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An Ocean Bluff Country Club
by Jeff Sanders
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 404 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-05-20 |
21,849,994 bytes |
72 |
7349 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
IMAGINARY |
OCEAN |
OceanBluff.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| cbe17ea04d4611d5961b70f053c10000 |
4cdf1fa34095e8a71b1e2828e0dc80c1 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Pete Dixon
July 2001
If you want to know who put the fan in fantasy then look no further, Jeff has created a course that could never be reproduced in real life and if it was possible you would need boat, helicopter, parachute to get to some of the holes!!
Now I have to be fair here and say that fantasy courses are not really my bag and this one is fantasy with a capital F! I do realise that some players like this style of course maybe as a break from the norm and because computer golf has no real boundaries. Purists, on the other hand, are more than likely going to dismiss this course and not look beyond the surface to see if there is a playable, well-executed course here.
This course is not to be confused with the similarly named The Bluffs at Ocean Point which came out just after this and is not a fantasy course, there have been confusions which hopefully have now been sorted.
To the course proper. Nice cameo splash screens, once onto the first tee you can see you are on a cliff side with the blue ocean below, tropical vegetation and a fairway that is on another strip of land than the tee and the green an island away from that. Although unbelievable the tee was well done with custom rock marks and nice carved rock distance indicators. The textures used are custom and blend well although I personally didn't care for the rock face texture, not real enough in my mind. The bunkers were well finished off and had good textured sand and the green was also a nice dark green.
On the second hole you get a choice of 3 fairways to aim for depending how brave you feel and which way the wind is blowing.
The greens are nearly all Islands as are a lot of the fairways and because of this it does feel like target golf, one slight mistake and it's get your swim shorts on and snorkel and flippers!!
The elevation changes, usually quite steeply down, and use of Islands means you have to be very careful about club selection or you will end up in trouble real quick
There is good use of custom objects, glass bottomed boats, shipwrecks, Aircraft carriers, lighthouses, the above mentioned items on the tees and sounds are also excellent, sea birds, waves, goats etc all set the scene well.
Planting is done pretty well throughout and as I said the technical side of placement and finesse of the fairways, green, tees, bunkers etc are also very good, there are big elevation changes and these have been handled well showing that Jeff has good skills re the APCD, I was not entirely happy with the tees however and feel there is room for improvement in this area another area I thought could be improved on is where the different terrains met, it was a bit harsh particularly where rough met rock, some planting may have helped here.
I have to say I was not a fan of the severe dog leg 14th hole, it just frustrated me and this let the course down, it just takes the difficulty stakes too far and in my opinion is unnecessary, there were a few other holes too that were not as good as some.
Best Hole: This is a mixed bag, I liked several holes very much and others I was a little disappointed with, I will leave the choice as I can't make up my mind but will put up a pic that I feel shows off the best this course has to offer.
Overall: I think you need to play this with an open mind, if you are the sort of player who likes recreations or realistic courses you may well have a quick glance at this and dismiss it. If you do you will be missing out, it is not that sort of course and has never intended to be, what it is is a refreshing change from the usual, well crafted and the sort of course that will surprise you each time you play it although it is a mix of very nice holes, good holes and not so good. It is not easy either, I would guess this would make a good tournament course, it is certainly the sort of course you would have fun playing if you had a few mates round and some beer or played head to head over the internet, I could see a commanding lead dwindle away quickly here.
This isn't for everyone and I am sure Jeff still has room for improvement with the APCD, I would like to see him change completely for his next design and do a more traditional style and see how he gets on, and I think he would make his mark.
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Chris Gormley's thoughts..
Initial Impressions: An Ocean Bluff is a fantasy course set near the ocean on small islands. This course is visually pretty nice to look at with some great detail in regards to the planting. There are no visual problems in the construction, but the elevations do seem a bit chunky. Not as realistic as they could look. Many textures have been used as well as custom objects that fit in nicely with the overall scheme of the course.
