|
The Players 18
by Chuck Clark
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 883 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-04-26 |
34,153,238 bytes |
73 |
7619 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
TROPICAL |
Players 18.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| c7c320cee7f94edcb317cf9d589d5250 |
5f38136380b9e371c61945a031154426 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mike Nifong May 2002
Course type: The Players 18 is a fictional, tropical-style course featuring lots of water (it is in play on 13 holes) and employing the Princeville pano (which is, as one might expect, a good fit).
Historical perspective: Chuck Clark certainly needs no introduction in these circles. As an APCD designer, he has produced five previous courses (in order of creation: Rugged Coast, Crocodile Falls, Crowning Hills, Box Canyon, and Bunker Hill) which (by his own admission) may not be the last word in finesse or polish, but have acquired a well-deserved reputation as being fun to play among a significant cohort of the LC community. In addition, he is one of the official reviewers for this website, and (in my opinion) probably the reviewer whose views are most consistently in line with the general sentiments of our readers. So, when Chuck announced his idea of a golf course made up one hole each from 18 different players (as opposed to designers), it was hardly surprising that he received an enthusiastic response. What was surprising was how difficult it turned out to be to find 18 players who would actually follow through.
To be sure, those who stepped up to the plate included a veritable who's who from the Links Corner: anyone who spends any time in the forums will recognize the names Alliegator, SteveP, Ross Holton, LSman, Mcduff, loner, John Daly Esser, DSchaef66, SwamiRon, Ian D., VikingNation, and dks; you may also recognize WarBird or Randy Sanders (although I did not). But if you are counting, that is only fourteen. That shortfall caused Chuck to have to turn to a few designers as well - not just any designers, mind you, but some of the very best who have ever worked with the APCD. You will certainly be familiar with Lacy Gearheart (Foxfire, Gator Lakes, Royal Wessex, Copperhead, and Burnt Pine at Sandestin), Eddie Schmidt (Southern Pines, Clubcito Diablo, and Spyglass Hill), and Kristoffer Selberg (Selto Beach Club and Royal Thoroughfare); you may not be so familiar with Glenn Davis (Cascades), but he is a designer of the same (stratospheric) class. [For the record, every course by every one of them is a part of my permanent collection, and should be part of yours as well.] I believe we all benefited from the exchange.
What is included: Chuck has provided an exceptionally complete package. The customary read-me contains a brief history of the project, acknowledgements of assistance received, and descriptions of the holes (some brief, some comprehensive). Roger Worsham (Alliegator), one of the acknowledged masters of graphic design for the Links community, has supplied the hole previews, the cameo, and the splash screen, and they are up to his usual lofty standard (although the lovely sepia-toned splash screen contains an unfortunate misspelling of Lacy Gearheart's name). Eddie Schmidt (Golfzilla) contributed the excellent tee signs. The download file also includes an Excel spreadsheet that gives further details of the individual contributions to the design and two (!) recorded rounds - both pro and champ click.
In this the-less-said-the-better category, there is very little to say. Mastery of the APCD is everywhere evident. The mesh is exceptionally clean - you will not find any shadows, even in the top view. Edges are excellent. The only evidence I could find of excessive angularity was in the vaguely octagonal shape of the pool above the waterfall on #18; needless to say, that was visible only in the top view.
When I played with the tournament option on, it did seem that there was a slight discrepancy in scale between the figures on the camera tower near the #9 green and the figures in the gallery, the ones on the tower appearing a bit too large. Again, this is an extremely minor flaw, bordering on the insignificant.
On the whole, Chuck has been able to create a surprisingly coherent course considering that it was assembled from such a disparate collection of parts. The finish is very smooth, approaching the immaculateness of Spyglass Hill, and the use of palm trees and well-chosen textures to bind everything together is undeniably successful. Inevitably in an undertaking of this nature, however, the inherent conflict between individuality and fitting into a greater whole comes to the fore. Thus it is that the hole most observers would choose as the most attractive, the Lacy Gearheart designed par-3 #3 (unmistakably Lacy, and breathtakingly lovely) is the one that least fits the overall concept, looking as if it would fit more comfortably in the North Florida/Georgia/Alabama area than in the tropical setting in which it is placed. To a lesser extent, the same thing could be said about any of the holes that use a preponderance of trees other than palms, such as dks' lovely #18 (which, ironically, is actually based on a hole from a course on the Hawaiian island of Lanai). On the other hand, a hole such as Eddie Schmidt's #6, which is readily identifiable as his if you know his other courses, nonetheless fits perfectly into the overall scheme because the planting scheme does not depart from the norm.
