad44fd0e4c31ab704288f1c37398 |
d438e93f7ab6c7a9206fdafc8d385788 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Jon Weinrieb May 2003
BASICS: Schloss Hohenfels e.V. is a European parkland-style fictional course, designed by Jörb Jobmann. It features 3 sets of tees (7,166; 6,752; and 6,299) and includes: cameo; splash screen; custom flag; read me file; hole previews, and a recorded round. File size: approx. 59MB.
INTRODUCTION: Schloss Hohenfels (from my limited knowledge of German and some superficial research) means High Rock Castle -- or something close to that. It is Jörg's third APCD release to date, having previously treated us to Capdepera Golf Resort (78 points) and Piazza Metallica (90 points). His improvement over the years is evident. One of the most important aspects of designing a fictional course for Links play is, in addition to the obvious amount of APCD technical acumen required, creating a course that is challenging while remaining realistic. Some note the relative ease of playing real courses recreated with the APCD, yet complain when courses are designed with Devils Island-like difficulty. Jörg achieved a wonderful balance here and has given us a gem in Schloss Hohenfels that is fun and challenging without being too hard. Although there is plenty of trouble out there, there are birdies, as well. This is a well-documented labor of love for Jörg. As he makes clear in his read me file (excuse Jörg's English -- he says he's working on that, too): 'I thought to be finished last year in summer. Then Links2003 came out. I saw shadows and seemblends and for me it was clear, I would have to rework the whole plot. I didn't want to release it as a 2001 version, because 2003 looked so much better. The idea for this course came at a walk through a park with a small castle near the town I live at. Here are swimming pools, tennis courts, horseriding and so on compressed in a relatively small area. It's a nice looking landscape and I thought how a golfcourse here could look like. Now I know it.' Yes, Jörg, you know it (and show it) very well.
APPEARANCE: As previously stated, Schloss Hohenfels is a parkland-style course set somewhere in Europe and Jörg really captures the essence of that look effectively. There are power lines, cows mooing, yellow flowers everywhere, the whole deal. The most unique features of this course, in fact, are actually some of the things that, in real life, the player hates to encounter -- ground under repair, wire fences, a construction site and, most courageously, a temporary green. As far as I know, these are, for the most part, novel features in Links courses, and they are beautifully done at that. The player really feels like he is on a real course dealing with the realities that we all run in to at our local course from time to time. To that end, this course is not the immaculate blanket of bent grass that some courses appear to feature. But that is a good thing. There is a genuine quality to Schloss Hohenfels. The seam blends between the striped fairways and the beautiful, lush, bright rough are meticulous, as are those between the shorter and deeper cuts of rough and the bunkers. Although the textures are on the grainy side with a hint of tiling effect, they are nice looking. The bunkers are also expertly done. In general, the plantings are well-varied with little noticeable cloning or rows of repetitive trees. The undergrowth used in the deeper areas is a nice complex of green and brown grasses with some flowering interspersed. Many of the long, winding tee areas present a picturesque backdrop for the often difficult tee shots and a pretty assortment of ponds are scattered throughout the course, offering an additional challenge. A word about the atypical and incongruous hole previews is, unfortunately, in order. They are odd and out of place on a course that has very few, if any, negatives. They are cartoon-like in their simplicity and just don't fit. They would be more appropriate in Piazza Metallica as opposed to Schloss Hohenfels.
PLAYABILITY: Schloss is a joy to play. It is eminently fair without being the slightest bit boring. It is a design that will test every club in your bag and every swing in your game, requiring the player to work the ball off the tees and to take care on the medium-sized, multi-level greens. As do most these days, the course favors the player who is not too wild off the tee, but it is not overly penal if one is a little crooked. You do need to smack the ball out there are a number of long holes, with 7,166 yards from the tips to negotiate. The closing stretch of four holes, for example, plays 552 (par 5), 468 (par 4), 246 (par 3), and 603 (par 5), respectively, so the driver definitely gets some attention, particularly late in the round. For the most part, the course stands there in front of the player, with no tricks and pretty straightforward (although rarely straight) holes. Although the hole previews are somewhat helpful, they are, as previously stated, not great, and the player who employs the overhead view will be significantly better served.
BEST HOLE: The par-4 13th (474 from the back) is an excellent risk-reward hole, wrapped nearly 90-degrees around a gorgeous lake with lovely plantings and sandy textures framing the fairway and waters' edge. A booming draw off the tee will leave a middle-iron to this multi-tiered green.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Jörg has cemented his place amongst some of the best in the game of Links course design. He has built on the creativity that he revealed to us with Piazza Metallica and honed his already spiky skills with this quality design in Schloss Hohenfels. The bad news is that Schloss Hohenfels is fictional, so we can only play it on our computers. If you are one of the few who has not played in Jörg's European countryside, download this course today and talk to the starter. You will not be disappointed.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, farmland course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 7/10
After some pretty outlandish fantasy designs, Jörg has turned his hand to
a seemingly innocent parkland course, winding in between characteristic
farmland (with noises to match!). Of course, nothing is quite as simple as it
looks and this course is devilishly tricky: the Par 5s in particular being
masterpieces of tough golf. I'm not sure the intention lies happily with the
intended environment - I was expecting something much more like Lucia
von Rheden - but there is a lot of very fine golf still to be had. |
Appearance 9/10
Generally very good, with only some cloned planting in the top regions, and some iffy-looking overhead cables (might have been better
not to bother with them) to spoil the view. There's a lot of good rockwork and water features to break up what might have otherwise
been a flat and uninspiring landscape. |
Playability 9/10
Like all of Jörg's courses, this is eminently, wonderfully enjoyable to play. I doubt anyone could get round without having to pull out
every trick in their armoury. There's plenty to look at and plenty more to hear on the way round, some clever conceits to help the
atmosphere, and the vast majority of holes offer a viable playing option which provokes thought. Great stuff! |
Challenge 5/10
Ooh, a toughie. OB regions abound and threaten very closely at some points. Water is almost unavoidable (strangely, given the
landscape) and most greens are heavily bunkered. Bogeys are inevitable and double-bogeys just as much so. My impulse is that the
designer needs to lighten up and offer us a Par 3 course! |
Technical 8/10
Sadly, given the designer's experience, there are a few problems here. The cloned planting is possible to overlook, but the lack of
good seam blending on APCD 1.5 is not. It feels too as if the course is suffering a little from overkill, and the designer has tried to
sculpt a little too much out of every hole. But there's some brilliant and apt customisation, and the vast majority of the course is well
over satisfactory. |
| Overall |
It's possible that players of this course might find the designer's unique (in the good
sense!) style of hole design a little bit too much for once. It's a good course, no
doubt, but sometimes we're itching for something a little bit less testing. |
38/50 |
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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