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Cedar Springs
by Don Gooch

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 52
Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length
2001-04-19  12,950,954  bytes 72  7237 yards
Type Style CRZ Filename
FICTIONAL  WOODLAND  cedarsprings.crz 
Course ID Course Key
ca1c4f105aef4dbd8b629f82a0c107fb  782411938e71ca71602b198c0e072379 

LINKS CORNER REVIEW

Reviewed by Dave Campbell

Expectations: Cedar Springs has me thinking of a wooded course with water.

First Impressions: Cedar Springs was released on 4/19/01 along with Elmer Creek, a course I reviewed and liked very much. Don released one previous course called Eagles Bluff, which I've never played. This course is a wooded, mountain valley setting with the ever-present Whistler panorama. It is a par 72 measuring 7,237 yards from the back tees with five tee options available. It weighs in at a very manageable 11 meg.

This course is laid out beautifully and has a totally open feel and look. Strategically (and more importantly believably) placed bunkers and trees keep you honest and really had me thinking I was playing a real course rendition. Creative holes with different looks keep it fresh and interesting the whole round. My legit test round in the above conditions was -1 with a 57% FIR and a 38% GIR with 23 putts.

The tee boxes are crafted nicely with a floral ring around each, much in the same manner as Elmer Creek but toned down a bit. It worked nicely in my opinion. You tee off to fairways of all shapes and sizes, most times you have a decent chance to hit the fairway. Elevation changes are subtle with good, fairly flat lies most of the time. There is a well-done 1st cut on the par 4's and 5's. The fairway traps are fair in placement but definitely come into play, sometimes a club down is the right choice as the bunkers pinch the landing zone.

All the bunkers on this course have the brown sand texture and show a nice extrusion and lip. Don was liberal in his use of greenside bunkers and I visited many in my test round (as my 38% GIR will attest to). Some greens are completely surrounded by traps, as many as six to eight on some.

The greens can be had on this course with slight breaking putts being the norm. Had a few that were virtually flat as well. The problem is getting a decent look. The green shapes varied constantly and more often than not the pin was in a tough place (bunker fronting green with pin in front, water lurking near, etc). Not unfair but difficult to go at, particularly playing PS. I consider the greens and hazard placement a strength of this course, makes an otherwise easy target style layout more challenging. Remember, I was only playing the moderate pins with no wind. It would get a lot dicier if you toughened things up a bit.

I just mentioned water in the last paragraph, it is ever present and is repeatedly a hazard throughout this course. Lakes, streams, ponds and creeks are placed to catch any wayward balls and certain shots will test your snap for sure.

The planting around all the water was good, if not a bit dense at times. Better than no planting at all though. The use of autumnal trees and foliage, ever so sparingly, is done as well as any course I've seen. I had the feeling that the season was just starting to change, still good weather with a hint of a cool autumn breeze starting. It appeared that way to me the whole round and helped to immerse me into the experience. Great job in this area Don, and better than Elmer Creek in my humble opinion.

The course was uncluttered, with objects used sparingly. I spied ball washers at all tees, waste cans, bathrooms off the 5th green, a few bridges and a cart path that wound throughout the course.

Drawbacks: Almost all bunkers exhibit the sharp angled edges that result from not turning edges enough (I think). All other aspects of them are good (sunk nicely with good lips) and they are placed impeccably. It is VERY apparent in the top cam and makes the traps look like pieces inserted into a puzzle. This one kills me because it really detracts from what is otherwise an upper echelon course, as nice and fun to play as any I've reviewed. Fairway, green and water edges all looked smooth, I'm not sure why the bunkers seemed neglected a bit in this regard.

As mentioned previously there is a nice 1st cut on all the fairways except the 17th. I'm sure it was just an oversight on Don's part. I even went back in practice mode to see if he had some type of pattern of sometimes using a 1st cut fringe, and other times not. This was the only fairway.

This is more a pet peeve on my part but there were a couple of forced carries that are just a bit too long, the par 4 14th comes to mind. This drive was 250 yards just to clear the water and hit the fairway. This can ruin the round of a power stroker that doesn't carry a 1W in the virtual bag. Even so, being forced to use the driver at an inopportune time can do the same. The snap on the PS 1W is unforgiving, particularly playing champ level.

Best Hole: As you can probably guess there are many worthy of this honor. I'll choose the par 5 4th hole which measures 612 yards from the back tees. Long and straight with water on the right where the green just hooks off right at the end. My one complaint may be that the length kept me from trying the risk/reward drive over the creek. Would need about a 260 carry to ford the creek, but even if I had cleared the creek I wouldn't have been able to go at the green. So I just hit the 7W and lay up. My screenshot shows the 2nd shot I faced on this lovely hole.

Comparable courses: Falcon Ridge by John Borycheski, The Spruces at Twin Lakes by Ron Hubbard, Langolier by Fred Briggson

Overall: Cedar Springs is another outstanding offering from Don Gooch that just misses being up there with the best. Even so, at 11 meg is a must download for all. This man has some serious design talent and this course is a joy to play. With this course and Elmer Creek as early offerings I would keep an eye on further Don Gooch designs.

Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? No
Text file? No
Hole Previews? No
11mb
Reviewed June 2001

This course is available as a FREE download.


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