| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 705 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-12-19 |
24,006,740 bytes |
72 |
7058 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
DESERT |
RioGrandeGC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 96fdaf81f4ba11d586ff00047611ed04 |
88bc73c4334d269b8525e864d270da00 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Chuck Clark
January 2002
Background: This is the 4th course released by Mr. Quillen. His most famous previous release was Keystone Point. That course was well liked in the community, so I am expecting Rio Grande to be even better. Rio Grande appears to be well liked too, based on the response I have seen. Crusader even rated it on his site, and he has pretty high standards. The read-me has lots of interesting information. This is a fictional course set along the Rio Grande River in southern New Mexico. Being from the southwest, I am a little familiar with that part of the country. I am really looking forward to playing this course.
Included/Not Included: Just about everything you need is included: Logo screen, splash screen, hole previews, tee signs, read-me and even custom tee markers. There is not much that wasn't included except maybe added sounds (from what I could tell).
Overall Impression: This is a desert course, using a custom pano shot right in New Mexico. The pano is fantastic and you get to see it on every shot. The course itself is relatively level with a river (Rio Grande?) winding throughout many of the holes. This river comes into play a lot and looks very good. The first nine holes have fairly narrow fairways and bunkers that are a bit mundane. As you go along though, the course becomes more playable and the bunkers become more interesting. The planting is very well done and the buildings are very attractive. I really like the trademark windmill. The overall affect is a very realistic and believable computer golf experience.
There were a few general things I didn't like so much. The tees are not elevated very much, so you have some blind shots. You have to use the top view most of the time to navigate this course. Three of the par-3's are over 220 yards. I like a good variety of lengths on my par 3's, but that is just a personal preference. There were a few spots that had too many straight lines (4th hole especially). The fairway raised and lowered a bit too linearly. Hard to explain but you will notice what I mean. There were no added sounds that I could tell. I would have liked to hear the river at times or the cry of an eagle far over head. Overall though, this is a really great golf course.
Good Points: There are many good points to this course. I love the pano. It really made me think I was in southern New Mexico. I thought I had stopped off for a round on my way to El Paso! The hole previews are really well done and very useful too. The planting is fantastic and very realistic for this part of the country. I really liked the yardage markers in the fairway, this is a nice, and seldom used, touch. I also liked the brick borders on the tees. The running water texture used on the Rio Grande was good looking. This is one of the better looking ones I have ever seen. I may have to steal it for one of my future courses (lol). The layout is fun and pretty interesting. Some of the holes do seem a bit similar after awhile though. I would have liked to see a little more elevation use on the back nine.
I also liked the fountain in the pond next to the 18th green. This was another nice touch. There were many nice things like this that added to the experience. In addition the technical/APCD work was well done. There were no glaring errors from what I could see. The greens were gently sloped and very playable. They were almost a bit to gentle at times, but that is better than the alternative.
Not So Good: As mentioned above, the fairways on the front nine were a little too narrow. The bunkers at first looked like an afterthought. They just looked like borders around the greens and fairways on the front nine. On the back nine, they became much more interesting and varied. There were some solitary trees at the corner of some dog legs which the designer states is very common on golf courses around here. I don't doubt that and they really didn't bother me any. I know that some people don't like them though, so I mentioned it here. The bridges over the river looked out of scale to me. They looked too big for their surroundings. I think they needed to be shrunk down and maybe fitted better into the environment. Another very small quibble for me was how winding and curvy the river was. From what I remember, the Rio Grande is pretty straight and wide in southern New Mexico. But what the heck, I don't know. Maybe this is just a small tributary?
Summary: This is a fantastic creation of a golf course. It is a very good computer golf experience. You really feel that you are playing golf in New Mexico. The pano, hole previews, planting and objects are as good as any course out there. The small technicalities keep it from being ranked with the best, but don't let that keep you from getting this course. All and all I heartily recommend this course to everyone. You should download and play this course. It is not too big a download too, so even people with slow hookups should get this course. It is a definite keeper for me.
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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