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APCD Courses
The Real Courses 13-18
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| Edgbaston |
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| Curt
Simms |
| 6290
yards. Par 69. |
| Difficulty
Easy |
English
Woodland
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| Real
- 114mb |
| Aug
2006 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 13th
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Edgbaston Golf Course is
beautiful course set in a parkland/woodland mix
close to the centre of Birmingham. It is laid out
within Edgbaston park and dates from 1936,
designed by the famous Harry S. Colt. The
clubhouse, Edgbaston Hall, is a magnificent 18th
century Georgian mansion and is spectacular
centrepiece for the venue. Overlooking the course
are Birmingham's landmarks such as the
Chamberlain Clock Tower and the University, both
visible from the course itself. A
relatively short course, its challenge comes from
a fine and well thought lay-out. Curt Simms has
chosen this as his debut apcd design, and a
magnificent piece of work has resulted, made even
more interesting by its development history via
forum updates. This is an excellent all round
design, with nicely chosen textures complete with
dry speckles and with divots at the tees and some
even on fairways. The tree planting is a real
strength, a consistant woodland feel with trees
that gell together superbly well, many of them
custom made. Bunkers are also well made, with a
dark dirt lip, and loads of new bird calls add
extra atmosphere. Robert Miller has made the
georgian clubhouse, visually one of the most
beautiful in the game. There is a lot of variety
in play here, the longer par 4's at the dogleg
2nd, the 6th and the 500 yard 10th will test you,
and the par 3's whilst relatively short are so
well designed that you rarely gain too many
shots. The 5th has a memorable line of 3 bunkers
as protection, and the 7th is overlooked by the
clocktower. The par 5 17th is reachable, and
preceeded by shorter drivable par 4's at 15 and
16 offer hope for great finish, although bunkers
at 16 will often collect your tee shot. The river
bank at the 15th is exceptional and just about
the most realistic i can recall, and the dark fir
trees at the turn add an extra touch of identity.
This course is a treat to play, is visually is
very realistic indeed, and the overall finish is
as good as any other design. As a debut design i
cant think of many better.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
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| Munchen
Nord, Eichenried |
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| Guenter
Kujat |
| 7099
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
European
Parkland
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| Real
- 63mb |
| Oct
2002 |
2000
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 14th
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The
Eichenried course in Munich has been meticulously
recreated by Guenter Kujat and is an excellent
simulation of the real life European Tour venue.
It was one of the first apcd releases for Links
2001 and became the first apcd release for 2003.
The designer's attention to detail is apparent
all the way around, with great use of objects
from detailed hole layouts at the tees to
greenside sprinklers at the greens, electric
pylons dissappearing into the distance, and some
really nice clubhouse buildings. For the
tournament option you additionally get tents,
various advertising signs all over the course and
hole in one cars at par 3's. Wildlife will
features via ducks on the lakes, and a canadian
goose at the 6th. Sounds are also included to
enhance the atmosphere with bird cries and
chitters, sprinklers in key places, a helicopter,
and a car starting up at the 1st tee, all of
which create a superb ambiance. The course indeed
looks real, and simulates an accurate and fair
round of European golf extremely well. The
general planting and textures here are
outstanding, with lakes looking stunning, and
wild grass areas seen at most holes. Textures and
mapping is fully upgraded using the 2003 tools
available and is expertly completed and looks
visually amazing. The course often plays harder
than it initially looks, with tricky approaches
to be found, especially at the 3rd where a tree
can easily block you, the 6th where a lake makes
the par 5 risky in 2 shots, and the 14th where 3
bunkers surround the front, left and right of the
green. However the rough is quite generous and
wayward shots often can be comfortably recovered.
Greens are nicely sloped with no undue severity
apparent, but not easy for the most part either.
