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Marion Bridge Golf Club
by David Schwartz

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1323
Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length
2003-08-06  54,208  bytes 72  7668 yards
Type Style CRZ Filename
FICTIONAL  WOODLAND  mbridge1.crz 
Course ID Course Key
9/5/2003   

COURSE SCREENSHOTS

LINKS CORNER REVIEW

Reviewed by
Bob Hankla
September 2003

Designer: Marion Bridge is the second course released by David Schwartz, following Glacier Lake Valley.

Course: Marion Bridge is a 2001 fictional course set in a wooded area in Nova Scotia bordering the Atlantic Ocean. In the words of the designer, 'One of the prime considerations in designing the Marion Bridge Golf Club was to reward good shots and penalize bad ones.' I would say he succeeded in his goal. There are two primary ways he did this. The first is the large amount of water present on the course. I can think of only a couple holes where water did not come into play. Not only is it present, it is often a prime factor in shot selection. The second is the use of heavy rough throughout the course. This can make some of the forced carries over water impossible. Of course, the heavy rough only matters when you make a bad shot, so it's hardly unfair by any stretch.

Before describing the course further, I will also mention that according to the readme file included, this course was developed on the Mac version of the APCD, which evidently severely limits the designers capabilities to do any custom work whatsoever. Despite the limitation of 2001 stock textures, the designer has managed to give us a fairly attractive course. The fairways are lined with a large variety of trees planted in the deep grass texture with a smattering of grasses, flowers, and bushes throughout. The underplanting could have been a little thicker. Also lacking was planting around a lot of the water hazards. Planting around the water hazards and a gradual slope down to the water would have added immensely to the look of the course, especially since water is such a dominant feature.

The hole layouts are what I would consider to be the strength of the course. The designer shows a lot of creativity, providing a large variety of looks and challenges. None of the holes are alike, and most require more thought than hitting the driver as far as you can and sticking the approach. There are many forced carries over water both from the tee and on approach shots, which at least for me is always fun. Water also comes into play as lateral hazards, often near the landing area of your drive. You are also provided with multiple angles across the water, which requires thought and accuracy. Bunkers are thrown in as well, usually where you want to hit the ball to stay away from the water. Elevation wise, things are pretty flat everywhere you look. A little more elevation work in the fairways would have been nice; but then again maybe you have enough to worry about already.

Construction techniques looked to be pretty solid for the most part. The most glaring problem would be the squared edges to the water hazards and bunkers. The edges are sharp and square, and the texture used for the edge was not mapped for the most part. The may be a limitation of the Mac APCD, I'm not sure. Overall, I think this course is a solid effort given the limitations that were in place. I also read in the readme file that this course was actually built three times due to file corruption issues, so I highly commend the designer for his persistence and patience in releasing the course. After three times around, I know he's probably tired of it, but if he ever gets APCD 1.5 for Windows this course has the potential to be very good.

Favorite Hole: I like the creativity and challenge of many of the holes, so picking one is difficult. I'm going to select numbers 5, a long par 5 at 641 yards. The driver is actually taken away from you due to water appearing at about 270 yards where the fairway turns to the left. The fairway narrows and angles at this point, so you don't want to get too cute with it. Heavy trees also are present at the turn, so you need to be wide and long enough to not be blocked. The second shot is the fun one. The fairway actually continues at 200 yards, but only half the previous width. It doesn't widen to its full width until 250 yards. I don't know about you, but hitting a straight long iron or fairway wood when worried about distance as well is not my string suit. Reaching the full fairway will leave you with a short iron to a moderately sloped green.

Recommendation: It's a fairly large download at 48 meg, but if you like lots of water, go for it. I had a lot of fun playing it. Thanks to the designer for bringing it to us.

CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg)

Description
Fictional, lakeside course
Location
TBA
Conditions
TBA
Concept  4/10
A course that certainly lives up to its name, Marion Bridge is all about water and 3D bridges. Streams, lakes, parallel water features and islands - they're all here, including a terrific beach hole at the 17th. As a theme, it stands up pretty well (at least as well as Watery Grave, which post-dated it by a fair few years), and the first half is a pretty good round of golf, for the age. Sadly, it all gets a bit silly after the turn, with some pretty daft and unplayable holes which don't gel well with what came before.
Appearance  3/10
The textures are old, old news, and there are some pretty obvious extrusion marks available. The flatness of the course doesn't make for good spectator sport, either. But there has been a reasonable attempt to cover up clones and add an appropriate panorama, and some care has been taken with the 3D objects from stock.
Playability  2/10
What starts off well, with some nicely-shaped h oles and greens, becomes horrendously confrontational in the second half. Blind, unfair shots proliferate, and the water becomes less of a theme than a nuisance. Most players won't look at the back nine again, but there are one or two lingering charms from the opening holes.
Challenge  1/10
Whatever score you're carrying at the turn won't last. Expect to finish with more than eighty.
Technical  2/10
Six years on, this course is looking closer to eight years old. There's precious little remaining here to inspire students of the APCD. Without the poor course-planning, this might be passable, but the overblown silliness along the back nine removes any trace of credibility.
Overall Probably best left in the archives. A passable idea which soon disappears up its own orifice. 12/50
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course.

USER RATINGS

 Votes cast
Ace0 %0
Eagle12 %2
Birdie62 %10
Par19 %3
Bogey or worse6 %1

The User Course Reviews and polls have been removed from the forum due to the low numbers of members. The information above is presented merely for historical interest.

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