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Te Ihi O Te Rangi
by Kristoffer Selberg
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1366 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2003-11-14 |
78,246,408 bytes |
72 |
7472 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
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FICTIONAL |
TROPICAL |
TeIhiOteRangi.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
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LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
12/18/03
Reviewed by: Chuck Clark
Background: Kristoffer Selberg is a well known and well liked APCD designer. His previous courses include Selto Beach and Royal Throughfare, two very well done and well liked fictional designs. I actually reviewed Selto Beach and I enjoyed it immensely. It is another tropical course like Te Ihi. Kristoffer seems to really like tropical courses; and considering he is from a very cold and snowy country (Sweden I believe) that's not hard to understand. Te Ihi has been well received by the community and reviewers as evidenced by the LCR award! As a fan of Kris and tropical courses I am really looking forward to playing this one.
Overall Impression: Wow, where do I start? This is a fabulously hilly tropical course right out of the South Pacific! The elevation work here is some of the best ever done! The course starts out high-up on a tropical island and winds its way down to the ocean. The textures and planting can be described in one word: lush! Everything about this course is lush. It is very green and..well..lush! The planting set is a perfect tropical mix of trees, grasses and bushes. It is pretty severe though. You will never have a flat lie or an easy shot. If you really miss hit one, you will be in deep trouble! As a word of warning, if you hit one into the jungle here, rehit! Don't go in there and try to hack your way out; you'll never make it! The other main impression this course makes is with the water hazards, streams and waterfalls! They are prevalent throughout the course. The waterfall on 15 is probably the best one ever done in the APCD! Very realistic looking!
Playability: Well, this course is playable, but it isn't easy. I play champ click and average about 3 or 4 under. My first round here at Te Ihi I shot even par. I was pretty lucky to do that, since I came close to some big numbers once or twice. I think if you play this course a number of times, you will learn where to aim and where not to hit it! That last one is important since the jungle areas are not marked as hazards. If you hit down a hill into a jungle here and just click continue you are in for a big surprise! A lot of these areas are pretty much unplayable! I think I saw a few of our members here still wandering around trying to find their way out! The other issue I had with playability was the severity of the greens. There were a few pin positions that were border line unfair. A couple of other observations on the playability were that you had to use the hole previews or top cam quite often, since there were a number of blind shots. These don't bother me in the least, but you should be warned just the same. One other quirky thing is the 13th hole; a 700-yard par 5! I killed a drive, murdered a 3-wood and still was left with 155-yards to the pin! Tough hole that one is!
Shot Values: Whew, this is a doozy of a course when it comes to testing your game. Because of the severity of the elevations and the sloping lies you will inevitably receive; you better know your distances and the corrections for sloping lies. Fail to pay attention to those things can result in a very high score here! Bad shots are penalized severely. The greens are pretty severe as well, so you better be good on sloping chips and putts. One other note, there is only one set of tees on this course (7,472 yards). The course plays much shorter than this though, because many of the holes are relentlessly downhill.
Visuals: This is a stunning tropical golf course. The textures, planting, elevations and layout all add up to a fantastic and immersive environment. For the first 15 holes, you are tumbling down one cliff after another, with deep foreboding jungles lurking off each fairway to catch your bad shots. Very blue lakes, waterfalls and streams are abundant and dangerously placed. The last three holes are flatter and play around some sand bordered lakes or lagoons! These holes are a bit different looking than the first 15, but still well done and fun to play.
Technique: The technique here is very well done; with only a few small quibbles on my part. Most people would probably not even notice the small things that I do; considering all the time and effort I have spent with the APCD the last three years. The main thing that I noticed was the seam blending didn't look quite right in places. The course is locked so I couldn't open it in the APCD to check. But enough of that, lets get to the good stuff. The waterfalls are tremendous! I have played around in the program trying to make waterfalls before, so I know how hard they are to make realistic looking. Kris did a fantastic job here and even added some new techniques that the rest of us will be stealing soon. Specifically, he added a 2D object over the bottom of the falls to simulate the watery spray that splashes up at the bottom of a falls. Truly imaginative! And of course, the other main technological achievement here is the elevation work! Quite extraordinary! There is also a number of good environmental sounds on this course, so keep those speakers turned up!
Summary: A fantastic and fun tropical course, like nothing else you have ever played. I highly recommend it to everyone. My very small nit picks include: not having the jungle areas as hazards and some severe pin positions. But seriously folks this is a course you have just got to have. Your Links golf course collection just wouldn't be complete without it! Please check out the photo's below, you won't be disappointed!
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, canyon course |
Location
‘A Pacific Island’ |
Conditions
I don't think faster than S*/M* is desirable. |
Concept 7/10
Larger than life, Te Ihi O Te Rangi (great name, by the way! It means 'fall from the sky') winds its way down a Pacific island's
mountainside. Massive elevation changes mark the terrain, and hole designs tend towards the extraordinary. It's a tremendous idea for
a round of golf, undoubtedly influenced by Kapalua among others, but it lacks the coherence between holes that makes you feel that
you are really there. |
Appearance 7/10
Generally good, but a few views are a bit underwhelming. The water features, in particular, seem underplanted, and when you hit the
jungle areas, you realise they too are far too sparse, especially compared to other jungle courses. But the elevations make for some
spectacular views, and to a large extent the visuals on offer will carry you around 18 holes. |
Playability 7/10
While the environment just tempts you in to play, the golf course itself might invite frustration. Impossible lies are commonplace, thanks
to the jungle areas being playable land, and pars are extraordinarily difficult to make on the front nine. In terms of the novelty and its
departure from a 'normal' round of golf, though, the course keeps you involved, and two or three holes offer a brilliantly original design. |
Challenge 3/10
This has been referred to as something akin to Devils Island, and quite rightly so. It is undeniable brutal, tending towards out-and-out
unfair. Unplayable lies and impenetrable rough do little to help your round, and most holes have been stretched out to uncompromising
lengths. This course would be far more enticing if it were possible to break 80 on a regular basis. |
Technical 8/10
The water features would be a main priority for improvement: they look unnatural and distinctly under-planted. Short of giving the
fundamental layout of the course an overhaul, there is not too much else wrong, although I would question the very green textures.
Perhaps a better set of custom yellow textures would be more apt to this locale. |
| Overall |
A course which invites you to play, and may well might make you wish you hadn't
bothered. Very punishing and unfair in parts; you'll need a lot of soul to take the
course seriously. |
32/50 |
Please remember that Clipnote reviews are the opinion of one person and do not constitute an 'Official' Links Corner review of the course. |
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