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APCD Courses
The Real Courses 7-12
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| Pinehurst
#2 |
| Robert
Miller |
| 7229
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Pine
Forest
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| Real
- 100mb |
| Apr
2008 |
2008
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 7th
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Welcome to Pinehurst #2,
home of the 1999 US Open , 2005 US Open, and
upcoming 2014 US Open. Pinehurst in North
Carolina is a historic golf resort established in
1894 and now comprises a staggering 8 playable
courses. One of them, Pinehurst #2 has become an
integral part of golfing history, a regular and
beautiful US Open venue and the memorable scene
in 1999 of Payne Stewart making a 15 foot par
putt on 18 to win the US Open title, his second
of the 1990s. Rather obviously from its name,
this is a forest location surrounded by stunning
pine trees underlaid with the fetching red tinge
from the layered pine needles. Its unique
attribute is the dome shaped greens which when
playing fast make it one of the most difficult
courses to play in and around the pin, your touch
and precision must be spot on and your chipping
game at its best. Unlike other well known course
names such as the cliffside Pebble Beach and the
rolling colours of Augusta, there seemingly is
not the run of unforgettable holes in visual or
dramatic terms, but the feel and beauty of this
as a whole course holds its own against them, and
the clubhouse is a fabulous focul point. Robert
Miller has become our key US Open designer adding
Pinehurst to existing classics Bethpage Black and
Shinnecock Hills, and has become one the greatest
exponents of the apcd we have seen, modelling
courses with accuracy and immense attention to
detail. This remake of Pinehurst is simply
immersive, the tee areas, houses and buildings
ooze quality and the textures and blending are
excellent. You will also find little extras like
telegraph pylons, sprinkler heads, divots and
wind machines at the greens. Playing the course
is excellent, visually this a complete picture
from every tee as you overlook the red pine areas
and adjoining fairways, you feel like this is a
complete replica of the course. In design terms i
believe this to be one of the great courses, it
also gains extra value from being a well known
majors venue, and whilst it doesnt offer loads of
elevation or signature style holes, it just has
the feeling of a complete course package which
when played is greater than the sum of the
individual holes. An excellent and classic
design, and one of the all time greats. |
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| Bethpage
Black |
| Dominique
Bois & Robert Miller |
| 7652
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Parkland
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| Real
- 256mb |
| Jun
2009 |
2009
Course of the Year Runner Up
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Overall
Rank 8th
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Bethpage Black is one of
five 18-hole courses at Bethpage State Park, Long
Island, New York, and the biggest public golf
facility in the world. The courses include the
Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, but clearly the
Black is the most challenging of them all and is
ranked at 29 on the Golf Digest list. With a
first tee
featuring a warning sign: "The Black Course
is an extremely difficult course which we
recommend only for highly skilled golfers'', the
course became the host to the US Open in 2002 won
by Tiger Woods, and will host the event again in
2009. Originally this was designed by Dominique
Bois in 2001, on the back of previous releases
Gold Club Des Volcans and Broken Arrow. It was
updated in 2003, but Robert Miller then took over
re-working and overhauling the course in 2006 and
then 2009 to the current yardages, adding new and
glorious textures and completely replanting the
course. The combined effort now makes this one of
the very best apcd designs available and one of
the most realistic. This is a tough course to
play, at 7652 yards and a par 70 you will not
find many others that test your long game quite
so seriously. It looks superb in all areas, using
great looking textures for the rough, abundant
deep rough and burnt rough areas, with excellent
blending throughout. The grass generally plays
deep in true US majors fashion, and the planting
is extensive using varying shades for a very
realistic effect, and a prefect replica of the
real thing. Fairways are quite tight and prove a
tough challenge, but the run off areas are
usually generous and a shot is nearly always
visible from the deep rough to the green albeit
often not reachable. The trees are very nicely
chosen, looking even better in the latest
version, and with good variety and blending so
well. Some of the views across the burnt rough
are fantastic, the 7th and 17th tee shots were
instant favourites. The whole feel of the design
is quite amazing, it really does give the player
the impression that they are involved on the real
thing, with tee objects and 3d buildings well
placed, and a superb clubhouse overlooking the
course. Once you add in some amazingly good hole
previews, and a wonderfully full US Open crowd,
the tourney option offers quite a different
experience from the natural one. |
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| Huntingdale
Golf Club |
| Jason
Thorpe |
| 6980
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Australian
Woodland
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| Real
- 136mb |
| Dec
2011 |
2011
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 9th
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Huntingdale
is an Australian course established officially in
1941 and is located in Melbourne. It has
historically been the annual host to the
Australian Masters which is often won by home
grown players but notable overseas winners
include Bernard Langer (1985), Mark O'Meara
(1986) and Colin Montgomerie (2001). This apcd
design is one to rival and play alongside the
great Wagga Wagga design by Wayne Hewitt. It is a
comprehensive design from the excellent start up
screen and cameo through to the hole previews and
contains so many little details out on the course
such as the stone objects near the tees, the
buildings partly hidden in the trees and a really
good quality 3d clubhouse. The planting is
superb, complete with comprehensive low level
wild grasses and plants, and a great australian
themed tree palette to achieve that tricky blend
of a woodland course. Where this course really
shines is the grass textures which blend a
patchwork of dryness and lush to create a hugely
realistic ground effect, possibly the best seen
on any course design so far. Everything is high
quality here with nice details around the ponds
and large numbers of bunkers of varied shapes and
