| |
|
|
APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 19-24
|
| |
|
| Royal
Kenya Country Club |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7131
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
African
|
| Fictitous
- 122mb |
| Dec
2010 |
2010
Course of the Year Runner Up
|
Overall
Rank 19th
|
|
|
Royal
Kenya Country Club was designed by Mike Jones in
his professional capacity but permission was
kindly granted to allow a release at Christmas
2010. It is needless to say that the quality of
this course matches up with the best releases
from Mike Jones, and the fact that this is
African in origin helps to make it fairly unique
in that i cant recall any others in my top lists.
This is an open plain course in style with wild
deep grasses, and dryish looking trees. An
occasional lake makes a welcome appearance with a
lovely creek running alongside the 12th. In
another first for apcd designs there are giraffes
making an appearance here at the 8th green. The
best holes include the par 3's at the 11th which
is 162 yards over a lake, and the longer 18th
which looks down to the green and is overlooked
by the clubhouse. This is another great design
and a treat in that it wasnt expected.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Kansas
National |
| Paul
Woodbury & Kevin Tobin |
| 7216
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Woodland
|
| Fictitous
- 136mb |
| Nov
2005 |
Overall
Rank 20th
|
|
|
Paul Woodbury is one of
the best designers, and one that also tends to
push the apcd boundaries and his design of
‘The Pinnacle’ remains arguably the
best desert style course for the game. His eye
for great visual courses is undoubted with San
Simeon in particular becoming a forerunner to his
release called Kansas National, which is a very
colourful woodland course and probably has the
most hand planted objects of any design. It is a
masterpiece, and very beautiful from the rich,
almost velvet rough texture to the intricate deep
grass and flowers through which the course winds.
The trees are generally light in colour, with
autumnal shades to compliment the bright ground
level colouration, and a rustic panorama frames
the background. There is a little of everything
in here, lakes will play their part
strategically, together with some expanses of
waste sand, and large guarding bunkers around the
greens. Predominantly though it is the wild grass
and a few close trees which impact the most on
your game. This is a tough course, and you need
to be cautious at the right time for if you stray
offline you may well have to accept that a bogie
is likely, as the entry into many greens is well
guarded. Against the tough opening par 4 where
many a round will start poorly, is a real mix of
difficulty, the short 350 yard par 4 10th hole is
a magnificent lay up, and the par 3’s range
from a tough 200y shot over the water to a neat
150y short iron over a guarding bunker. A
wonderful clubhouse has been created by Eddie
Schmidt and the design project has been ably
assisted by Kevin Tobin. The hole previews and
start up screens are immaculate, and the
accompanying course document files are stunning
and well worth keeping to add to the whole
experience. This is a top 10 course visually but
the immense detail here does come at a price in
rendering times, and for some this will be a real
downside although as PC's improve this is
becoming less of an issue. Also, it is a very
difficult course to negociate round, and a few
shots are arguably a tad too narrow or penal for
their own good.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| The
Shrew |
| John
Borycheski |
| 6985
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Scrub
|
| Fictitous
- 58mb |
| Apr
2007 |
Overall
Rank 21st
|
|
|
John Borycheski is one of
the unsung heroes of the apcd. Way back in 2000
when the designer was first released he produced
a lovely mountain forest course called Falcon
Ridge, a forerunner and a high standard to many
that followed in that era. In subsequent years he
released The Scorpion (a desert style course) and
The Gallows (a rolling parkland course), both
were great designs but ones that have largely
gone unmentioned in recent years. The long wait
for anything new is now over, and nearly 5 years
later we have what i consider one of the finest
and most distinctive designs of all time. The
Shew is a scrub and wasteland style course,
almost like a desert but without any real sandy
areas (other than the bunkers). A lush fairway is
surrounded by a dry yellowing grassland on which
the tall grass and bushes and found. This has the
effect of lightening and framing the view and
produces an amazing and somewhat unique visual
look. The scrubland areas do have patches of fir
trees, but these are low key and not much in
play. Fairways are cleverly designed, you can
certainly choose aggressive or safer routes, but
the rough is deep so stay on the short grass
wherever possible. Lakes do come into play at the
amazing 2nd hole and then down the closing
straight from 15, breaking up the hazards into a
new challenge. The 11th has 3 neat bunkers in a
row in view off the tee and the 14th is a
reachable par 4. All the par 3's here are
excellent but the 17th is exquisite, with water
in play for any right hand pin. One of the
greatest features of the design is the way the
panorama blends perfectly with the foreground in
both colour and nature, and complete with the
occasional building is a real feature of the
course. The planting and general lay-out is first
class, greens often are found on raised areas
with a run off into difficult territory if you
find the wrong side on your approach. This is a
type of course i can honestly say i have been
waiting a long time for, it is possibly best
described as a 'green desert' course and i find
it truely beautiful to look at, having always
liked the open view style. This is the design i
always knew this designer could produce and it is
certainly one of my all time favourites.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Buck
Creek Country Club |
| Art
Patscheck |
| 6849
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Woodland
River Valley
|
| Fictitous
- 58mb |
| Jan
2003 |
Overall
Rank 22nd
|
|
|
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 |
Overall
Rank 23rd
|
|
|
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. |
| |
|
|
| Adams
Tree |
| Paul
Seaman |
| 6970
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Parkland
|
| Fictitous
- 95mb |
| Jan
2007 |
Overall
Rank 24th
|
|
|
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 |
|
| |
|
|
|
