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Fearway to heaven
by Mikael Julin
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1365 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-11-17 |
20,212,196 bytes |
69 |
6556 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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IMAGINARY |
WOODLAND |
FEARWAY TO HEAVEN_locked.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Designer: With the coinciding release of Fairway to Heaven, this course is Mikael Julin's second course design, and even though both of his courses are not technically as good a quality as they could have been, the creative energy shown in the course designs, illustrates that the designer has the potential to release much better courses in the future.
Course: Even though the design of Hole 1 is quite imaginary, the majority of the course is not like that, and the course would be better classed as Fictional, rather than that of a Fantasy nature. The landing areas on the front nine, including that of the Par 3's, can be quite tight (Screenshot 3), so the majority of shots are going to have to be quite accurate, as once on the green, putts will generally be easy, as the curve and sloping is not that difficult to read. Although many of the hole designs are both challenging and scenic, it is the holes that don't feature water that seem to be less of a challenge, as there are very few bunkers used in the overall course design, something that could have been better implemented throughout the course. Overall, it seemed as if this course was somewhere in the middle between being either Imaginary or Fictional, which shows that in the future, the designer has to stay true with the style of design throughout the whole course, and not just on a few holes.
Favourite Hole: My favourite hole on the course was Hole 13 (Screenshot 4), as the golfer was hitting off under trees in a nice set of shadows, over the water, while having to try and avoid a bunker on the other side, and even though the major draw card of this hole is the scenery, it is rather challenging too.
Playability: As this course is an Imaginary one, there were obviously going to be some challenging holes on the course, and in this case that included the first, Hole 1 (Screenshot 1). The Par 3's on the front nine are especially difficult, with tee shots having to clear water and trees, as well as having to be accurate enough to avoid bunkers and water hazards in the actual green (Screenshot 3), however the Par 3's on the back nine are rather quite easy, except for the blind finish on Hole 18 (Screenshot 5). The Par 5's are very long, and quite challenging in their designs, so Eagle opportunities are hard to come across, except for the Par 4 Hole 15, which allows the golfer to attempt a drive direct to the green. Overall, the challenge of the course rapidly changes from difficult to easy, and the score at the end of the round will totally depend on how the golfer has managed to play the more difficult holes found on the course.
AI Performance: The AI Golfer 'Simon' shot a -10 (59), with 58% Fairways and 55% Greens in Regulation, with a total of 18 putts.
Difficulty Index: 0.93
Technically: For a 2003 course, the APCD techniques used were satisfactory, but as there was no seam blending or even lips for the bunkers, the course could have been much better than what it was. The choice of panorama was not the best, while for instance on Hole 4, the fence reflected very badly on to the water, something that would have been picked up if this course was thoroughly beta tested. Overall, the course in many instances looked like it was more of 2001 than a 2003 course, and if the designer had spent more time fine tuning some things on the course, consulted with other designers, and had used beta testers, this course would have been vastly different to how it actually was.
Other: As the zip file came with no additions to it, I expected similar with extras in the course, which was correct, as no cameo, handicaps or hole previews were used, while the splash screen, that was distastefully bad, seemed to have no relevance to the actual course, and personally, I think that having no splash screen would have been better than using such an image. Custom objects were found on every hole, and included benches, bins, camera stands, marquee tents and even a FWD near a tree on Hole 12. If the designer had attempted to at least add what he could in the way of additions to the course and the zip file, things would have been much better, and along with recommending that, beta testing will also help with all future designs, as then the designer will have a better understanding of what's missing and can attempt to correct any problems.
Download Value: At just under 20mb, I would recommend this course to people who enjoy playing Imaginary courses, or enjoyed the designer's previous course, Fairway to Heaven. However, as the course is not of an equal quality as many other courses of a similar size, and has no additions in the zip file like a read-me, it will not be staying on the hard drive, however, it will be burnt to CD.
Information:
Course Statistics:
2003 - Imaginary Woodland - Par 69 - 4 Tees
6556yds (Back) - 5919yds (Forward)
Par 3's: 6 - Par 4's: 9 - Par 5's: 3
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