|
Blue Lakes GC
by Alan John Portway
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 994 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-08-03 |
51,770,865 bytes |
72 |
7269 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
FICTIONAL |
PARKLAND |
Blue Lakes GC.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| c88d0f82a65f11d6a08a0020188ad29e |
d38e332701a2b75d4432eb3d75a649aa |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Joseph G Reynolds CPA
September 2002
FORMAT FOR REVIEW:
Intro/Overview/Conclusion/Hole Descriptions/Issues/Notes for the Designer
Introduction
Blue Lakes Golf Club is a fictional course. The design was released without announcement to Links Corner August 3, 2002, with a hefty download size of 51.295 MB. This par 72, 7,249-yard layout is parkland terrain with the stock lakeside panorama. The course currently has a single Silver Star rating, which seems appropriate for this first time design.
Mr. Portway, who lives on the outskirts of London, England, states in the readme file he spent approximately 125 hours on this design. This is his second project but apparently the first completed and released. The course borrows liberally from other imported objects from other APCD designs. While no individual recognition is proffered, Alan does offer his thanks, as well as his appreciation for the tutorials at Links Corner. I found no evidence the course underwent either private or public beta testing. There are no hole previews included, but the designer did make a conscientious effort to 'Where possible..design the holes in such a way that you can view other holes from the hole that you are playing on and so trying to create the feel of a real course'.
Overview
Blue Lakes is sort of like the practice experimentation course many designers create to try out something new. This design has a schizophrenic character. It is all over the map in terms of style, look and feel. If you have played a lot of APCD designs, you will recognize features from many top courses. Unfortunately the objects chosen bear no relationship to one another.
This course is a conglomeration of virtually every stock APCD texture and object, plus imports from a half dozen designers, and the result is a mess. It's like a badly out of tune violin. After awhile NOTHING seems to fit because the course never had a style to begin with. Despite the volume of objects, we still see basic mistakes like lining up a forest of identical trees like they're on military dress parade. Play this in pano with the dynamic cam and you'll get a good feel for how everything clashes.
Beyond the aesthetics, the APCD work is shoddy. Hard edges, shadows, sloppy bunkers, squared off greens and hazards are all found here. The mapping is horrific - most things won't show up in top cam, and there are scores of concrete trees. With many first time designs, we see continual improvement with each hole - but with Blue Lakes, it got sloppier the farther you went along, as if the designer couldn't wait to finish.
Conclusion
I would not recommend downloading Blue Lakes GC. From a technical standpoint, there are numerous hard edges, sloppy elevation work, and the designer is lacking in basic mapping skills. As for the look, feel and playability, there is way over the top first time designer experimentation that results in an incoherent design. The shot values reflect a poor strategic design.
Hole-by-Hole Description
In lieu of hole previews, Alan included this in his readme file. No reason to think I could improve upon it, so here's the insider's scoop from the designer:
"NOTE FOR US PLAYERS: S.I. = Scratch Index, e.g., Handicap Index. FYI - R&A governed clubs use Standard Scratch Score (SSS), roughly equivalent to a USGA Course Rating except it's a rounded whole number.
Hole 1 408 yards Par 4 - River Bend - S.I. 3
The first decision to make is whether to try to hit over the river on your first shot. If so you will leave yourself with a lofted iron for the approach shot to the green. However, make sure you are not short as the ball could roll off of the green and into the river.
Hole 2 422 yards Par 4 - Blossom - S.I. 15
From the tee you will need to place your drive between the fairway bunkers. With a good position you could be hitting a 9 iron into the sunken green.
Hole 3 167 yards Par 3 - Hilltop - S.I. 18
The pin position will determine the type of shot to play. Possible to use a draw or a fade to get close to the hole but be careful of the water.
Hole 4 194 yards Par 3 - The Pines - S.I. 17
A lake of grasses is surrounded by pines on this hole. A possibility to get close to the pin but this is dependent on the wind conditions.