This is a great venue which really gives a
European player the feeling of playing their
local course. For the whole experience it is one
of the best independent real life course
creations and one of the most realistic
tournament course simulations available.
| Hole
Previews : Very Good |
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Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| TPC
@ Sawgrass |
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| Anders
Bessermann |
| 7087
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Pine
Forest / Lakeside
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| Real
- 48mb |
| May
2002 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 15th
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Anders
Bessermann has replicated a course that is
considered to be one of the very best real life
courses in the sport, and offers here a superb
tournament version to play too. This is the home
of The Players Championship, ranked 98 on the
Golf Digerst list but considered to be the 5th
major and often featuring the strongest field of
players each year, and this design has given it
the justice it really deserves. In terms of the
overall quality of the course, this is extremely
high with a great rough grass texture that still
works well converted to Links 2003 and has a very
smooth look and feel. Only the tee areas and 1st
cut could perhaps do with a texture revamp. For
those that know the course, water is a common
hazard, and the beautiful lakes here are superbly
edged with the expected wooden boarding. Planting
is generally good, tall trees surround the
fairways growing within pine textures with a
variety of ground bushes to be seen within the
trees. Splashes of colour will also occasionally
appear, adding a nice touch of variety. The
clubhouse is amazing, and other buildings and
tournament objects are also very well presented.
Once you turn on the tournament option, the
course really comes to life and excells, with
well placed officials, gallaries and deep crowds,
it works brilliantly and certainly gives you the
feeling of participating at the event. In the end
a course is ultimately judged on playability, and
Sawgrass really excells here also. It seemed
perfectly set up to be very tough but still fair,
always making you decide whether to be aggressive
or safe. The rough is deep, so accuracy is
important, and recovery is not easy, and on a
good day you can score well, but on a bad day
you'll really be scrambling for pars. The final 3
holes here are most famous for their test. Taking
on the 16th in two shots seemed to be just as
hard as the pros face, and the par 4 18th
provides a very scary view on the tee. The island
17th is perhaps the most famous hole on the
course, and it looks outstanding, and plays as
close to the real thing as it can within the
game. Hole previews are also outstandingly good.
It continues to grow on me as one of the most
enjoyable courses on which to test the nerves,
its risk versus reward playability remains one of
the very best available. An upgrade was attempted
but there are missing 3d objects and texture
problems so i would stick to the original which
does show its age, but only very slightly.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
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Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| Wentworth |
| (West
Course Beta) |
| Curt
Simms |
| 7231
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
English
Woodland
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| Real
- 88mb |
| Oct
2007 |
Overall
Rank 16th
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The Wentworth Golf Club
is located at Virginia Water in Surrey and its
West course was designed by Harry Colt and opened
in 1926. It has become the most televised course
in Britain, playing host to 3 professional
tournaments a year, the World Matchplay, the
European Tour PGA event and the Seniors Masters.
It was also the venue for the 1953 Ryder Cup won
narrowly by the Americans. Curt Simms is the
designer now bringing the course to life for
Links, and given his pedigree on Edgbaston
(another English woodland design) this is clearly
going to be a winning combination. Just to
clarify, the current release is only a beta and
the course still remains under construction until
2008. However that said the quality is so good
anyway that i felt it was certainly worth a chart
profile already in its current state. I grew up
watching television coverage of events on this
course, and as a relatively local course to me,
it must rank as one of my most wanted designs.
Many European Tour followers for sure will be
eager to replicate the demands of this course.
Curt Simms has already begun a wonderful job with
this design, the textures are great quality, the
planting is already fabulous with a touch of
autumn in the foliage and the underplanting is
comprehensive. Objects includie clubhouse,
tournament signs and tv towers, with custom
leaderboards and 3d grandstands excellent.
