Augusta National Par 3
by Lee Harris & Eddie Schmidt

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 935 Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length 2002-06-01  29,191,010  bytes 54  2070 yards Type Style CRZ Filename REAL  Par 3 Course  PARKLAND  Augusta National Par3.crz  Course ID Course Key 3037f400753811d6a1ec0010b55cadae  b17999eab1574d4097f69db6bacd22a8  COURSE SCREENSHOTS LINKS CORNER REVIEW Reviewed by Joe Turner `Loner' July 2002 Additional Review by Niklas Oscarsson Where and how do I start to describe the epitome of APCD golf courses, with the zip folder and then the readme. The zip contains 2 splashes, the photograph of the clubhouse, 3 recorded rounds, 1 shot of an ace, a mop (very clever one), a readme (extensive) and another zip folder containing 9 photographs and assorted history and yes there is a course in here also. I would also like to include part of his readme here: "The Augusta National Golf Club's Par 3 course was built in 1958 by architect George Cobb and club chairman Clifford Roberts. The current course actually has 11 holes in all-the original nine, designed by Roberts and Cobb, plus two more holes, designed by Tom Fazio in 1987. The nine hole competition course is a par 27, 1,045 yards, and plays over DeSoto Springs Pond and Ike's Pond. For the tournament, seven of the Roberts-Cobb originals are used, and the two Fazio holes (over Ike's Pond) become the 8th and 9th. (The course record, 20, by Art Wall and Gay Brewer, is pre-Fazio and therefore has an asterisk next to it). The post-1987 record is held by Chip Beck, who shot a 21 in 1993." "First played in 1960 and won that year by Sam Snead, the Par 3 Contest has become a Wednesday tradition at the Masters. Tournament participants, non-competing past champions, and Honorary Invitees are invited to participate in the contest. In the history of the Contest there have been 37 holes-in-one made, a record four holes-in-one in 1996 and 1997. No Par 3 Contest winner has won the Masters the same year as his short-course victory. There have been 14 sudden death playoffs." "The par-3 course at Augusta National was probably the first of its kind in the U.S. and is certainly the most beautiful. Flowers and flowering shrubs are everywhere, and the holes go uphill and downhill, winding around the two ponds, which are teeming with bass, carp and snapping turtles. On Sept. 29, 1977, Roberts-in poor health-concluded his life with a handgun at the edge of Ike's Pond. It was his favorite place at the club." I have reviewed many fine, good and great courses here but this is the most detailed, even if you don't see where its hidden, tested, played, tweaked and finally perfected course I have ever seen and had the pleasure of being a very small part of. I'm just afraid that Ed will see a blade of grass out of place and come out with version 2. He had well over 200 photographs to work from and the ones that I saw I thought would make beautiful wallpaper until I saw that he duplicated and improved on them in this course that you are about to download. The combination of the color green that he use matched and blended perfectly and his choice of trees and other background weren't standard but rebuilt trees, bamboo, ponds that if you 'plop' your ball in will read 'Ikes pond' or 'Desoto springs'. More objects than we realize were built or as the designers say 'built from terrain' and 'mapped' to make the course so much more customized than any other that we have see. The benches, cabin, pier, steps are not standard items but built for this course, even the handrails on the steps were agonized over, do you like these or do you like these. The handrails, the steps that they are on leading to 'Ikes' cabin are all items that you wouldn't see just playing the course as you would any other course, this truly is a labor of love. The bushes that are seen with the azaleas are their natural colors but some are azaleas that haven't bloomed yet, realism was certainly in the forefront of this marvellous course both in the visual presentation as well as the play. The score board behind the first hole isn't something you would never see if your attention wasn't brought to it now and speaking of scoreboards at the ninth hole there are two scoreboards showing the leaders of this years pre-Masters game, take a look at that when you take that extra walk around this treat of a course and small picture postcard of the mystery and the background history of the Masters 3 par. If I may add this one note of interest, when you get to hole # 6 shoot for the green and then go to the left to the putting green that Ed hid there, recognize the two 'guys' putting, yep Sergio and Brad Faxon. Added for a little more fun and to add to the realistic feeling of the gathering of champions once a year. Ah yes the