| |
|
|
APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 13-18
|
| |
|
| Bull
Run |
| |
| Eddie
Schmidt |
| 7061
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
|
| Fictitous
- 58mb |
| Mar
2004 |
Course
of the Month
|
Overall
Rank 13th
|
|
|
Eddie Schmidt is one of
those designers who just keeps getting better and
better. He has already produced a couple of the
best ever top American courses, Brookline and
Spyglass Hill, and here he has returned to
fictional designing with Bull Run. Retaining a
flavour of the civil war theme begun in Southern
Pines, this is a woodland course which winds
among the trees and small lakes to create an
inventive and clever course which is always
waiting to catch you out. One of the designers
trademarks is his fabulous eye for effective tree
planting, and this course easily measures up to
the high standards set by Brookline. On the
ground level though this course goes much further
than he has done before, with intricate long
grass, bushes and coloured wild flowers bordering
the fairways and growing under the trees.
Buildings are plentiful, partially hidden by the
woodlands in true Harbour Town style, and
offering a very realistic effect. Another one of
the key course strengths are the hole designs,
with bunkers and small lakes are used to full
effect, and are often a worry when playing. The
lakes are beautiful, slighly overgrown with a
touch of algie, and when you look back down the
greens across the lakes you will get some awesome
views. The landscaped bridges, walls and rails
add an extra touch. All the par 5's were
extremely well set up to offer a chance at
improving your score, but there is always a risk,
and the par 3's are all visually beautiful and
with different challenges. To outline a few of my
favourite holes, the water approach at the 2nd is
an early test, and the par 3 7th hole is arguably
the most beautiful visually, complete with a
lovely isolated shack. The uphill then downhill
13th was a really clever design, followed by the
drivable (on a good day) peninsula at the 14th.
Then an awesome drive at the 15th to open up the
par 5, and the long tough 17th and 18th. This is
a classy course in every respect, all the options
are catered for, with Paul Woodbury helping on
some of the amazing screen graphics.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Adams
Tree |
| |
| Paul
Seaman |
| 6970
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Parkland
|
| Fictitous
- 95mb |
| Jan
2007 |
Overall
Rank 14th
|
|
|
Adam's Tree is a design
by Paul Seaman now famous for excellent designs
such as Dullatur Antonine and Black Rose Valley.
This is his opening venture into the pay to play
arena as this becomes the first course to be
released as a way of raising funds for a friend
whose son suffered a terrible accident. As such
this is a most commendable course for you to own.
This fictional course is set in Melbourne and is
a mature parkland style venue which has a well
manicured look but is also not without some
deliberate rough edges. As such it is a very
realistic creation. The overall appearance is a
smooth, well textured design with great use of
colours. At grass level there is a slightly dry
appearance, particularly in the deeper rough and
with blended paths and worn drainage ditches
giving it an added level of complexity. Grass is
well planted and covers the more wayward areas,
and bunkers are smooth and have browner dried out
grass edges. The soil areas under the trees play
with sand properties. The trees are colourful and
well chosen, working well together to provide an
interesting and bright effect with more autumnal
colouring than most courses. I have always loved
the old Autumn Valley by Wayne Hewitt, and
Adam’s Tree has a similar feel, but is a
much finer overall creation. All over the course
are neat touches that make the experience more
involving, from the brick bridges and ducts, to
the sprinkler heads around the greens. The city
skyline panorama is the weakest part of the
design and becomes a little overbearing. The
lay-out is interesting and clever, asking you to
think about your approaches and attack when the
time is right. Overall this is an outstanding
design, incorporating many of the quaint features
you could expect from a local parkland course,
and it becomes one of the more enjoyable courses
I have played.
