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CraggaMoor
by Rob Moates
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 69 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-02-10 |
35,354,332 bytes |
72 |
7283 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
CraggaMoor.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 9042f101ff5b11d48b7e00409543e200 |
3cf04eaaceb1c1d2742fa2999d47a050 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Pete Dixon February 2001
This is Rob's first design and is a fictional parkland course on the coast that could easily be set in Devon where he comes from.
As well as the obvious trees there is plenty of water in the form of lakes and streams and the course appears to be set on an historical site as there are old ruins of what look like an abbey or such like that are to be found secreted about the course, there are also some large rocks that are natural as opposed to course planned, this along with the excellent coastal and countryside panoramas make an original course to play.
There is a nice view from the first tee and it is as soon as your second shot that you get to see how well the water features are handled on the course, they are all bright and well reflected and the depth is accentuated by the finishing on the edges of wood or stone, there is no bleeding into the fairways here.
Planting is good throughout giving the feel of a parkland course, there are plenty of trees but nothing as dense as you won't have a chance to play out from them should you hit a stray shot.
This is an undulating course and the narrow fairways represent this, they look very good from distance and also when you are on the fairway playing approach shots, they also vary considerably so there is no feeling of sameness among them.
The bunkers have good depth and are rounded off nicely, some more texture to the sand would have improved them, but there aren't any sharp edges that I could see.
The greens again are varied and have good contours, they can be challenging at times and are a good test of your putting abilities, the fringes are well detailed and also have good elevation and sit happily with the way the course undulates.
Negative points are the fairway seams between the fairway and the rough could be smoothed and maybe enhanced with a cut semi rough in-between. The tees are not elevated and also suffer from sharp edges this is an area that, if improved, would further enhance the look.
Some of the buildings by the tees, like on the 4th hole are out of scale but only in a few places.
Best Hole: There are a lot to choose from but I think the 18th takes it on the line.
A long par 5 you have to drive between the ruins of the Abbey onto a narrow fairway, which is guarded by 2 bunkers, one on either side. A shot over the very nice looking lake to the green is really out of range in two so you have to play up the fairway which has to be accurate because of the 2 trees on either side of the fairway in the rough which could hamper your 3rd shot which is a straight forward one onto what is a relatively flat green, but once on the green the views are breath taking.
Overall: This is a fine first effort by Rob and a very playable course. It is very nice to look at and is also a challenge to your golfing abilities due to the careful planning that has gone into the design.
The course is full of nice little touches and each hole keeps you interested, it is obvious that a lot of thought and care has gone into this project as can be seen in things like the finishing around the streams.
This is a fairly large download but I can fully recommend it, I don't think you will be disappointed.
I look forward to his next course, as I am sure it will be even better.
Links Corner Design Analysis
Craggamoor has the feeling of something a little special, very much so in a few visuals of the holes, but does lack a somewhat tuned finish. The points to note in this course are mainly elevations. With a little more working, this could have been a lot better than it finished. On quite a few holes, the dark shadows gave away hidden poor mesh areas. On some fairway edges, where the terrain turned to rough, the edges never met too well. The left side of the 2nd hole, and some of the elevations on the 11th hole seemed a little excessive. Pulled verts were also another feature, and very visible on the 1st and 5th holes. The 1st hole had the rough pulled back over the brick surrounding the water. The back of the 5th green is a mess with the fringe somehow disappearing to form a wall around the back of the green.
Bunkers were extruded and rounded with rough, although some were stretched on the terrain in areas. There were also folds visible in some bunkers too. Paths were fair, aside from the 17th which was twisted badly. Alongside the paths, the rough was vastly elevated in many areas, causing some visual problems, these were evident on the 7th and 12th. Alot more was needed to be learnt, and mapping on some faces would also benefit visually too. I'd have to ask what happened to the texture on the 5th hole path too.
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Chris Gormley's thoughts..
Overall: Craggamoor is a fairly nice course to play. The design is well done with plenty of risk and reward to make a player go for the big shots. All of the bunkers are well placed to challenge a players shot making ability. The greens were well contoured but there were quite a few sharp edges that took away from otherwise great greens to putt on. The fairways were pretty decent as well, but then again some really out of place verts created some very sharp edges and too away from the course here as well. The planting was done very well on this course and is not overbearing. This course, when it was first released, was probably considered to be a top notch course but due to the standards being raised by the designers at the time of this review, I have to rate this course lower than its first review. If the course were cleaned up to take care of the construction issues it would be back up in the 80%-85% range. The great playability of this course saves it from an otherwise very low score. I hope Rob considers cleaning this course up and releasing it again as I think it is a very well designed and thought out course.
Filesize 34MB
Course Summary
Par 72
Tees : 4
Cameo Picture : Yes
Splash Screen : Yes
Elevation problems
Terrain meeting terrain problems
Twisted path
Mapping
Pulled verts
Missing texture |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, parkland course. |
Location
TBC |
Conditions
TBC |
Concept 6/10
If moorland was the designer's intention (as you might suspect from the title), then this is a serious misfire. It looks and feels all wrong: the planting and panorama are misjudged, and there are some seriously severe elevations. That's not to say the course is bad: there's some magnificently designed holes with the emphasis on fairway positioning and a choice of approach shots. The Par 5s are monsters and genuine 3-shotters all the way around. |
Appearance 3/10
Sadly, the ups are outnumbered by the downs at CraggaMoor. The customisation of the abbey ruins is nicely done, but elsewhere there are far too many clones in the planting with too much blurriness, an inappropriate coastal panorama and naff stock textures. Very much a disappointment. |
Playability 8/10
Rob Moates has a well-deserved reputation as a clever and innovative hole designer and doesn't disappoint here. Hazards are used judiciously in the form of water, sand and trees, and the whole thing emanates strategy without being intimidating. Several scenes on the back nine are certainly worth hanging about for, and only a few blind shots (notably at the unfair final tee) mar your golf. |
Challenge 10/10
My test-round stats speak for themselves: one bogey, one birdie and a score of level par. An excellent mixture of green styles, hole types and strategies: not least in the long holes, which demand genuine three-shot strategical thinking: a demand that is all too rare on today's computer golfer. |
Technical 5/10
Despite the many visual problems, it is clear there is an excellent golf course architect at work here. Surely this course is prime for a 2003 overhaul, a new panorama and textures and restoration to magnificence. |
| Overall |
An old design now going begging. The hole design is still magnificent: the appearance is ill-judged. |
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. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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