Hi guys...
Just dropping in with an update on my progress with Coeur d'Alene.
I've been doing lots of detail work on the grounds and buildings all along the lake shore. There's so much to do, and it's time consuming. I've also spent a lot of time building a planting set. CDL has a lot of special type of pine trees, and they are really scarce in the Links planting world. I've spent many days on the Internet searching for those type of pine trees, and I found several, but not as many as I would like. It will be really difficult for me to use these trees and avoid having duplicates next to each other. I also found some new pine trees at a graphics site, and I purchased 20 new pine trees for 4 dollars each. They are super high quality trees, already cut out and ready to use. So CDL will have a collection of all new, never before seen pine trees, (about 30 of them ) plus many new grass textures and custom images never before seen in the Links world.
My goal is to complete the course as it is IRL now, and release it as the standard edition, and then I will set up another version for championship tournament play, which will be edited in some areas to add yardage and difficulty to an otherwise short, easy layout.
I understand that as it currently plays, it is a short and easy course, with pretty easy greens, but with a little work it can be made to play harder by adding a little distance, using some difficult pin positions, and setting various wind and speed conditions.
The bottom line is, this is a specialty course, know pretty much for its beauty and surrounding scenery. The main attraction is that it's the only course in the world with a floating green. I am building the course because of its beauty and uniqueness, not because I think it will make a great tournament course. My hope is that it can be played and enjoyed for those reasons. Therefore, I am putting in a lot of time and effort into making it look as nice as I can.
I'm not going to make any predictions about a completion date, but at a guess I'd say I'm nearing the completion of the construction and detail work, and will be planting the trees after that. I'd say I'm about 90% done, with a few weeks left to go. One thing for certain is, I am not going to rush to finish it. I will stick with it until it is completed to my satisfaction. Just want everyone to know that I have been putting in 4 to 6 hours a day on it, and its all going well so far.
Dan