Many of the
views are simply beautiful.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Rotherly
Park |
| |
| Leigh
Seaman |
| 6725
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Easy |
Parkland
|
| Fictitous
- 137mb |
| Feb
2010 |
Overall
Rank 15th
|
|
|
Rotherly Park is the most
recent design from Leigh Seaman, and is also by
far the best achievement from one of the youngest
regular designers Links has at the moment. This
is a fantastic municipal English style parkland
course and what marks this out from the crowd in
particular is its lush green grass bordered by
contrasting burnt grass areas and lavender
bushes. Visually this course really appeals to me
a great deal, in fact it is one of my favourites,
reminding me just a little of a very early
release from way back in 2003 called Spring
Valley. Bunkers are deep, with a soft orange
sand, and dark borders which from a distance
especially look absolutely amazing. The planting
here is lovely, and the trees are especially well
blended with dark ferns complementing more bushy
varieties bordering the fairways. Elevetion feels
just right here, there is enough to make you work
a little whilst retaining its municipal style
views. Playing this course is in relative terms a
gentle experience, this is not to say you wont
find trouble, but fairways at times are
relatively generous giving a rare opportunity to
use gusty conditions or fast greens without the
whole experience becoming way too much, and i
really like this as an option. The front nine
contains a series of slightly wiggly fairways
winding around bunkers and making your club
choice important, and in fact the opening few
holes feel amongst the hardest to play. Then the
course opens up into a lakeside area with a
superb 7th signature hole, both visually stunning
and fun to play too. The back nine feels a little
easier, as the fairways open up and allow you to
feel bold. That said if you get sloppy a couple
of fairway bunkers will cause you difficulties.
The closing hole is a peach, a waterside par 5
that is certainly reachable in two but there is
plenty to worry you and it becomes a great risk v
reward hole. Look out for the par 4's at the 9th
and 12th holes which are simply stunning in every
way. This is such an appealing design, i feel it
will become one of my all time favourites. As a
final note the loading screens and hole previews
from Paul Woodbury are superb.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Tish
Island |
| |
| Steve
Mihelarakis |
| 7381
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Tropical
Dunes
|
| Fictitous
- 90mb |
| Jun
2004 |
Overall
Rank 16th
|
|
|
Steve
Mihelarakis is the designer of the lovely Desert
Lakes, but this new 2003 release establishes his
skills at the highest level. Tish Island is a
Kiawah Island style dunes course with plenty of
sand, water and tropical foliage. You can
instantly see this is a quality design, the
textures and blending, the planting and edging
are all superb, as are the hazards. There are
few, if any, courses that look visually similar
to this, hence its high chart appeal, but if you
are eagerly visualising an open sandy wastland
with low planting and no trees then this isnt
quite it. This is a heavily planted landscape,
with an abundance of bushes and grasses, tall
trees including many palms, and with loads of
sand and large lakes. Visually this course is
excellent. Playing the course is tough, and a
deliberate move by the designer. The fairways are
pretty tight, and hazards border the holes on
both sides, a mixture of sand and water, so
errant shots are quickly punished. The course is
long, so expect some long irons or woods into the
greens, and your sand play will be a real key to
a good round. Greens overall are fairly heavily
sloped and fairly small. Normally i admit these
more difficult courses dont easily make the
chart, but after playing well and making my first
par score i believe it to be playable on easier
settings as the fairways are not too over sloped
making it a little easier to judge approach
shots. My favourite holes were the 2nd, a right
to left dogleg, and the 15th, both are a little
more generous off the tee than most other holes.
Some tough holes include the long 3rd, the 11th
where water really cuts into the approach shot,
and the small green of the 13th, but all are well
designed. The 18th would really have better as a
par 5 really and this together with the 17th can
ruin any good round if you are not very careful.
Overall this is a great design, one that will
challenge even the best players, but also one you
will find frustrating if you dont bring your best
game. A quality release offering something
visually awesome and also a little different. The
new ability to set different tees within a
tournament mean this course is now better then
ever.
| Hole
Previews : Good |
Tournament
Option : None |
|
| |
|
|
| Buck
Creek Country Club |
| |
| Art
Patscheck |
| 6849
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
River Valley
|
| Fictitous
- 58mb |
| Jan
2003 |
Course
of the Month
|
Overall
Rank 17th
|
|
|
Art
Patscheck is a very well known and already a
highly respected designer, his previous courses
include such gems as Arrowhead, Dove Valley and
Avocet. This is Art's first 2003 design and it
really does make full use of the new tools at his
disposal. The course is designed and routed on
terrain taken from the Buck Creek river area near
Somerset, KY, and has a very real feel to it.
