| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 42 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-03-10 |
24,756,422 bytes |
72 |
7124 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
PARKLAND |
Doral.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 44fa8268155111d5bcab444553540000 |
74ef39240c7535ae85619fbaa0082b6e |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Lacy Gearheart
First Impression: This is the second masterpiece uploaded by John Andersen. He is getting the reputation as one of the elite re-creators of real golf courses. This course will just greatly add to an already very well deserved reputation. He was formerly know for his first design "The Links at Key Biscayne"; but will be recognized for both works. Since this release I have heard many great things about this course and have myself played it 4-5 times.
This is a real rendition of a course from Southern Florida based somewhere near a major Airport. It is loaded with many extras and is a great and fun course to play. The fairways are very well crafted to perfection. Although they are not very undulous...you can see that they are as close to perfect as possible and very realistic. White powdery bunkers are a huge threat to every wayward shot and come into play on every shot of every hole. The lack of a panorama was another great choice seeing that there is no panorama in Florida. And his excellent planting skills covered that up so well you would not even know that one was not used.
A very fun round can be experienced; from the jets flying over to the faint sounds of other golfers teeing off. Also On the 10 th hole I also heard the course moderator announce a certain threesome at 9:45. Two being German while the third lived somewhere in South Florida.I wonder where I heard those names before. The bunkers and water areas were perfectly crafted and I really see no proof of straying from the original design. The greens were nicely shaped and looked so much like the real thing I almost thought I was there. Make no mistake...there are NO mistakes that I could see on this design. Additional amenities were added such as the floating scoreboards viewed on at least 2 holes. The adjacent houses and buildings were a great addition to an already excellent design. Planted flowers were posted at every tee location and that just added to the overall flare of this superior design.
The tee boxes were ever so slightly extruded for that added depth and you all know where I stand on this issue. John chose not to use a second cut of rough for the reason I believe that the real course does not have any. The rough sections on this course act as another major hazard. It is very deep and is very difficult to play from it. If you end up in this taller grass...you are most likely to lose strokes. I honestly believe that Microsoft could not create a design superior to this one. Coming from a very critical person as myself; this should be proof in that. Excellent work John...you have introduced myself and many others to the "Real world of Links 2001"
Custom amenities: This course came loaded to the brim with custom sounds and objects perfectly placed all over the place. Too numerous to mention. Although I was not a huge fan of the rough texture. It should not be at the fault of the designer. I don't use hardware acceleration and it may look perfect in that mode. On my computer it looked spongy, but I am sure it did not look that way to many others.
Greens: Very nicely shaped and realistic, this course was a delight to putt on. Very nice gradual undulations made for a very realistic round.
Fairways: Very fluid fairways and perfectly built to enhance the game play. Probably as close to the real design as I have seen.
Tee Boxes: Very well done in this area as well. Amenities were placed to add to the overall feel and could not be done any better by anybody else.
Bunkers and Water Hazards: The water hazards and bunkers were expertly shaped and lips were found on all hazards. Although I felt the bunkers were a little shallow...many people have confirmed me that this is the way the real course looks. And isnt that the purpose of this design...to re-create an already perfect design? An excellent job here.
Planting: Planting was sparse. But due to the locale....it could not have been done any better. Perfectly done in my opinion. As always I would have liked to have seen a little more undergrowth below the tree line, but if thats the way the course is......I would not change a thing.
Best Hole: many would say that #18 is the best hole, but my opinion differs. I totally fell in love with the #8 hole, 536 yard, par 5. It has a narrow bottlenecked fairway that worked its way thru a peninsula. Bunkers were scattered all over the place making it the most treacherous hole on the course. The green was surrounded by water on 3 sides and the entire left side was covered with bunkers to totally scare approaching players. This is probably my favorite hole to date.
Overall: A perfectly crafted re-creation of a famous course. This offers risk / reward playability on every hole. This is a must download for anybody that plays Links. And I think it will be a top ten course for years to come. Thank you John Andersen.
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Hole Handicaps? Yes
Attached txt file? Yes
21mb
Reviewed March 2001 |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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