Greens: All of the greens are contoured very nicely, a high point of the course. There are quite a few island greens though. An occasional island green is nice, but after a while from a player's point of view they get tiresome. The contouring though of the greens makes up for the number of island greens. All the greens tend to be pretty large, which does make up for the fact that they are not the easiest to get to sometimes, especially with my shooting. J
Fairways: All of the fairways for the most part are pretty generous in size. There are not to many blind shots on the course, but there are a few. Some nice elevation changes are done, but they appear chunky in spots as mentioned before. Nothing bad enough though to take away from the course, they are just not as natural looking as they could be. The fairways are very challenging if you choose the wrong club off of the drive. Things can get ugly if you always grip and rip the tee shots. Keeps a player thinking that is for sure.
Tee Boxes: Done pretty well. There are also 5 tees on this course which is a refreshing site. All the tees were well placed to offer many different looks at the course.
Bunkers and Water Hazards: Bunkers were well placed around the course, and were designed very well. There is water everywhere and it is in play on almost ever hole. So if you are not very accurate with your shots be prepared to go swimming quite a bit.
Planting: Planting throughout the course is done very well. Nothing obtrusive or distracting, but does make a player think before shooting.
Fairness: This is a tough course to score well on, but there is nothing that would make this course unfair to a player who has their 'A' game working for them. It would be very tough though for a player who does not have a good snap. Windy conditions could be tricky on the approach shots to the island greens' depending on which way the wind is coming from.
Best Hole: #8 has the best view of a course that I have seen in a while. Very nicely done. #9 is also a great hole. A par 5 that if you take the risk you can make the green in two.
Overall: An Ocean Bluff CC is probably one of the better imaginary/fantasy courses I have played. Even though the island greens became gimmicky after a while and the elevations were a little chunky the course plays pretty well. It is visually pleasing with just the right amount of risk/reward to make for a great round of golf. The best parts of the course are the greens as they are contoured well to allow for a player to make some great putts, nothing obnoxious in their design at all. This is a tough course and not for the faint of heart. If you don't bring your 'A' game to this course, you are in for a long round of golf.
Filesize 20MB
This review will be based on playability, aesthetics and originality. Please keep in mind that this is only my opinion following my play-testing of the completed course.
I fully understand the hard work and immense skill that is involved in the designing of these courses and my comments will try to be constructive and without bias.
Tested on classic swing Pro level from the back tees |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Imaginary, ocean course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 6/10
Ocean Bluff was an early Links design, presumably aimed at being a
Pebble Beach with the weirdness factor turned up to the max. The first half
dozen holes feature some unlikely, and improbably hard, ocean-hopping,
before a longer back stretch leads you around a larger and heavily
forested grassy island. It was disappointing that during this back stretch
the designer's ideas appeared to dry up, but the 18th was a little
masterwork - a two way hole: either a lengthy dogleg, or a shorter approach over a very steep hill. |
Appearance 3/10
Not exactly impressive. The stony edge to the islands never looked realistic or particularly appealing, and one par 3 is just plain ugly.
The stock textures are stretched and edges are sharp. Several plantings were out of scale, particularly noticeable closer to the greens.
There was a very nice communications sea vessel that redeemed a little bit of credibility for the designer. |
Playability 5/10
What starts as an interesting and fun course quickly becomes tiresome as
you are forced to hit straight and accurately (I don't think I
used a wooden club all round). The island greens are rapidly becoming a hackneyed idea, and are of course very tough to hit with
long-irons, which was wearisome. The back 9, in particular, became very repetitive, and I found my attention wandering well before the
end of the round. |
Challenge 4/10
The designer has tried to incorporate some element of risk/reward, but it is
misjudged. The harder shots tend to the suicidal, and
effectively this reduces you to chipping gently around the fairways. As mentioned above, the island greens are inappropriate on many
holes, and one dog-leg hole forced me to tee off with an 8-iron! It seems like a straight choice for the player - either trudge round with
a steady par, or spend hours perfecting that 3-wood approach to an island green for either 12+ or many many mulligans. Probably the
best aspect were the greens, which generally provided a gently-sloping challenge, particularly on mid-length putts. |
Technical 3/10
Several extrusions leapt out as being obvious and sharp, and as mention
ed above, the planting could use a lot of work. Because this is
a very early APCD course, it seems unfair to criticise, but it looks very primitive compared to today's efforts. A tropical course such as
this one is a great opportunity to go to town with custom textures, and the designer hasn't really taken this up. |
| Overall |
An early effort, and as such easy to overlook. Much better island and tropical courses have been created since. |
21/50 |
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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