Surrounded by thick woodland, the course winds up
and around the river creek valley, and makes
excellent use of elevation in its design to shape
the holes. The many textures used are all
outstanding, and planting is beautifully
realistic, with a great wild grass look edging
the fairways. The greens are lovely and even hold
drier brown patches, with some worn looking
divoted areas on the fairways, all just adding
that extra feel to the course, with a lovely path
winding around the edges of the woodland. Texture
blending has been fully utilised, and the whole
experience has a very polished and detailed feel
to it. The creek itself uses a greyish colour
which works really well and also creates the
feeling of a deeper middle flow to the river. The
edging in stones is superb, as are the crossing
bridges, with the red stone brick one looking the
best of them all. The course plays fair but is
very challenging at times, water will often
feature, and there is a tough start, the 1st hole
has a fairly scary opening tee shot, and the 3rd
needing loads of thought on how best to play this
long par 4. All the par 3 holes are exceptionally
good, with the 13th becoming an instant favourite
both visually and in learning how best to play
it. Some extra special features to look for
include the long, overgrown sand bunker down the
side of the 8th hole, the 11th which is a par 5
that dares you to take it on in two shots, and
the 14th where if you go right you will roll way
down the hillside into the trees. Then at the
18th is a custom clubhouse built into the
hillside. The design is strategically clever,
realistic, hugely detailed and fun to play, and
is one of the highest technical designs released
with all the trimmings included.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Very Good |
|
| |
|
|
| Rugged
Dune |
| |
| Mike
Jones |
| 6746
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Nebraska
Dunes
|
| Fictitous
- 45mb |
| Oct
2004 |
Course
of the Month
|
Overall
Rank 18th
|
|
|
Rugged Dune is set in
Oregon along the same stretch of land that boasts
Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes. It's inspiration
for design comes from Old Cypress point and Ben
Crenshaw's Sand Hills course. The isolated, bleak
and windswept location deep in the sand hills of
Nebraska were very much in my mind as the course
took shape. Rugged Dune impressively is now the
11th course design from Mike Jones, and the open
style of dune landscape you see here hasn’t
really been replicated before. Rugged Dune
contains more expanses of sand than any other non
desert design I can recall, and has exceptional
wild planting to generate the realism the course
requires. Both small bunkers and large areas of
sandy wasteground are evident. Dunes courses do
bear a close relation to an English links course
in style, an open landscape overgrown with wild
grass and gorse bushes and barely a tree in
sight. Visually though this is definitely a step
beyond what we have previously in terms of the
wildness and realism of the planting and
bunkering. Bunkers contain an almost white sand,
overgrown around the edges with deep grass, and
with additional texturing to show patches of
dirt, grass and mottled effects, they are
extremely high quality. There is plenty of
variety in strategy out on the course, more so
even than other courses by Mike Jones, the 4 par
3’s for example range from 140 yards to 210
yard tee shots, and compared to courses like
Atlantic Point it doesn’t seem quite as
tough to keep the ball in play, although it still
remains tricky to actually hole out for birdies.
This should allow a more liberal use of fast
greens and windy conditions to game players. As
usual there are some really impressive design
traits, lay up to the wrong areas and you may
find yourself on a steeper slope or the view of
the green partially hidden, and watch out for the
downslopes away from the raised parts of the
green, the ball may just keep on rolling. The
13th and 14th are the most testing to play, and
my favourite hole is the 9th with a tee shot over
a huge bunker to an angled fairway teasing you to
bite off more than you should. Quite simply this
is an awesome creation which again pushes a few
more boundaries in design and blending terms, it
also benefits from being quite unique in its
visual style and has superb sound effects. |
| |
|
|
|
