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APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 25-30
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| Atlantic
Point |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7276
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Coastal
Links
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| Fictitous
- 61mb |
| Jun
2003 |
Overall
Rank 25th
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Mike Jones in an
extraordinary apcd designer for the Links game.
He continually finds new planting, texture and
blending techniques to improve the realism of
course designing and Atlantic Point is no
exception becoming his 7th release after
DriftWood, Ayrshire Dunes, El-Escorpion, Pacific
Breaks, Royal County Kilderry and Shadowlands.
Atlantic Point is an amazing coastal links style
course, drawing if you like on his previous
experiences designing Royal County Kilderry and
Pacific Breaks, he has produced a course full of
new ideas, techniques and most impressively an
immersive coastal links atmosphere. It is well
known that Mike Jones loves links courses, he
landscapes and plants them to perfection, and
Atlantic Point has visual similarities to Royal
County Kilderry and although this new design has
a little less planting colour than its
predecessor, it does have more visual impacts and
variety from the coastline and the inland
woodland areas. Predominantly you will view
across a rolling landscape covered in a whispy
grass with darker bushes, splashes of yellow
flowers, and patches of woodland trees framing
the holes. In the background is a superb panorama
hillside view and part of the course sees you
playing along the beautiful coastline which for
its effect is so amazing that its wave edging,
textured sand, rock and planting is better seen
than described. In terms of new innovations this
course has plenty more of Mike’s texture
blending to create dry patchy fairways, and a
fabulous new bunker effect to give a worn grass
and blown sand look, a real progressive move in
designing. The coastline, complete with a red and
white lighthouse standing guard, will enhance the
atmosphere for you. Each hole on the course has
memorable qualities, varying from its strategy,
view or set piece planting or object. Some of the
inland holes also are set in a kind of bowl
overlooked by the deep rough and trees which
looks fantastic. My favourite hole is a shortish
par 3 at the 14th, its green backed by the sea
and if the pin placement is to the right then
it’s a real challenge to go for it. The view
here when on the green is of the coastline and a
close up of the lighthouse, and is simply
stunning. The soft sound of the sea will
accompany you while playing, and the large hotel
complex will await your return at the 18th.
Overall this is a tougher than average course
that offers a great mix of visuals, playability,
strategy, and immersive qualities. |
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| Old
Cypress |
| Jon
Weinrieb |
| 7102
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Woodland
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| Fictitous
- 88mb |
| Jul
2006 |
Overall
Rank 26th
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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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| Coogans
Bluff |
| Gary
Campbell |
| 7224
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Parkland
/ Lakeside
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| Fictitous
- 60mb |
| Jul
2005 |
Overall
Rank 27th
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Gary Campbell is one of
the great new designers to emerge in 2005. His
first design, Los Lagos was a superb looking
course, although a little penal for my taste, but
Coogans Bluff is a perfect mix of strategy and
visual beauty, and is his first 2003 specific
design. This parkland style course is located
around a large lake, which particularly comes
into play down the excellent finishing stretch.
There are moderate elevation changes here, a par
4 that is drivable, par 3’s that vary both
in appearance and yardage, and most of the par
5's are reachable in 2 shots. Coogans Bluff is a
second-shot golf course where learning the best
position on the fairway is key, and club
selection important. Many greens are slightly
raised and have a first cut fronting them, which
can often cause you to underclub your approach
shot leaving you a chip shot to save par. The
challenging greens are large in size but play
smaller due to the many tiers and occasional
run-offs around the edges. If you find the proper
tier you will leave yourself a relatively
straight flat putt, if not then you may have some
lengthy uphill, downhill and/or sharp breaking
putts. It is a clever design, fair and so
playable, not too menacing off the tee but tough
to hole out under par and perfect for tougher
play levels. The textures are excellent with nice
blending apparent, and the planting is one of
Gary's highest abilities and in the Mike Jones
league with great tree and bush colours, superb
low level wild grasses and flowers, and some of
the best ever wild planted lakesides ever seen.
