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APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 13-18
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| Duine
Mara |
| Paul
Seaman |
| 6999
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Coastal
Links
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| Fictitous
- 153mb |
| Jul
2011 |
Overall
Rank 13th
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Duine Mara is the latest
release from Paul Seaman, one of the most
prolific designers of the current decade. The
course is a fictional links design set in the
gorse lands very close to the coast of western
Scotland. The course plays to a par of 70 with
five par threes and only three par fives which is
slightly unusual, but not in fact unique, and has
a yardage of just under seven thousand yards. It
is as usual for Paul a well crafted design and
has a darker gorse feel to it that we are used to
which makes it quite imposing off the tee. It is
also packaged with a superb panorama featuring a
coastal view and some great new skies from Daniel
Watson. You will find a tough enough test here
with bunkers, water and out of bounds to contend
with, so watch your step. I also feel this course
will be a grower and likely to become more
interesting the more it is learnt and the holes
are remembered. It is another excellent links
style design and has a neat ruin feature which
helps pull the venue together and gives a focal
point for the course. Planting, bunkers and lakes
are all of high quality. Finally we must remember
that this course was designed as a memorial to
one of our community friends Paul Cirino who
passed away this year. |
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| Bull
Run |
| Eddie
Schmidt |
| 7061
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
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| Fictitous
- 58mb |
| Mar
2004 |
Overall
Rank 14th
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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 |
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| Stansbury
Country Club |
| Beta |
| Peter
Beckwith |
| 7405
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
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| Fictitous
- 192mb |
| Jun
2011 |
Overall
Rank 15th
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This course is still
considered still at beta release stage, but do
not let that put you off downloading as this is a
real beauty. Whilst a fictional design this is
about as real as they come, its design model a US
Open style venue set within woodland treelined
fairways. As a beta you would wonder how
unfinished this is, the good news is from a
visual perspective it is hard to see anything
really missing with the exception of hole
previews, a tournament crowd and some texture
renaming just to tidy up. The rich green textures
are great, with generally nice seam blending, and
the trees are well chosen also blending in really
well together for a consistant look and as good
as any woodland course i have seen in this
respect. At grass level there is loads of
underplanting to give it realism, plus many
little features that help make holes stand out
such as flower borders, custom objects, an
expansive clubhouse and tennis court area and a
really good background view. There are small
lakes and ponds dotted around too, some in play
with other less so but all adding to the feeling
of a well groomed location. The course plays in
US open style, so pretty tough but fair, and as
you have treelined drives it always seem like you
are more enclosed than perhaps you really are.
However you do need to work out the risk well as
straying off the fairways often leads to some
tough approaches or recovery shots. This design
takes its roots from other releases from the
designer such as Ridgewood and Carsten Acres but
this is his best and i trust will get its
completion as it deserves a place as one of the
best this year so far.
| Hole
Previews : None |
Tournament
Option : None |
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| Tish
Island |
| Steve
Mihelarakis |
| 7381
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Tropical
Dunes
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| Fictitous
- 90mb |
| Jun
2004 |
Overall
Rank 16th
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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 |
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| Royal
County Kilderry |
| Mike
Jones |
| 6734
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Irish
Links
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| Fictitous
- 34mb |
| Apr
2002 |
2002
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 17th
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Royal
County Kilderry became the amazing 5th course
creation by Mike Jones. The designer's love of
Links courses is so readily apparent, with this
course set in the beautiful Irish countryside,
overlooking the surrounding fields and farmland
in amazing fashion. This landscape is so
realistic, rolling fairways are surrounded by
deep grass and bracken, overgrown with wonderful
mauve heather, white flowers and yellow gorse.
Distant quaint farmhouses overlook the scenery,
and an old railway line runs alongside the 8th
hole, still one of the greatest course features
ever seen. Deep pot bunkers cover the course to
provide some superb strategy, with fairways which
whilst being very fair and sometimes generous,
are humped and rolling to make for some tricky
lies on approach shots. The natural beauty of
this course is complemented by the expertly added
features, including extremely smooth cart paths,
wooden steps leading up to the tee off areas,
fencing around the fields, and wonderful stone
walls which look fabulous. The course flows
together really well, it is slightly shorter than
many designs but being a par 70 you wont feel any
benefits, and with par 3's especially that all
have their own unique attributes and clever
design for risk against reward. For instance,
just try and hold the ball on the 14th green
after clearing the front bunker. The clubhouse by
Guenter Kujat fits the location perfectly,
standing near the coast with the sea coming into
view down the final few holes. Comparisons are
perhaps likely to be made to his earlier release
called Ayrshire Dunes, but the look and style is
very different, seemingly more gentle and softer
than the wilder Scottish location. Hole previews
and crowds are of the highest quality to round
off this gorgeous Links course, with sound
effects adding to the experience and an amazing
use being made of the panorama. A quite brilliant
design, in fact it has the some of most realistic
planting ever seen in the game, and some of the
best natural strategy too of any apcd design. The
2003 revised version now features a new
groundbreaking form of texture blending on the
fairways to add an even more realistic patch
effect on the rolls and dips and is quite
stunning. A Course of the Year winner, this one
stands the test of time well. |
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| Rotherly
Park |
| Leigh
Seaman |
| 6725
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Easy |
Parkland
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| Fictitous
- 137mb |
| Feb
2010 |
Overall
Rank 18th
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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 |
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