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APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 13-18
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| Old
Cypress |
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| Jon
Weinrieb |
| 7102
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Woodland
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| Fictitous
- 88mb |
| Jul
2006 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 13th
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Jon Weinrieb has been a
great designer for some time, but to get a design
into the top 10 now takes ingenuity, originality,
inspiration and of course an amazing apcd talent.
Whilst Quidnet and Links at Ballylecum Castle
were both great designs, this release is quite
exceptional and shows all the aforementioned
attributes. The Old Cypress East Course (a great
name) has uniqueness in its visual appearance,
the collection of custom made trees is both
refreshing and beautiful, and is to be highly
commended. This inland course winds its way
between great depth of planting and overhanging
branches, which really play their part in the
gameplay. Hidden within the trees are some lovely
buildings which fit the location very well. This
is Jon's best lay-out by far, being less
prescriptive on shots and with fairways a little
more generous, but the trees and deep ungrowth
await anything that strays offline. His ground
level planting is, as always, exceptional, and
few if any designers are better in this regard.
The views off the tees are always superb, and the
lakes are wonderfully realistic and beautifully
orchestrated for effect. My personal favourite
touch was the bent over and dying tree at the 8th
hole which underlines the imagination that has
gone into this design. You cant really ask for
any more from a course, the finishing touches are
here in the hole previews, start up and cameo
screens, and Old Cypress justifies every success
as one of the best courses you can get.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| Wellington
Point |
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| Gus
Green |
| 6796
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Tropical
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| Fictitous
- 82mb |
| Aug
2003 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 14th
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Gus Green is a designer
who has remained quietly in the background since
the first apcd was released and apparently has
never finished many other course designs, but
eventually he unleashed Wellington Point onto an
unsuspecting links community. This design is
astounding in many regards, a combination of a
variety of styles it is described as a short,
tight course located in a seaside location based
on the sub-tropical East Coast of Australia.
Wellington Point visually is one of the most
exciting designs I have ever come across, it is
stunningly beautiful to look at, captivating to
play, and has an amazing attention to detail
everywhere. The variety within the course will
continually produce unexpected views ranging
across a sandy bay with stunning sea and surf, a
rock cliff face complete with a guarding white
lighthouse, onto the more usual inland course
vistas with long grass, ponds, and even swampy
ground, all unbelievably well done. It is
important to note here that everything looks
realistic, and is full of ingenious planning to
bring out the best visual effects it can. The
texturing and terrain is beautiful, with a superb
long grass look both in the textures itself and
also on the grass planting, and a worn grass
effect is seen in key areas of the fairways. The
bare rock outcrops and sandy waste areas are
excellent, a custom clubhouse complete with
tennis courts is to be seen, and the panorama is
superb. There are plenty of hazard bunkers
around, of all shapes and sizes, and these
together with the cart paths have similarities in
their style to Tall Pines Estate. The strategy of
the course can almost be overlooked as you take
in the views, but this aspect also works well
too, playing fairly and naturally. It is not
overly hard as long as you avoid the difficult
pins, but realistically brings the hazards into
play, and when played with the wind blowing
severely off the coast it becomes very testing.
It is so hard to say which holes are a favourite,
but the par 3 12th is a beauty. For the visual
quality of this design there is a small price to
pay on the rendering side so be warned, and also
a tournament option in not available here. If you
like a busy course with loads to look at, then
this is a great choice, and also it has a
somewhat rare tropical feel.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
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| Royal
County Kilderry |
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| 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 15th
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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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| Shadowlands |
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| Mike
Jones |
| 7159
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Parkland
/ Scrub
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| Fictitous
- 68mb |
| Dec
2002 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 16th
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Mike Jones is back with
another fabulous fictional course design, his
first full Links 2003 release. Shadowlands is
described as having elements of Pine Valley,
Royal Melbourne and Sunningdale as its
inspiration. It is a majestic design, right up
alongside his very best. The quality of Mike's
hole lay outs to provide excellent strategy mixed
with fair risk versus reward situations remains
intact. There are many different choices to be
make, safe play against aggressive, and
increasing the difficulty levels of wind and pin
positions will indeed change the game for you.
Visually the course is one of the best ever seen.
The planting is, as usual, so realistic in its
design, and the grass is definately setting new
standards for texture design. Red, orange and
white flowers form the main sporadic splashes of
flower colour. Trees are mixed in species which
work well together as a tree lined course, and
shadows are enhanced to provide an excellent
feature well used for effect. At ground
level the dry patchy dirt areas are pretty unique
to apcd and are one of my favourite ideas
for the design. Texture wise this course
took a step forward in designing, the rough close
up is excellent even on the deep grass areas, and
around the course you'll find a blended worn
grass look around the tees and other well trodden
areas, it is exceptional. Playwise the
course is varied and very interesting too, the
par 3's are in true Mike Jones fashion some of
the best you'll see, with the island 10th and the
16th hole set in a hollow looking amazing.