This is not to say that the planting is not good. Indeed, it is often exceptional. It just occasionally strays a little from the tropics. Except for the jungle areas, by the way, there is essentially no under planting. That works reasonably well in the rough, but with the occasional palm tree on the fairway (e.g., on #7), a small zone of unmowed grass or a few tufts around the base (a la Spyglass Hill) would have added to the realism. It has also been pointed out on the web board that some of the tee signs bridge texture boundaries, so that one side is in, for example, the rough and the other side is in the mowed area. A very minor point, to be sure, but not something you would likely see on a real course.
Speaking of mow lines, there are a few holes (#7 and #13 come to mind) where fairway mow lines extend down steep banks right to the edge of the water. I am sure that this was done because Chuck wanted any ball that struck in those areas to be able to run unimpeded down the bank and into the water, but it does not look very realistic. A better solution may have been to use a different texture for the bank and then assign the fairway properties to it.
Bunkers, in addition to being well placed, are very well and very consistently finished, with nice edges and appropriate collars of rough or light rough (first cut) texture.
Convincing water treatments are often the bugaboo of APCD designers. Certainly, on a course with this much water, any failures in this respect would be magnified in prominence. I am happy to be able to report that the issue is more than adequately handled on The Players 18, notwithstanding considerable variation in how the edges are dealt with. Consider the first three holes: #1 has a moderately sloped bank in a texture that is marked tall grass but actually does not look much different from the regular rough; #2 has a creek with mud banks and a deep grass texture on the slope that actually looks the part, along with some planted reeds; #3 has extensive marshy planting that is beautifully done and obscures the banks altogether. Three different solutions, but none of them bad - just not very consistent. #18, you will notice, takes what I consider to be the ultimate risk in the APCD - the use of a waterfall - and does it quite believably.
Given Chuck's stated preference for creating courses that are fun to play rather than courses that are pretty to look at, I was not sure what to expect in this category, but I would have to say that he has acquitted himself very well.
You will not find any 90° doglegs here. No blind tee shots, no forced lay ups, no island fairways, no ridiculously sloped greens. What you will find are eighteen holes that look as if they could actually be found on a real golf course. Actually, six of them can be found on real golf courses, but the level of execution here is high enough that you would be hard pressed to identify which six they are without the read-me.
A few general observations are in order. Tee shots are generally very open, and the fairways are almost always quite forgiving. Landing areas tend to be generous, and when they are not there is always a lay-up/bail-out area to which your shot can be safely played, allowing you to avoid water hazards or the well-placed fairway bunkers at the cost of a less favorable angle or greater distance on your second shot. Slopes and ridges will sometimes steer your ball in a particular direction, and it is always important to be cognizant of your placement on the fairway, since the trees may significantly obstruct your next shot if you find yourself on the wrong side. Most holes also have a broad expanse of regular rough before you reach the really deep stuff, so (assuming you don't go in the water) slightly missed snaps are not punished too severely; this also should increase this course's attractiveness to champ clickers and powerstrokers. The greens are often large and always appropriately sized for the club necessitated by the length of the presumptive approach shot. Be forewarned, however, that some of them are elevated in such a way that you will need more club than the distance would make you believe. The caddie is excellent in this regard: invariably, when I took less club than he suggested I ended up short (and wet or sandy). Once you are on the greens, you will find them to be delightful. They are commendably flat in the areas immediately surrounding the pins, and although you will have to deal with slopes, tiers and ridges if you fail to get your approach shot close, the elevations are very reasonable, so even long putts can be judged accurately.
The Players 18 is laid out in a very thoughtful progression. From the opening par-5 (by Glenn Davis), which is an easy birdie hole under benign conditions, but, with the combination of water on the right and jungle on the left, an absolute bear in the wind, to the lovely par-4 finishing hole (by dks), you will never once have the feeling that you are replaying an earlier hole. It is a long course, but it feels a little shorter than the par of 73 and distance of 7619 yards would suggest; the absence of a second par-3 on the back nine, while lamentable from an aesthetic point of view (par-3's just seem to have an affinity for beautiful execution), will likely go unnoticed from a playing perspective.