Hole 5 364 yards Par 4 - Apples no Pears - S.I. 8
A short but difficult hole with Apple Trees in the prime center area of the fairway. You will need to decide whether to hit to the right of left and the decision is likely to be made on a combination of the wind direction and pin position. A poor tee shot is likely to lead to dropped shots.
Hole 6 566 yards Par 5 - Double Lake - S.I. 7
The first par 5. The decision on the tee is whether to go for a long drive to enable the possibility of clearing the lake with your second shot. Playing the percentages will result in two strategic shots being made to find a good position for the chip shot approach to the green. Heavy slope from left to right on the green.
Hole 7 428 yards Par 4 - Debs Dive - S.I. 14
Your drive should see you over the river looking to get a good position for the chip shot to a small green. A possible birdie opportunity here with the right shot.
Hole 8 571 yards Par 5 - The Island - S.I. 13
Be careful of the trees on the left for your drive. This makes for a tricky tee shot with the best decision probably involving playing a draw. You will need to decide whether you plan to hit short or try to clear the path. Two solid shots should lead to a scenic approach shot but be wary of the many green side bunkers that guard the small green.
Hole 9 410 yards Par 4 - Pond Approach - S.I. 10
Position is all-important from the tee to set up a good approach shot to the green. The right hand side of the fairway will give you the ideal approach.
Hole 10 188 yards Par 4 - Highview - S.I. 16
The wind direction will determine the shot to play here. A birdie possibility if you hit the green.
Hole 11 373 yards Par 4 - Flower Island - S.I. 11
A strategic tee shot will set up your approach shot to a tricky green.
Hole 12 572 yards Par 5 - Mountain Mist - S.I. 9
A straightforward uncomplicated par 5. It is a question of how close you can get to the green with your first two shots.
Hole 13 476 yards Par 4 - Chris Cross - S.I. 1
A drive over the lake will still leave you a lengthy 2nd shot. A par could be considered a good result here.
Hole 14 425 yards Par 4 - White Knuckle - S.I. 2
You will have to avoid the bunkers on the left to set up the shot to the green. A raised small green makes hitting the green in regulation difficult.
Hole 15 248 yards Par 3 - Pot Hole - S.I. 12
A long Par 3 guarded by many bunkers if the shot is off line. A difficult one to hit the green.
Hole 16 422 yards Par 4 - Hit or Miss - S.I. 6
The hole refers to getting to the green in two. Accuracy of the 2nd shot is paramount for success. An oval shaped green will probably mean that birdie chances will be few.
Hole 17 610 yards Par 5 - Island Run - S.I. 5
A long hole uphill, which makes hitting the green in two impossible. Positional play for the pitch to the green is vital to setting up any birdie opportunity.
Hole 18 425 yards Par 4 - Fountain Bleu - S.I. 4
The big decision is whether to play up short or go for a big drive to clear the river. A straight shot it necessary for a clear approach shot. Ready for the nineteenth?"
Issues and Oddities
The mapping on this course is horrible, 95% of the trees will not show up in top view. There are no black tees, and the red tees (listed as ladies tees in APCD and in the game) are the longest.
A single default planar mapping was used for the running fairway stripes. No big deal, that's how many designers handle it, rotating all the fairways once regardless of their individual orientation..but do you really think the grounds crew takes a compass out every morning and says, 'OK, we're mowing from 90 to 270 today'. Or would the pattern be different for each hole? My personal preference is to select a new mapping for each hole.
Many of the greens, bunkers and water hazards have straight blocky edges.
You can take a look at the screen shots and draw your own conclusions on how the planting fits.
Notes for the Designer
I don't know where to start; there are so many problems to discuss. If you want to continue designing, learn how to use the do mapping. Your gizmo skills are way behind the curve.
NEVER release a course without beta testing. It is a waste of time for reviewers and players. Let me give you an example of the kind of feedback you would receive from a beta tester:
#1 - I also like the running water texture, but not sure if I agree with terminating the stream into a lake beside the green. The bank has no planting..we see uneven width on this stream, and sometimes the terrain slopes down to the hole, but the bank is cut straight up and down like a man-made ditch or burn. Just doesn't seem to work right. There are hard edges between textures. Mulch on the right eats into the fairway, but I would expect it to end closer to the forest IRL. No path from the first green to second tee - 240 yards of woods between the two. Bunker in back has nice shape and depth, but needs a lip like the one on the left. Top edges looks sloppy as is.
