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Aitch Heath Municipal '92_2003
by Mitch Sirk
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1331 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-09-02 |
57,161,932 bytes |
69 |
7118 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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REAL |
LINKS |
Aitch Heath Municipal_2003_locke.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Joe Turner `Loner'
September 2003
A portion of his read-me:
A fictional rendering of a real course.
7130 yards from back tees, 5880 yards from 'real' tees.
Aitch Heath is a Links rendering of a real course - Hounslow Heath Municipal, as I remember it from 1992, when I last played it.
It is fictional for 2 main reasons:
1 - it is rendered entirely from memory and thus is unlikely to be accurate even to the course of 1992.
2 - at a little under 6000 yards Hounslow Heath would not represent much in the way of a challenge to any computer golfer.
I wanted to create a real course however and so I made the forward tees accurate to the real course (in terms of length), and then invented back tees significantly further from the greens in order to make a course playable in Links.
Further to the above I moved and added bunkers to spice things up a little, but not so as to change the character of the course.
Anyone familiar with Hounslow Heath can decide how successful I've been in terms of replicating the look, feel and game strategy issues of the original.
'Fictionalised' it may be, but Aitch Heath is when all is said and done an attempt at creating a real course as I remember it, and thus you won't find as many risk/reward play options as on totally fictional and re-creations of championship courses.
Fans of real courses will hopefully understand the liberties I've taken and are invited to try the course from the forward tees if they want an experience closer to reality.
HOUNSLOW HEATH MUNICIPAL sits somewhat uncomfortably in West London a couple of miles from Heathrow - the busiest airport in the world. The landscape is pretty flat, being in the Thames basin, and the environment is commercial and industrial, as you would expect from its location.
Being a municipal course the tees, fairways and greens were never maintained up to private club standards, and winter tees, temporary greens and ground under repair were frequent features. The course got very muddy in wet weather.
However it's a well laid out course, challenging for the developing player and I enjoyed many pleasurable Sunday afternoons there.
I hope this computer homage gives you a pleasant hour or two as well.
This is a remake of his 2001 version of this course and a very successful one it is, I happened to be the reviewer on that one also. He is now, with the textures of the new APCD recreated this municipal course as it should look, worn, tired and weather-beaten, in a one word description, beautiful. It has a patchy worn tee box, a slightly burned worn fairway with a first cut and a lush looking rough. The worn green has a nice first cut. This is all done in the 'links style' textures and with the cityscape in the background you are well aware that if you ever played at a too often played 'muni' course, this is a perfect example of one. The trees, bushes, brush, the 'trodden path' as he so well puts it, the creek that runs throughout the course, all add to the beauty of this course. Throw in the sound of the wind and you can feel the chill in your bones, look in the sky above the green on hole # 8 and you can see the aircraft coming, or is it going, to and from Heathrow airport just a short distance away. Heathrow is close enough that on hole # 10 you can hear them fly by. This all adds to the realism of the course that we call Aitch Heath.
The fairways are a shade under medium but aren't very well guarded in spite of the beautiful bunkers he has occasionally placed in them. The greens are a different story, fall short on these much less than medium greens and they will bite you. The greens have perfect breaks to them and very nice and have very fair pin placement. The fairways almost all have some slope to them, which adds to the enjoyment of that approach shot and the elevations while not overly severe still made me chose my club or alter my trajectory somewhat. The caddie never missed when giving me a club.
This was in its first version a superb course and received a fitting score for its time. This rendition is far superior to that one. Mitch has grown as a designer since then and we are the fortunate recipients of his talents. He is as we speak designing another course that I am fortunate enough to be beta testing an can tell you that it more than rivals this course, as beautiful as this one is that is better and more challenging because it's a fictional one. Back to this must download. This course is an excellent addition to your hard drive collection, with its interestingly shaped holes and occasional blind shots it's a joy to play. Download it, and good golfing.
I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players.
Reviewer Note:
I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players.
Summary :
Included: read-me (extensive), 2 recorded rounds, cameo, splash, hole previews, custom tees, custom flags, ball washers and path.
Not Included: hole signs or numbers.
Statistical Information:2 sets of tee markers, 4-3 pars, 13-4 pars, 1-5 par |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Real, parkland course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 6/10
Even the most mediocre of courses can be brilliant in the hands of a
great artist. And that, frankly, is a good job, because Aitch Heath really
can be the most mediocre of courses. The wide-open fairways and
unimaginative landscaping mark it out as a very routine British
municipal course, although the first hole offers an interesting
risk/reward option which - one suspects - is more tempting in Links
than in real life. There's something faintly miraculous about the tender
transformation into an almost magical course, which earns Aitch Heath more than it might have been otherwise worth. |
Appearance 9/10
From the scrubby planting, to the brilliantly down-at-heel rubber tee mats, to the spectacular panorama, Aitch Heath just oozes
authenticity. The Read-me states the course as damp and soggy, and the verdant green textures do a marvellous job of convincingly
re-creating this. Perhaps a little more might have been done in the way of long grass, but otherwise it looks extremely professional. |
Playability 6/10
Great looks maketh the course, in this case. While it's unlikely that many of the holes will grab you in terms of risk/reward, and while
the hole length remains obstinately stubborn, the course is still pretty playable if you're prepared to be immersed in its dank London
setting. The lack of good Par 5s (the course is a Par 69) and the samey feel to several holes count against it, though. |
Challenge 4/10
I doubt that Aitch Heath will do much to pressure or further anyone's game. A routine round of 18, even in real life, fairways are too
easy to hit, and most greens do not provide much challenging. Hazarding is sparse and almost coincidental to the round. While it's a
generous course for people starting out on PS or RTS, the overwhelming impression is that it is just too easy. |
Technical 10/10
A brilliant choice of textures in all parts of the course, and a superb panorama all add up to give Aitch Heath a totally immersive
experience. A classic of golf it will never be, but a classic in how to make golf designs look unassumingly realistic it most certainly is. |
| Overall |
Ordinary golf, from an extra-ordinary course designer. You'd be sorry to miss this
one. |
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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