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Copperhead at Old Works (v2)
by Lacy Gearheart

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 726
Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length
2002-01-07  55,212,308  bytes 71  7179 yards
Type Style CRZ Filename
FICTIONAL  PARKLAND  Copperhead at Old Works V2.crz 
Course ID Course Key
0757e4e003ab11d6b01c0000e87e4e35  0b019a2fdee99acd3dbd7f7f7e042260 

COURSE SCREENSHOTS

LINKS CORNER REVIEW

Reviewed by
Mick Lenton
January 2002

Thoughts from the 1st: As I stand on the tee looking over the masterfully created landscape, the fairway winding between the intimidating black slag bunkers and the heavily, beautifully planted areas I cannot help but think that this course is going to rank up there as one of the greats

The Course: Lacy describes this course as a Parkland/Links type course set in the Montana countryside. It is a fictional course based on the Nicklaus designed Old Works course at Anaconda.

The snake idea is represented in the fairways winding back and forth resembling the body of a snake. Now reading this you could be forgiven into thinking that this will be a difficult course with very narrow winding fairways. This is not so at all. Ok, the fairways are not wide, but they have been carefully designed and at the crucial landing areas there is always somewhere to go, you can afford to be a bit off line. I am not saying if you are offline you will be sitting nicely on a fairway but you should at least have some sort of a makeable shot.

Textures, planting, objects and pano are all very well done and blend beautifully. The edges are very well extruded and I did not have any nasty bounces. The tees, all of which are available, sits directly in the rough. The striped fairways have a light rough fringe leading to a usually quite generous strip of unplanted rough in which are dotted those slag bunkers, also the occasional pond. Some of the bunkers have a planted bank of what is described as slag mound the same as surrounds the ponds. This rough then leads to heavily planted areas, either a very deep grass which does tend to dwarf the player, but can be played out of. (Maybe slightly TOO easily) and deeper in there are of course trees and bushes. The fringed greens are well sized for the type of hole and mostly have a general slope to them, some quite steep!!

The hole previews, for the growing band of 'Natural' players are excellent, with loads of information including general lie of the land, tips and even a blow up of the green with dimensions and general slopes. As I have said, although the course is not easy it is very playable even at champ PS. Let's play!

Playability: The 1st is a long par 4 with the fairway winding between bunkers. The drive is a choice of either a long carry over slag to a large landing area or a drive straight up a narrowish fairway. The braver drive leaves an easier shot down the green instead of having to come in over slag, slightly across the green. The green is quite long with a large bunker down the right and a small one to the left. Like the majority of the other greens this one has gentle borrows that can be difficult to read Not a gentle opener, but a very well designed hole.

The 2nd is a shortish par 4 with a dogleg left at the end. First glance at this hole with a lake all down the left, a couple of bunkers down the right and what seems to be a very narrow fairway may evoke a sharp intake of breath. However when you actually play it you find that there is a lot more room than you first think. There is of course the water on the left, but a decent drive will put you on the bulbous end of the fairway where there is in fact quite a large landing area, the longer the drive the more room there is. This will leave you a wedge to the very generous, long green with some quite sloping putts!!

The 3rd is the first par 3, a shortish downhiller over water that is not close to the green. There is a patch of fairway to the front right and a bunker behind the pear shaped green that is sitting at an angle of about 45 degrees to the tee. Quite a gentle green giving a good chance of a par or even a birdie, quite a rarity for a par 3. Well for me anyway J

The 4th is the first par 5. Reachable in 2 but not easy. You drive to the curving fairway, the further the drive the more room. There is a huge bunker down the right with other planted slag mounds dotted about. A good drive will leave a comparatively easy wood to the seemingly popularly pear shaped, long green, protected by a bunker either side. The tighter to the bunker you are the better and clearer the shot The green is fairly large for a par 5 giving you a very good chance of sticking it leaving an eagle putt. Very nice hole.

Number 5 is a fairly long par 4 dogleg to the left. Trouble is all down the left, firstly with a pond and then with a bunker. There are a couple of small bunkers down the right but not really in play. You drive to a generous landing area on the corner of the dogleg leaving a mid iron to the flattened oval green, bunker to the left and the end of the large bunker to the right. This is quite a sloping green with a general slope towards the front left.

The 6th is a mid length par 4, probably the tightest one so far. A stream winds down the right cutting across in front of the green. Probably the most difficult drive down quite a narrow fairway, three bunkers down the left, one actually in the fairway. A good drive will leave a mid iron to the hourglass shaped green, protected by a bunker down the left. Quite narrow and steep this one and may be difficult to hit.

The 7th is a mid length par 3. Mid iron to the large 'upside down L' shaped green needs to be on the right level of the two tier green to give a reasonable putt. The green is protected by a huge, deep bunker on the left and the stream wanders down the right and curves partly behind the hole.

