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Meadowood Golf Club
by Dexter Gresh
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 894 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-05-06 |
44,279,828 bytes |
72 |
7466 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
WOODLAND |
MeadowoodGC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 1f481cd18efe4458bd210acd974d7734 |
41126b7ec1dcaab3b727412a7a380ab5 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Chuck Clark May 2002
Background: This is the first golf course released to Links Corner by Mr. Gresh. The read-me has some good background information about the course so we will let Mr. Gresh speak for himself:
'Meadowood is a fictional course, in a highland/grassland setting, and it's long.. 7466 from the gold tees. The fairways are pretty wide though, so if you like to 'grip it and rip it' I think you'll like this course. There are challenges to make you think, and you may find your round just as enjoyable by playing off the blue, or even white tees, which bring some different hazards into play.
I started designing the course in early December, 2001, as an exercise in learning APCD. It quickly got out of hand, as I was too dumb to start over once I'd made all my initial mistakes, so I spent a lot of time fixing them. Even so, those who like to look at courses in APCD for mesh errors will have a field day. I got a lot of it cleaned up where I thought it affected the course's appearance, but if it didn't look bad in the game, I was less vigilant in cleaning up the mesh. My next course will be much cleaner, I promise.
I made most of the main textures myself (rough, fairway, fringe, green, first cut) and a few were borrowed from the archives at Links Corner. I also created the hole previews, splash screens and panorama myself, although the panorama contains the familiar mountains from Microsoft's Four Seasons Resort Aviara.'
Overall Impression: This may well be the best first course ever done. It is beautiful to look at in every way. The planting on this course rivals the best I have ever seen and I just love the look and feel of it. The pano is a semi-custom one utilizing parts of the Aviara pano, but it looks much better than the original. Dexter has cut out the icky housing tracks prevalent on that pano and given us a warm, woodsy feel. The course itself is fun and interesting to play. Despite what he says in the read-me, I thought that a few of the fairways were a bit narrow. At least for Champ players they would be. Pro clickers like me should have no problem navigating this course. The greens were subtle and nicely challenging. There were just a few small technical errors, but nothing that really jumps out at you.
Playability: Like I said above, this course will be a bit of a challenge for Champ players, but should be just about perfect for Pro players. The hazards are very prevalent, but I didn't seem to get in many, so they couldn't have been too penal. The greens were nice and fun, without being too small or highly sloped.
Shot Values: This is a very interesting course. I liked many of the holes from a strategic point of view and enjoyed working my way around the course. It doesn't have anything crazy or wild like multiple fairways or island greens. It is a good solid test of golf, with good use of elevations, dog-legs and hazards.
Visuals: Like I said above, this course is absolutely beautiful. It was stunning in places and I really enjoyed just sightseeing here. The planting is some of the best I have ever seen and looked like a picture post card in places. You won't be disappointed in the visuals with this course.
Technique: Whenever I review a 'first' course, I always expect some common technical errors that we all seem to make. But I didn't see anything like that here. This course is very well done from a technical standpoint. I did notice a few sharp texture transitions, but that was all. They were very minor though, so you probably won't ever notice them.
Summary: I really love this course. It is fantastic to look at and fun to play. I highly recommend it to just about anyone. The only people who would not like this course are real-course fans, who play Champ and have a 56k modem. Everyone else should download and play this gem.
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Hole Previews: Yes
Tee Signs: No
Custom Tee Markers: Yes
Custom Flags: Yes
Read-Me: Yes
Handicaps: Yes
Custom or added Sounds: Yes |
|
CLIPNOTES by Ben Bateson (ousgg) |
Description
Fictional, dunes course |
Location
TBA |
Conditions
TBA |
Concept 4/10
From the outset, it's pretty obvious of the course's prairie background. It's
flat, browning and has a wide, open landscape. Inexplicably, though, about
halfway around it turns into a semi-mountainous course, using massive
elevations and small rockpools as natural hazards. It's a massive
misjudgement of style, and really detracts from some otherwise appealing
golf. Shame. |
Appearance 7/10
A very studious course, with perhaps just a clone or two detracting from the overall atmosphere. I can't for the life of me get into bed
with the textures, though: they seem inappropriate and far too lush for the intended setting. The bunker texture is almost entirely
smoothed and doesn't look half as rough as you'd expect from a prairie course. But, with the early styling at texture blends, they mesh
very well when necessary, and when you're used to the rather odd appearance of the ground, you can pay deserved attention to some
of the course's better features. |
Playability 8/10
Some outstanding holes, particularly the 15th and 16th, keep you motoring along very nicely. It's only when the course vaguely strays
into surreality with its incongruent elevations that you feel under pressure. There's plenty to see and plenty of fine judgement required,
given the number of corners you are asked to cut. A good round without being too pushy. |
Challenge 5/10
Meadowood does not give up birdies easy. Greens are very difficult to read, and shots off the fairway will often be taken from sideelevations.
Several bunkers do not offer a fair escape route, and the hazarding on the whole strikes one as being on the sadistic side.
Anything under par, even for just nine holes, would represent an excellent achievement. |
Technical 9/10
Extremely well constructed, as one would expect with the designer's reputation. Particularly noteworthy is the texture matching and the
attention to the features. But some bunkers are not lipped correctly, and the elevations around the turn border on the unbelievable. It's
good, but should it be better? |
| Overall |
But for one or two errors of judgement, a course that's worthy of half an hour of
your time. You never quite believe it as a track, but the golfing potential is of high
quality. |
33/50 |
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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