sizes. The lay out is great offering a real
choice of strategy and the close proximity of the
trees will always be at the back of your mind off
the tee. Jason Thorpe has produced another one of
the great course masterpieces and has well
deserved his Course of the Year award for the
design. |
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| Turnberry |
| The
Ailsa Course |
| Stewart
Parker |
| 7150
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Links
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| Real
- 136mb |
| Apr
2011 |
2011
Course of the Year Runner Up
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Overall
Rank 10th
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Turnberry
is a golf resort on the coast of the outer Firth
of Clyde in southwestern Scotland and was
designed by James Miller in 1906 and then
redesigned by Mackenzie Ross between 1949 and
1951. It has staged The Open Championship on four
occasions in 1977, 1986, 1994 and 2009. At its
first Open Championship in 1977, the course was
the scene of the famous "Duel in the
Sun", when Tom Watson claimed a classic
victory by one stroke ahead of Jack Nicklaus. In
1986 Greg Norman claimed the first of his two
Opens with Nick Price winning his only major in
1994. After a fifteen year absence, the Ailsa
Course hosted the Open again in 2009, where
another classic ensued as 59 year-old Tom Watson
nearly won his sixth Open Championship. Watson
bogeyed the 72nd hole and then lost a 4-hole
playoff with Stewart Cink. As a result of this
rich history it becomes a fascinating course to
play, particularly when you consider it has
spectacular cliffside holes and sea views it is
therefore one of the more interesting real life
links courses visually. The designer Stewart
Parker has released a number of Scottish links
courses over the years, a is a bit of an unsung
hero on this site until now. Royal Troon was his
most famous release, but i find this now his best
design not only in terms of its quality but
Turnberry is just an interesting design visually
and strategically. The course has deep bunkers,
beautifully created, narrow fairways and deep
grass, as tall as i have seen it. It looks great
and also plays tough as the fairways are narrow,
but its length helps as you can avoid the driver
on many holes. This is very enjoyable to play and
if his St Andrews Old Course design comes up to
looking this good then we are in for a treat. |
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| Pine
Valley |
| Robert
Miller |
| 6690
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Pine
Forest
|
| Real
- 112mb |
| Oct
2010 |
2010
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 11th
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Pine Valley Golf Club is
a course set in Pine Valley, Camden County in
southern New Jersey. It is regularly ranked
within the top three courses in Golf Digests 100
Top Courses in the U.S. and the World. Pine
Valley was founded in 1913 and became George
Crump's first and only golf course design using
principals that no hole should be laid out
parallel to the next, no more than two
consecutive holes should play in the same
direction, and players shouldn't be able to see
any hole other than the one they were playing. He
also felt that a round of golf on his course
should require a player to use every club in the
bag. Pine Valley is distictive and beautiful, set
beneath the pine trees this course winds around
sand and scrub areas that look amazing. In terms
of difficulty this will not present the hardest
of tests off the tee, and by many design
standards is generous. However the elevations
give this its edge, and with fast greens it is
great fun to play. Pine Valley is not used for
major tournaments despite its high regard, this
principally is due to crowd issues that would
arise. However this hasnt prevented it becoming
one of the most highly awaited designs the Links
2003 game has ever seen. Robert Miller as usual
has produced a masterpiece, its natural beauty
and planting is second to none and confirms him
as arguably the best real course designer we
have. With Pinehurst 2, Shinnecock Hills and
Bethpage Black already released you just cannot
fault his attention to detail and ability with
the APCD. Its ranking is purely subjective in
that it whilst it equals the very best courses
for technical design and visuals, to play it
strategically is just not quite as good a
challenge off the tee as some of those above it
in the list. |
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| Medinah
No.3 |
| John
Pineda |
| 7403
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
|
| Real
- 70mb |
| May
2005 |
2005
Course of the Year Runner Up
|
Overall
Rank 12th
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This is a
highly rated course from the PGA Tour, placed at
number 15 in the Golf Digest rankings, and was
host to the 2000 USPGA Championship. Recreated
superbly by John Pineda for Links 2001, this has
now been further updated in 2005 and is enhanced
in every way. The design excells in every area,
with the general attention to detail being very
high indeed, and its comparison visually to the
real life course seemingly almost perfect. This
is a heavily wooded course, with fairways made to
feel tighter than usual due to the close
proximity of trees lining both sides. The
addition of shadows to this course is a major
bonus adding visual depth and realism. The tight
fairways make tee shots fairly tricky, but when
wayward you will often get a playable lie from
the deep rough, as ground planting under the
trees is sparce. The result is a pretty tough
course, particularly at the harder levels.
Visually the course is amazing, looking very
natural and realistic with good quality textures,
a large variety of trees, and some very nicely
raised greens surrounded with bunkers. The
general course surroundings are also very good,
with distance hole signs at each tee, and a very
nicely laid out 3D clubhouse fronted by a putting
green at the back of the 18th hole. The par
3s here are especially nice, most featuring
shots over water, with excellent lake edging
evident and some nice plantings and bridges.
Large championship crowds are available in a
quite superb tournament option, and there are
also lovely hole previews which include
descriptions. In addition, a beautifully
presented hole by hole guide with great overhead
pictures was also included in the original
download. It is another wonderfully well
presented course, benefiting hugely from the 2003
textures, blending, and shadows, making the
course look much smoother and more attractive. Be
prepared for a tough putting challenge on some
greens, although the 2005 edition has made it
more 1.06 friendly. This course design is a real
beauty and really gives you an enclosed woodland
feel like no other design and therefore remains
quite a unique course to play in the game. |
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