Strategically around the course you'll have to
overcome the long testing 7th par 4, the
beautiful but tricky lakeside series around the
turn at the 9th to 11th, then the fairway bunker
at the 12th. All the little additions are there,
rope fences, superb slate path effects, bird
calls, and great crowds. In many ways, especially
the ground terrain and texturing, this was one of
the most groundbreaking designs in the history of
the apcd. It is a very natural course and
playwise remains one of my all time favourites. |
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| Babylon
Ridge |
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| Mike
Jones |
| 6502
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Lakeside
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| Fictitous
- 50mb |
| Jul
2003 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 17th
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Nestled
beneath the Rocky Mountains lies an expansive
river valley, littered with large lakes and
gentle slopes and surrounded by a beautiful
backdrop of green woodland trees. It was here
that Mike Jones chose to carve out his latest
fictional course design called Babylon Ridge. The
scene is set, as two thirds of the fairways
meander around the lakes, with water often
strategically in play, and occasionally even
wrapping itself lovingly around the greens. As a
result this course is strategically one of Mike's
strongest designs, and most holes have a unique
attribute or test that you will quickly come to
remember, a mark of a truely excellent design.
Visually it contains the hallmark planting of a
Mike Jones course, this time the rough is planted
with a green grass colour which blends closely
with the rough texture, with the occasional dry
grassy patch to contrast, and also featuring
patches of scrub bushes. Ground textures are
again superb, the bunkers especially so, and they
become another formidable hazard during play. A
white manor house stands proudly over the course,
and the occasional distant farmhouse will also
come into view, particularly across the fields of
the 6th hole. The most distinguishing feature of
the course is probably the panelled bulkhead
edging to the lakes, it looks wonderful, and
helps to bind the course together as one
location. Playing the course will involve a
number of important decisions, the 4th and 15th
holes are drivable par 4's on the right day, and
the water edged 15th especially becomes one of
the greatest ever fictional par 4's seen. Other
very memorable holes include the 6th, bordered by
farmland on one side and a lake on the other, and
the 16th where the faded tee shot around the
trees is crucial to making a par. One of my
favourite holes is in fact a quite standard
looking dogleg, the 11th just plays beautifully,
with the inside of the left angle protected by a
series of bunkers, it requires a well chosen and
executed drive. Finally the 1st and 14th are
risky par 5's that are very reachable in two
shots. The greens here are not quite as tough as
many of Mike's previous courses, and this i feel
is a nice change, but the back 9 certainly has
enough to test your putter out. Overall people i
know will make comparisons to other designs, it
does have some visual similarities to
Shadowlands, but not really very much when you
come down to analyse it. The course offers a
wonderful strategic test, the lakes will make it
more penal than you expect, but its not a lengthy
lay out, so club choices are always available.
Overall, i felt it offered one of the most
enjoyable playing experience, simply packed full
of excellent risk versus reward choices and one
that grows on you the more you learn its
strategy.
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| Candlestick |
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| Paul
Seaman |
| 7379
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Desert
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| Fictitous
- 53mb |
| Jun
2007 |
Overall
Rank 18th
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Paul Seaman has pretty
much become the designer to watch in 2006 / 2007,
and hot on the heels of the fabulous Adam’s
Tree comes another fictional course called
Candlestick. This is a desert landscape design,
and there are really only a handful of this style
available outside of Microsoft designs. As
expected, this is high quality and easily
establishes itself alongside the likes of The
Pinnacle and Sorento. It is well textured,
has a great lay out for risk and reward and is
visually excellent with a great quality panorama
that has a sharp and well focused rocky mountains
backdrop. Lakes are enough of a feature to play
their part during the round, all nicely planted
up to add that touch of class, and I cannot fault
the planting of ground level grasses and cacti
around the desert areas. If I had to find one
small area for improvement it would be that on
occasion the fairway does look a little carved
out from the surrounding desert rock rather
having a more naturally elevated flow. This is an
interesting course to play, full of clever
choices which picks up in style at the 5th hole
where you have an opportunity to drive the par 4
lakeside green. This is perhaps one of my
favourite short par 4's of all time. The 8th has
a clever split fairway with water again in place
and the 13th is a Sawgrass style island par 3
green. The 14th is another drivable par 4 and the
lay up shot is to a fairway littered with
bunkers. The 18th is a great finishing hole with
water down the right, a lovely clubhouse at the
back on the mountainside and a neat green iron
bridge across to the green. Simply stated this is
one of the best desert style designs available
and therefore should be included in any course
collection.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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