course, that's what you came here for wasn't it; I guess I became carried away with.well carried away. This as I have already said is a course not only perfect in conditions but a pure joy to play and believe me when I say that I have played it 30 or 40 times already, a lot you say, not really. This course is only nine holes, 3 par each and shouldn't take much more than 15, 20 minutes to play, maximum. What does this mean, it's a fantastic course to play when you don't have the time for a 7200y full 18 hole course, its' a course that can be played over and over in the zone or 'IP' under different conditions. It plays differently every time you play it with the changes in conditions and the variation of pin placements that are now available to us on 2001, wait for 2003 this will be a new course to learn. It's not that large a course, to download maybe, but after all the files that are included with it are taken away and just the course is left you have a gem, perfection, the ultimate the finest course as far as I'm concerned ever made. Play it for 18 holes, you have that option but play it. Download this one and it will never leave your hard drive it's a staple an evergreen it's the download you've been looking for. Enjoy it, I did, I am and I will. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Niklas Oscarsson thoughts.. Expectations: With all the attention and the unanimous choir of euphoric reviews that this course has received, I expect an absolutely perfect course. Perfect in every aspect of golf course design and APCD work. Unique and ground-breaking in every way. Can a 9 hole par 3 course be all that? First impression: The first hole is 119m (131y) long with no bunkers. The green is fairly long considering the short approach. If I don't hit this green, I'll kill myself. The tee markers and the bench are created from terrain in APCD and are very well made. The normal tee markers have been made transparent, so that they won't show up - clever. The tee itself is extruded, but that seems to be it. The green may look simple at a first glance, but its gentle slope can be deceiving. The good and the bad: This is a really beautiful course and the designers have paid a lot of attention to detail. There is a little boat house which is created completely from terrain. There's even a boat in there. If you stop and take a closer look, there's a lots of custom 2D objects too. All this work around the course is impressive and must have taken forever. I did see some mesh shadows around the tees, but only in APCD. The texture borders between rough and pine straw looks unnaturally flat and sharp. Maybe an extrusion would have helped here. Many of the trees look very naked. A little undergrowth could have hidden that sharp edge at the bottom. The golf course itself is very plain. There is absolutely nothing of interest from a golf design point of view. There is very little variation, no strategy, no shot making, no unique or spectacular holes. All the qualities that make a golf course fun and interesting to play are simply not present. How can they be in a 9 hole par 3 course? The verdict: I guess it's not really necessary to make any recommendations about this course. I'm sure you have downloaded it already. Its qualities lies in its beauty, the excellent APCD work and the possibility to make a quick round. This is not enough for me I'm afraid. Augusta National par 3 made a touch-and-go on my hard disk. I use 70(!) criteria when calculating the score of a course. Half of the points have to do with general golf course design and the rest is APCD work. This course scores very high in the APCD department, even though the level of Mr. Mike Jones is not reached in my opinion. It scores very low as a golf course which certainly isn't the fault of Mr. Harris or Schmidt. The raw material is simply not good enough. I'm sure most people will disagree with the score I've given this course. For all of you, here's a couple of questions: Do you find these kind of courses on the top 100 (real life) list? Why aren't they there do you think? What score would you give an equally skilfully crafted 18 hole course, with a great layout and interesting holes? We are still reviewing golf courses aren't we? Reviewer Note: I am a player not a designer and therefore rate a course as a player for other players. Summary : Included: readme (extensive package), cameo, splash (2), custom flag, custom tees, hole previews, ball washers, buildings, crowds, recorded rounds (3) tournament objects and many other objects. Not included: hole signs and numbers (not on the 'real' course). Statistical Information: par 54 (18 holes), par 27 (9 holes), 2070y (18 holes) 1035y (9 holes), 1 set of tees, 9-3 pars. This course is available as a FREE download. Download course Please support Links Corner