Risk/reward opportunities abound, although that fact may not seem evident on first glance. Aggressive play can be awarded with favorable placement for a second shot or punished with a bounce into a bunker or stream. Sometimes the potential reward is illusory - there just is not that much to be gained by trying to drive the huge fairway bunker on #6 (by Eddie Schmidt) - and sometimes the stakes are too high unless you need a lot of strokes in a hurry - the sometimes drivable par-4 #17 (by Blake Meyer) could give you either a rare eagle opportunity or a more likely bogie if you choose to take your chances over the water - but you can almost always count on having some choices off the tee. Despite their length, incidentally, all of the par-5's are potentially reachable in two from the back tees, just not in the same round; in my experience, if wind conditions are favourable on #4 (by Rob Lowe) and #10 (by Joe 'loner' Turner), they will be adverse on #15 (by Ian D.), and vice versa.
In terms of scoring, your success will depend to a considerable extent on conditions, but pro clickers like me should score well (my best round, b/b/m/m/d, was -14, with twelve birdies and a 140-yd eagle that I spun in on #17 played the conservative way; that was a little atypical, however, as my other rounds were between -5 and -9). When I had Arnie, Sergio, the Walrus, and Mike Weir play a round b/b/m/m/m, they finished a combined 29-under (-6 to -8) with only one bogie among them; the same four playing b/w/f/f/d were only 13-under (+1 to -6) with a total of six bogies. What was most interesting was the way that some holes that played easy under one set of conditions would turn around and bite you on the butt in others - #1 went from second easiest to hardest, and #15 and #16 went from a tie for hardest to a tie for easiest - while others (#2, #5 and #10 on the easy side, and #7, #12, #13 and #18 on the hard side) played about the same regardless of conditions. For the record, the hardest hole was John Daly Esser's #12, the easiest loner's #10.
The bottom line: I recall being thoroughly unenthusiastic about this project when it was first announced. I envisioned the finished project as a patchwork quilt of incompatible styles and conflicting directions. I could not have been more wrong. Much more than a collection of holes, The Players 18 evinces an astonishing unity of purpose and consistency of vision, and the fruit of Chuck's labours is an altogether convincing golf course that should appeal to both clickers and powerstrokers of every level. That it can make such a positive impression in a month that has seen such Herculean proliferation in the upper reaches of the Links panoply is ample testament to the success of his endeavours. Highly recommended to everyone.
Course Statistics :
Par 73; 5 sets of tees; 7619 yards from back tees; holes are handicapped. |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, tropical course. |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 4/10
While the idea of a compilation course based on the ideas of 18 nonexperienced
designers is an admirable one, it isn't necessarily easy to pull
off. Ostensibly set amongst tropical jungle, The Players 18 is woefully
underplanted, repetitive and somewhat flat. Despite all the palm trees, you
can never quite believe you are in equatorial surroundings, because of the
lush green colour to the course. Hole design is surprisingly dull, given that
people have been given the license to do what they will. Marks for good
intentions, but not for much else. |
Appearance 4/10
This is starting to look a bit old hat. Hard edges and extrusion marks are commonplace; there is very little to feast your eyes upon
(besides Loner's balloon, of course); and the course is lacking in elevation changes, even of the smallest variety. The panorama is
somewhat nondescript and the course is crying out for a central focus, something it desperately lacks. |
Playability 4/10
To be honest, given the potential imagination that might have gone into this course, this is something of a drag to play. Unbelievably,
given the fact that each hole has been designed by someone different, there seems to be an awful lot of repetition. Strategic holes are
limited, even among the Par 5s. It's not a complete drag to play, thanks to the requirement to be able to escape the rough, but it could
have been so, so much better. |
Challenge 10/10
Now clearly, this is where having active players design your holes really pays off. Despite the flat terrain, these holes are consistently
challenging without having to resort to gimmicks or severe hazards. It's a superb and fair test of anyone's golfing game, at any skill
level, and with any swing type, and for that congratulations are most certainly in order. |
Technical 5/10
This is an early course and some of the flaws are most definitely starting to show. The textures are overdue for some work, certainly off
the fairways, and there needs to be fewer flat areas. The planting is terribly monotonous, and clones are evident. I'm sure with a good
overhaul now, this could become once again part of a few top ten lists. |
| Overall |
A great idea, but not pulled off quite as well as it might have been. Holes seem to
exist in isolation and there is no real continuity to the course. |
27/50 |
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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