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Fair Meadows
by Tom Goodrick
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 98 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2001-04-12 |
18,287,583 bytes |
72 |
7352 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
TGcrs15D.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| 40734ca02f6811d58bfb70fd77c1c566 |
29bdf569ddb463397073ba39dca9dd37 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by Mick Lenton July 2001
Thoughts from the 1st: Tom is quite a prolific designer with 11 course to his credit at the moment. As I tend not to play a lot outside of reviewing, I have not played one of his courses before, so hopefully this will be a fresh review for him. Fair Meadows is one of three courses put up in April and before this Tom had put up 3 other courses. I was not sure of what to expect here and standing on the tee, looking over the tiny, colourful pond, I did feel that Tom had got the idea of meadowland quite well.
The Course: As the name would suggest, the quite long, par 72 course is set in slightly rolling meadowland. Trees are in evidence but in places are very sparsely planted, which is fine in this context. There is some water on the course and this is well planted with greenery and rocks. There is a problem with some of the plants appearing to hang above the water slightly. Without a bit of investigation, I am not sure what has caused this. It could be a reflection problem, as there is no ring of verts inside the lake, which is considered necessary by many, or it could simply be that they need dropping slightly. It does not look awful though.
Stock textures are used throughout, with the tees sitting fairly flat on rough. There is also only one tee position. I do like to see more. Variety is needed!! The unmapped, striped fairways are generous in width and edged with Dormant Grass. It looks good, but I would like to have seen a property change to maybe rough, to give a different ball response. This then leads into rough and if you wander a long way offline you will find bush and ivy, with the occasional patch of dirt and mulch. The stock green texture has the normal fringe and the shapes are fairly similar, roundish or ovalish, (Technical terms) and mostly gently contoured, with the occasional steep one.
Bunkers have the silver sand which, personally, I think, does not sit right here and I would like to have seen the yellow sand used. My Opinion!!! They have been extruded and given the dirt texture, but unfortunately have not been mapped, so we have the iffy vertical lines, which is a shame, as in general the bunkers have been done very well. One of the Lakes has also been constructed this way, with a stone texture. What I cannot explain, is that there is a circular mapping assignment, but it is in the middle of nowhere!!!. I would appreciate it if Tom would mail me, to explain what happened here, as I am fascinated.
There are a few sharp edges and shadows, but not enough to detract from the course too much. Most of them actually occur on one hole, the 7th. I suppose if you are going to make mistakes, make them in one place :-) There are a couple of places on fairways where the 1st cut disappears into the fairway!!!
Planting is, as I have said, fairly sparse. There is a bit of colour with some flowers dotted about. There does not seem to be many types of tree used though and the few large stands of trees can look a little samey, (Another technical expression). I would also like to have seen a different pano, as the forest one used, does not really fit in places, as you do not expect to see the ocean from a meadowland course. Out of the stock pano's, maybe the lakeside would have been better. Now, I suppose, there are much more suitable one's. I have to admit I am not heavily into pano's. Sorry!!
In general though, a nice course, with a few mistakes that should have been picked up at the testing stage, but on the whole they do not detract from the overall picture too much. Mind you - NO BALL WASHES. So you can imagine the state of.......... No we mustn't go down that road!!!
Playability: The wide fairways, few bunkers, (In comparison to some courses) and sparse planting, make this an easy course to play. This will appeal to some, but not for others. You are never really stretched. It would be a good course to relax on, or to practice on. Also a good one to learn the game on, or practice shaping your shots, as there a few doglegs to negotiate.
Two of the par 5's are pretty much unreachable. The 6th would be reached on a good day, with a bit of wind, and the 10th is reachable.
So, all in all, an easy course with no real problems. A few of the greens are quite steep, but nothing exceptional.
Good Points: Bad Points: This is a very, middle of the road course. There is nothing seriously wrong with it other than a few bad edges and shadows, and the lack of mapping. But equally, nothing stands out. It resembles a typical English farmland course. Maybe a bit more elevation here and there may have improved it. Maybe a little inspired planting. It is difficult to say.
Favourite Hole: The par 5 10th. See above. Not because it is reachable. Honestly. I like the drive, towards the lake, maybe flirting with the water and then a gentle fade over the water to the green. Don't be short, or the ball will bounce back off of the bank into the wet stuff!!.
Least Favourite Hole: Very difficult here as all the holes are of a very similar nature. None very outstanding, but none really bad, so no least favourite on this course. Sorry!!
Final thoughts: This course seems to be one quite early in Tom's designing career, as it does lack some things that an accomplished designer may have done, such as mapping and moulding the bunkers and maybe doing a bit of underplanting, which I think always peps the course up a bit and other little things that make a course stand apart. I am looking forward to maybe seeing some of Tom's later courses, as you can see he has really tried and is only lacking in a few skills. He maybe needs to look at getting some good beta testers. He may be doing that by now, and if he is I would imagine he is turning out some nice courses.
Filesize 16MB
Course Info :
Splash Screen? Yes
Cameo Screen? Yes
Custom Flag? No
Custom Tee Markers? No
Hole Previews? No
Readme file? No
Par - 72 7352yds |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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