Looking at this familiar course from memory i
feel the designer has captured the views and
slopes perfectly. This is a relatively demanding
course, the fairways are reasonably tight, deep
rough and bunkers wait to capture anything a
little offline making recovery difficult, and
trees await anything more wayward. There are many
notable holes, the 2nd a short par 3 with a
sentry oak tree and a tee shot that carries over
a valley. Water fronts the exciting 8th green,
and the 10th is a lovely par 3 with an upward
sloped green. The 13th is a long par 4 sweeping
left with bunkers guarding the obvious right hand
side tee shot, and the long treelined par 5 17th
tunnels towards to the green around the left
dogleg. The quality of the course is already very
high indeed. Yes there are still design elements
under construction, the blending of cart paths
perhaps the most notable omission visually,
together with the absence of crowds, but the
final finish to the course is expected to become
immaculate. For me, and given my aforementioned
familiarity and love for this English woodland
venue, i can see this potentially breaking into
the top 6 on its final release.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
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Tournament
Option : None |
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| Druids
Glen |
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| Lars
Rudbeck & Anders Bessermann |
| 7026
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Parkland
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| Real
- 81mb |
| Mar
2004 |
Overall
Rank 17th
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It is always a real
pleasure to see a new European course released
for the game, especially when it has been
designed with care and detail such as Druids
Glenn. Of course, with designers such as Lars
Rudbeck (Midnight GC) & Anders Bessermann
(TPC @ Sawgrass) both from the Dark Horse Team,
high quality is expected and then delivered.
Druids Glen is an Irish course, host to the Irish
Open on 4 occasions and the Seve Cup event in
2002. Whilst I have seen some tv coverage of the
course, I admit I cannot recall enough to
properly comment on accuracy, but bearing in mind
its has been topographically mapped, I am
confident it is as accurate as it probably can
be. The 13th and 17th holes were certainly as
good as i do recall though. The course itself is
beautifully created, the grass texturing and
blending looks great, a slightly deeper green
choice for the rough and fairways than most
courses, and the planting is high quality, with
great tree choices and colourings to blend
together really well. The lay out is extremely
good, with plenty of water hazards, especially
down the back nine to make it thoughtful to play.
The views of the course are really good, natural
looking, with touches of long grass here and
there for effect at ground level. Bridges are
excellent, the walls with arches are clever, and
you can find the superb clubhouse at the back of
the 18th. The panorama is lovely and the
resulting 7th tee view a treat, and the tree
planting is superb. Overall this is a great
course to play, it’s a true European venue,
and a high profile one at that which I can fully
recommend downloading. The hole preview screens
are very detailed and useful for play, especially
on the occasional tee shot where the fairway
isn’t immediately visible. In the end this
deserves to be appreciated by more than just the
European contingent of players in the game.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
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Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| Harbour
Town |
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| Eddie
Schmidt |
| 6972
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Woodland
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| Real
- 145mb |
| Jul
2006 |
Course
of the Month
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Overall
Rank 18th
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The Harbour Town Golf
Links, located at Hilton Head Island is home to
the PGA Tour's MCI Heritage Classic, and is one
of the most popular tour events on the US
circuit, being ranked at 98 on Golf Digests top
US course list. The fairways were built on flat
terrain and are closely lined by pine trees,
often covered in dangling moss. The small greens
are slightly sloped and tend to have medium
speed. The signature hole is at 18, a 478-yard
par 4, requiring a tee shot to a wide landing
area jutting into the Calibogue Sound marshland.
Overlooking this hole is the trademark red and
white harbour lighthouse. This course has
tradition and character, together with a great
layout and a close proximity of trees which
always play on your mind off the tee. The par 3's
in particular use the natural water hazards to
spectacular effect and are some of the best in
the game. Eddie Schmidt is well known to us all
by now as one of the greatest real course
creators, having designed Augusta Par 3, Spyglass
Hill and the amazing Brookline. Harbour Town is
an exemplary design, especially at ground level
where the soft green textures and blending, river
bulwarks, and buildings set within the trees are
all first class and equal the best seen on any
course. The lay-out appears very accurate to me
and is simply beautiful to play, with an amazing
clubhouse area behind the 9th green. The hardest
task on this type of thick woodland course is to
get enough tree objects that blend well, here
Eddie again has done a fine job, although you
will notice the occasional tree that jumps out
from the rest. Harbour Town is an excellent PGA
course, and was always one of my favourites
featuring a set of 3 finishing holes that rank
amongst the best in golf. This design is a worthy
replacement for the Microsoft version and is
again a superb example of Eddie's amazing apcd
talent.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
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Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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