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Lagalochan Bay G.C.
by Alan Toft
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1343 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-10-18 |
64,840,604 bytes |
72 |
7032 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
OCEAN |
Lagalochan Bay_locked.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed By 'loner'
Included: read-me, cameo, splash, hole previews, custom flag, ball washers, path, crowds, buildings and assorted objects.
Not Included: recorded round, custom tee markers, hole signs or hole numbers.
Statistical Information: par 72, 7032y, an 'F' type 'links' course, 5 sets of tee markers, 4-3 pars, 10-4 pars, 4-5 pars, played pro, clicker, bck/nw/m/m/e, a 55.3mb download and a shadow file of 23.4mb.
This is course # 3 that Alan has designed for Links. The other two are Blackclough Forest and Culbeck Heath, both very well received by the membership. This seems to be a little more 'modern' than the usual Links courses we see, and I must say it's a refreshing change. The tee boxes have a lightly textured look; the fairways have a slightly heavier texture to them, sorry no first cut. The greens are quite similar to the tee boxes in the textured look and they have a generous fringe. The rough has a very 'grass' look to it and the color along with the blend is perfect. Beyond this is deep grass spotted with bushes, brush and small yellow flowers. The trees, yes there are many, are either in the background or located behind the greens, they are not a hazard of any kind. A few can be found a some of the tee areas but for the most part the tee areas are 'tree bare' as they should be. Unfortunately many of the trees are repeated, they look nice but a greater variety would have been welcome even if they had made the download larger. The pano of the mountains was outstanding; it gave you the depth that it was meant to do, just perfect. The sounds were entertaining at first but after a while that one bird 'cawing' got on my nerves.
The fairways were nice sized and littered with very nicely made pot bunkers, the greens undulated and weren't that well guarded but they were less than medium sized and nicely 'chipable'. The putting I felt was medium difficulty but fair, not unreasonable. His elevations varied slightly and didn't cause any problems off the tee but the approach shots with a usually 'up-elevation' proved to be quite an exercise in club choice. The caddie proved to be up for the course and very seldom did I have to do more than change trajectory. Yes as usual these types of courses have blind tee shots and he provided an 'aiming-post' in the fairway for those of us that don't use the top view. The beaches were magnificent and the rock formations on them, outstanding. Unfortunately the water (ocean) could have used some work, it wasn't very realistic but with the course looking 'old' you didn't want a bright blue Mediterranean look to it. Before I forget, the rockworks on the small bridges over the creek along with a few other 'rock objects' were beautifully made. The clubhouse was perfect for this seaside course; you could tell that it had seen better days.
Unfortunately the only reason I can see for the huge shadow file is that he mistakenly assigned 'top views' to the grass. Many found the course very slow rendering, on my 'middle of the road' computer it took a fraction over 2 minutes to load the file but all the holes rendered quite well, just a quickly as any other course. The course has many challenges to it, from the layout of the fairway bunkers to the undulations and slopes of the greens. This is a quality course, some visual flaws that beta tester (If there were any) should have caught the first time out. But this is a very challenging and playable course. I would most wholeheartedly recommend it for a download and probably a longtime staple on your hard-drive.
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, links course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 7/10
This links course winds its way through constricting deep grass moorland
with pine forest forever in the background. Large pot bunkers are perfectly
placed throughout and provide a constant dark-lipped menace. The clifftop
holes are stunning and the picture-perfect highlight of the course. Away
from here, the course loses its way a little, with too many 'seen it before'
ideas, and not enough variety in the layout or fine detail. |
Appearance 6/10
Generally, a good looking course, although on closer inspection, there are some scale issues with the 3D objects and the bunkers look
off-colour, and the path extrusions are occasionally noticeable. The ever-present yellow shrubs have been planted well without too
much cloning, although this cannot be said for the long grass, particularly when you see it up close from, say, the greens. |
Playability 5/10
Lagalochan makes for something of a frustrating game, due to slow rendering, bad ambient sound and the ease of missing fairways.
Certainly the green areas are not accommodating, and you will find your ball ricocheting all over the shop. Even odds says you will
reach the 18th green with an big sigh of relief. It's not all bad, but it's hard work to want to come back. |
Challenge 8/10
Thankfully, the deep grass rough, which lies awfully close to the fairways, isn't very hard to escape. Tricky, certainly, but decent
enough to lay up an easy approach to most holes. The bunkers are not as hard as they should be, either, and you'll find most of your
drop shots come with entanglements with the OB areas. The Par 5s are the best holes; each one dares you to hit the green in two, and
all four will do their damnedest to make sure you don't.. A fair challenge on the whole; perhaps a little too easy. |
Technical 5/10
There are quite serious issues here. The bunker lips are in need of direct attention, as is the terrible ambient sound which slows down
your hole round amidst a din of unidentifiable noises and flocks of birds (who, I note, don't have terribly many trees to sit on). The
shape creation looks a bit formulaic in places. Some of the texture blending is effective, though, and the planting works well as long as
you don't pay really close attention to it. |
| Overall |
An OK links course, but might prove a bit of a trial to play until some technical
issues are resolved and possibly a little more imagination applied. |
31/50 |
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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