The 8th is not the easiest drive on the course. Unless you really boom one the landing area is a bottleneck between two bunkers. It does quickly open out but not an easy drive. Also just in front of the tee there are some bushes which you are convinced will get in the way, they don't. If you do manage to find the fairway you will be left with a shortish iron to the oval, large green. One or two ridges on this one to negotiate.

Halfway round nearly and on to the 9th, an awkward par 4 with a severe dogleg left that, if you take the easy drive, leaves a very long 2nd. A brave drive over slag to a bulbous part of the fairway around the corner, will leave a mid iron to the long, narrow green, set at 45 degrees to you. There is a large bunker in front and a small one behind. Quite a steep slope on this on, especially at the front.

Long way to the clubhouse for a refresher!!!!!

Right, the 10th. Difficult drive between slag to a not overly generous fairway. There is room, but you do need to be accurate on this one. A good drive will leave a shortish iron to the quite steep, kidney shaped green protected by the end of a long slag bunker in front.

The 11th is a real par 5. The short first fairway does tend to limit your drive unless you do not mind hitting your 2nd from rough, or if you are very long or offline, that deeeep grass. You are left with a shot of around or over 300 yards, so to get the green is going to be an exceptional shot. Much more likely is a shot to the end of the 2nd fairway and a short wedge to the generous pear shaped, gently sloping green.

12 is a nice mid iron par 3. A drive to a quite small, (For a par 3) well protected green, slag front, left and back and a quite gently undulating surface.

The 13th is a shortish par 4 with trouble in the form of first a bunker, which is followed by a pond. You drive to a couple of quite generous parts of the fairway that are on the corner of the gentle right to left dogleg. This will leave you a short iron or wedge to the, this time upside down, pear shaped green. Once again the slopes on the green are not too severe.

Number 14 is the thinking man's par 5. You are thinking, 'Which way shall I go'. The options are the long drive over slag leaving a CHANCE of reaching the green in two or the easier way. Well when I say easy I mean 'Less risky' as you are up against a lot of bunkers going that way. Also there is virtually no chance of reaching the green from that side. When you get there you will find a large expanse of undulating green protected by a couple of bunkers, a large one at the back and a smaller one at the front.

The 15th is another par 4 where the landing area for the driver is a bit thin, with a huge bunker down the right and a couple of normal ones down the left. If you can trust your driver, as Lacy suggests in his tips, an accurate drive will leave you a nice little wedge to the generous green, quite well protected by sand to the left and right but it is a green of a reasonable size, although sloping a bit in places.

The 16th is a longish par 4 with a lot of slag surrounding the generous fairways. The drive is reasonable easy as there is in fact a lot of room to hit to. Saying that if you are off line there are some big slag bunkers too. A good drive will leave you a mid iron to the kidney shaped green. Not overlarge this time, but adequate with a few small bunkers at the back and a larger one at the front. This green is quite undulating too

The penultimate hole is a little cracker. A downhill, mid length par 3 with a large dumbbell shaped green. The green is some 60 yards long and sits at an angle to the tee so there are a lot of options for pin placements. Two huge bunkers front and back almost surround this odd green although to compensate the undulations are not as severe as most of the other greens.

The 18th is a lovely hole to look at and also to play. A longish par 4, for a change you are not firing towards space, you are driving towards a bottleneck. Ok, you could leave it short, but then you are contending with a bunker in the center of the fairway. There is an awful lot of sand on this hole to be avoided. But a nice drive will leave a nice mid iron to the fairly large oval green. This last green has a lot of gentle undulations.

Good Points: A very well constructed course, pretty to look at and a joy to play even for me J Not easy but even champ PS can have a good round here.

Bad Points: If I dig really deep I could say that I would like to have seen a bit more shape to the greens. This is MY feeling by the way. Please remember that. The other thing that does bother me a bit is the long grass objects used. They look fine from any sort of distance, but if you are unlucky to go in them they do look a little unnatural. I realize a lot of this is due to the fact that they look as if they have been sunk slightly to get an effect. Because of this, close up they look very 'Cut off' particularly in the bunkers. I would love to say that there is an easy way out of this but there isn't. This is one fault of APCD, the fact that everything close up looks so 'Sharp'

Favourite Hole: Gotta be that lovely 18th, see the pic above right.

Least Favourite Hole: Not on a course like this. Not a bad hole out there.

Final thoughts: This course has been built to be playable for everyone and I think Lacy has succeeded here. This course is fun to play, not easy at all, but definitely playable by all. Not sure about Lacy's comment in the write up that it should be played at 'Windy' Bit of sadism there I think J My last comment is. If you haven't got it yet, you should have!!!


Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Custom Flag? Yes
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? Yes - with tips
Readme file? Yes
Par - 71 7179 yds

This course is available as a FREE download.


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