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Crandon Park Golf Course
by John (SouthFla) Andersen
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 695 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-12-09 |
31,722,734 bytes |
72 |
7179 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
TROPICAL |
crandon.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 8066b423ec9e11d5bcae00045a46af58 |
59ab7dc4dd7922d80f6c7c87c560c572 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Chuck Clark
January 2002
Background: I have to admit right up front that I think that John Anderson is one of the best designers out there. I really like all of his courses. I still think that Talon at Grayhawk is the best desert course to date and may be the best real course recreation ever done. I really love the two Doral courses as well, with the Great White course being one of my all time favorites. Having said all this, I am really expecting a lot from Crandon Park. John has learned a lot about the APCD in the past year and it should all show up here. Crandon Park is an update of an earlier release that John did called The Links at Key Biscayne. Instead of trying to paraphrase what John said in the Read-Me, I will just include it here: 'My first attempt to design a course using the APCD was a local favorite, The Links of Key Biscayne, a.k.a. Crandon Park Golf Course. The resulting course turned out okay, but I was never completely satisfied with it. 5 courses and 1 year later, I decided to return to Key Biscayne. What originally started out as a general 'fix-up' soon became a complete 'redo' from scratch. Thanks to a year's worth of experience along with some great help from many of the talented course designers, I was able to recreate the course the way I always envisioned.and thanks to some wonderful techniques created by some clever APCD'ers (thanks 'Kilroy!'), I was able to layout the course to exacting dimensions, and I think that you'll find the course layout to be true down to the smallest of measurements. I have now included hole previews, new custom objects, a panorama for dynamic views, and custom sounds'. Sounds good to me, let's go take a look!
Overall Impression: This is a real course rendition of a fairly famous golf course in south Florida. The Links at Key Biscayne have been used for a number of professional golf tournaments over the years. I don't really remember much from watching those tournaments so I could not tell you if this rendition is true to the real thing. But knowing John, and considering what he said in the Read-Me, I would bet that this rendition is almost exactly like the real course. As like all of south Florida, this is a flat golf course. If you have ever been to Florida then you would already know this. The only place in south Florida that sticks up above the trees is the high rises and the landfill in Pompano Beach. Other than that, it is real flat. So don't be expecting a golf course with lots of big elevation changes. That is not to say there is not good elevation work done here, the undulations or the greens and hazards are very well done. As you would also expect this is a tropical course as well. Mangrove trees line many of the lakes and palm trees abound. The sand in the bunkers is just like most of the courses in Florida too. They have a bright white sand (made partly from Shells?) there that is very distinctive. John has captured the flavor of golfing in south Florida very well.
Good Points: There are really too many good things to say about this golf course. Just to name a few, I loved the planting, the bunker work, the previews, the textures, and a lot more. This course has a fun and interesting layout and John has captured it perfectly! The mangrove trees (bushes?) around the lakes and lagoons are really well done and I expected to see an air boat zipping by at any minute. I also kept looking for a big cruise ship heading out of Miami to the Bahamas or some other exotic place. I want to drink a Mai Tai whenever I play there. That is how good a rendition Crandon Park is. Some other details that I liked, and you may miss when playing it, included the practice range and greens (including little practice hole flag sticks), a practice bunker that John finished just as well as the bunkers on the course, people on the practice green working on their putting, cars in the parking lots with Florida license plates (where are the 'snow birds' John?) and a clubhouse that fits into the course perfectly. You don't even realize that the trees and carts near the clubhouse are really part of the 2D clubhouse until you get up close to them. I also heard that there are some iguanas around this course, but I have yet to find them.
Not So Good: Well, it is impossible to come up with anything bad about this course. The only things I can think of are not the designer's responsibility anyway. The course is very flat, but that is just the way Florida is. There was also a nasty buzzing insect near the eighteenth tee, but again, that is quite common in Florida so what are you gonna do? You have to be true to your location, if you build a real golf course.
Summary: To summarize, this is a beautifully done rendition of a very nice golf course in south Florida. The attention to detail by John Anderson should be commended. He must have taken many hours of his time to create this course and we are all the better for it. I heartily recommend downloading and playing this gem. It is only a 30MB download too! The week that this course came out has to be the greatest week ever for the APCD and all of us players. That week (in early December) we got Pacific Breaks, Midnight, Firestone North and Muirfield Village (as well as others). It is hard to believe that a course as good as Crandon Park could be overshadowed, but unfortunately I think that has happened. Judging by the number of times it has been downloaded though, there must be a lot of people playing it (and I am sure enjoying it). As for rating Crandon Park, I looked back at what some of John's courses had previously been rated. Maybe it is just a funny coincidence, but his last three courses were all rated 88. Now we won't rehash all of those courses, and their ratings, but (suffice it to say) I think John deserves better. I had already decided on a rating before noticing his previous courses, but after I did, it just cemented what I should do. Here's to John Anderson and his first 90+ rated golf course. Thanks again John!
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Hole Previews: Yes
Tee Signs: Yes
Custom Tee Markers: No
Custom Flags: Yes
Handicaps: Yes
Custom or Added Sounds: Yes
There is also a recorded round of the designer playing the course included with the zip file.
I am both a player and a designer. I review courses primarily from the standpoint of fun and playability. I appreciate courses that are beautiful to look at, but first and foremost I want a fun experience. I have spent many hours designing courses myself, so I understand the blood, sweat and tears that go into the design process. Any critical comments made here are meant to be constructive and helpful. |
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CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Real, tropical course |
Location
Florida |
Conditions
Avoid the difficult pins and you can play this on M*/M* |
Concept 9/10
Anyone thinking that public courses were standard, unimaginative fare will be in for a surprise at Crandon Park. Nestled in the Everglades, the luxurious landscape and menacing swamps are really only part of it, for there's a course with plenty of strategy here too. Making a big thing of approach angles and hole shaping, there is good use (but by no means overuse) of the water and the sparse palm trees that dot the course. It's a thoroughly immersive experience helped by a careful APCD conversion, and definitely one of a kind. |
Appearance 6/10
The early use of custom textures certainly help, although the suspect dirt texture is possibly not examined too closely. Otherwise, an excellent job has been done of conveying the local wetlands; the bushy planting being dense and not overpowering, and the designer even finding time to throw in a few examples of the native wildlife. A few hard edges here and there on the mesh also betray the course's age. |
Playability 8/10
Uniqueness goes a long way towards making a course enjoyable, and it has to be said that there isn't anything else on Links quite like Crandon Park. You'll need a comprehensive recovery game to do well, although one bunker hit too many is a likelihood: it's particularly frustrating halfway down the Par 5s. With only eight Par 4s, though, there's a great variety from hole to hole, and the aura of the course (aided particularly by some well-judged ambient sound) is enough to chivvy you along. |
Challenge 6/10
It's notable how easy it is to access the green complexes, and the rough could perhaps use toughening up too. It's not pushover easy, like many a municipal course, given some accurately-placed bunkers but as long as you don't fall foul of one or two poor pins then it's not too hard to pick up strokes from Crandon Park. |
Technical 6/10
Some admirable work in bringing this delicious course to Links lovers. The fine detail doesn't really hold up to scrutiny, and there are plenty of extrusions, but there are also some laborious customisations and a fine atmosphere surrounding the course. Outstanding for its time. |
| Overall |
Not a championship course, but still an absolute must-have for collectors of Real courses. Delightful. |
35/50 |
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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