#2 - Huge bunker complex left and right will catch a lot of drives. Love the punch bowl green - a directional marker 60 yards short of the center of the green guides you from the center of the fairway. Classic hidden approach shot reminiscent of pre-WWI architecture. Great bunker work around the green, which features wild undulations. Small red oak trees don't work much better than the bushes lining the backside of the rear bunker. Lava rock outcropping doesn't fit this course or the lakeside pano. Hole design is great, but the planting is not. If the entire course were as good as this one hole I would heartily recommend this for download.
#4 (The Pines) Trees do not fit the first 3 holes (or the rest of this layout). Look at that ring of evergreens in the APCD perspective view...really sticks out, eh? Great undulating greens, good-looking bunker lip.
#5 (Apples no Pears) First time designer experimentation. There are some things that are so original it's sort of hard to pull off the reproduction. I once saw a cover band try an anthology of Led Zeppelin. It didn't seem to matter to the crowd that they sounded a lot like them - it just didn't work, like it was sacrilegious or something. Maybe that is why I found someone using Jack Hartt's apple trees so offensive. Maybe it was putting the orchard right smack dab in the middle of the fairway. Whatever it was, I thought this hole was woefully bad. Decent undulation on the green, OK bunker work, and in the back the hedges are oddly out of place. I found the red rose and purple lilac bushes to be laughably inappropriate, you might decide the eye candy pleasing. To each is own.
#6 - Since we're on the edge of the plot, look right and decide if the lakeside pano fits this conglomeration. When the tee shot lands, look at the brown pano grass, dark evergreen forest sprinkled with light green and orange, the red, yellow and white trees in back of the green, water fountain in the lake, gray rock cropping behind the putting surface..taken together, do you like this?
#7 - Tee shot is from a v-shaped tunnel of the gray rock outcropping (Gooseneck Bay or Misty Mt. Hop? Not sure), look out for the broad wine colored trees on the right, as they don't show up in the top view. The tall pines we first saw at the RTJ Links course surround the green. Whew..for a second I thought we were going to leave something in the library without trying to plant it.
#8 - right side, fairway, running water stops short of the lake..I know it's hidden but how hard would it be to continue another 25 feet?
I think basically you got through the T-file tutorials, maybe looked at a few others, and decided you were ready to start. But if you want to release decent courses you need to go farther and step it up. There are many intermediate tutorials at Links Corner, and in particular I think you will find the Dark Horse Design video series is outstanding. Many designers such as Rick Weathers have good intermediates on their personal web site. When you find a designer whose style you like, go look up the URL on their profile or on their course readme file, and chances are they've got some good advice waiting for you.
I look at that second hole and think, hey, this person has a lot of potential. But the rest of Blue Lakes is a disaster. Whatever you do, I recommend putting this one behind you. Don't attempt a version two - just blow it up and move on. Start with a blank canvas, and get involved with other designers so you have peers to bounce ideas off from. If you have questions then post them on the web boards. If you need beta testers just ask. There are a lot of friendly folks in the Links community, so utilize them to help you improve your skills.
I am both a player and a designer. I review courses primarily from the standpoint of strength of design, style, and overall ascetic appeal. I am cognizant of the enormous effort required to complete an APCD design, but out of a sense of duty to the Links community I will not hesitate to point out flaws. This review is intended to be fair, helpful, and constructive to the designer. However, this is merely one person's opinion.
Course statistics: Par 72; 7,269 yards from back tees; 3 sets of tees; 5 sets of pins.
Included/Not Included:
Cameo: Yes
Custom Flags: Yes
Custom Tee Markers: No
Custom or added Sounds: No
Handicaps: Yes
Hole Previews: No
Read-Me: Yes
Splash Screen: Yes
Tee Signs: No
Tournament Crowds/Objects: No |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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