It is extremely natural and feels very real, and
the only downside is that the panorama is blurry
in places. As already mentioned the closing holes
are amazing, the 15th is one of the best par 3's
ever seen, and the clubhouse looks superb viewed
across the large lake as you turn home. The hole
previews are top class and very informative. This
is a quaint, beautiful and natural golf course
and a players dream.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
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Xilver
Prairie (2007)
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| Rick
Weathers |
| 7060
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Prairie
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| Fictitous
- 68mb |
| Aug
2007 |
Overall
Rank 28th
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Rick
Weathers is now well known for his trademark
Xilver series of courses and two of these have
received more recent updates to bring them up to
the highest quality using newer apcd techniques
and advancements. Xilver Plaine was updated in
2005 (a much greener and more rolling hills
design) and now Xilver Prairie some 5 years after
its first release is also given its make-over. The Prairie course is
again a fictional design set in an area of the
United States where the panhandles of Oklahoma
and Texas meet the New Mexico border. An area
where the "Rockies" mountain range
rolls down into the golden prairies of
mid-western USA. However, many of the holes here
are based upon real counterparts. The
golden prairie look is quite wonderful with dry
looking grassland extending into the distance and
perfectly matched by the panorama which is
seamless in its transitions from the foreground.
Farm style buildings fit the scenery superbly,
and a few custom trees frame the views, but these
are sporadic leaving an open rolling view far
into the distance. Tee areas contain benches and
trash cans, and the stone edging steps are among
the best of textures ever seen. Cart paths that
wind around the course look great and are
beautifully blended into the landscape. This
designer has a style that is immediately
recognisable and high quality continues to shine
through in the soft edging to every switch in
texture. The course plays fairly at all skill
levels, with many wider lay up areas set up
against the more risky driver shots to reduce
approaches. There seems to be a lot of different
ways to play this course, and with a number of
doglegs here, and lakes playing a key part on
around a third of the holes you will always be
thinking your way around. The second hole seems
to have become its signature, an island style par
3 green at 190 yards which looks fabulous but
provides a nervy early test. There are stacks of
3d objects, buildings and terrain pieces in this
design, and the fountains for instance are the
best i have ever seen with concentric rings
around them simulating the water movement. This
always was a great course, and all in is another
of the all time great course packages, with a
great logo, quality in the cameo, start up
screens, and some of the best previews ever with
the green slopes also shown here. You can count
the number of prairie style courses on one hand,
so one this good is a real bonus.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
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| Sarazen
Links |
| Gordon
Martin & Steve Avery |
| 7196
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Easy |
Scottish
Links
|
| Fictitous
- 50mb |
| Nov
2004 |
Overall
Rank 29th
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Sarazen
Links was a real life course design plan by Gene
Sarazen located in St Andrews Bay (just south of
the St Andrews Old Course) which unfortunately
was never actually built. After Gene passed away
Sam Torrance built a replacement course on the
planned site but from his own plans. Gordon
Martin is a surveyor and miraculously had access
to the plans and a love for the links game, and
set about faithfully replicating the original
course design within the apcd. This for me makes
this a rather special and exciting creation in
itself. The
St Andrews Bay Hotel dominates the centre of the
course, and the actual panorama is from North
East Fife – you can just about make out the
hangars at RAF Leuchars in the distance. There
are undulating fairways, subtle and not-so-subtle
borrows on the greens, gorse bushes, dune grass
and one of the most testing long par 3’s at
the 13th. Finally you get a wonderful cliff top
finish down the 17th and 18th. Overall this is a
generous course with fairways that are quite
accommodating in width, but do have rolling
slopes from tee to green, and the grass gets deep
quite close to the fairway. Once you start to
stray it becomes very tricky to hold the greens
or avoid the protecting bunker hazards. Visually
this course is completely natural, neat long
grass borders the fairways and the gorse planting
and flowers are first class. Everything has a
simple feel to it, and nothing is overstated
here, and I particularly like the way the
buildings overlook the course at key points.
Certainly this is a high quality design, and
Steve Avery the creator of Oakland Hills South
and North has assisted Gordon Martin in its
development making for a really good team. The
best way to play this course is to use the high
wind setting, and it is perfect for use with the
new 1.06 mod. Once the wind is howling it becomes
a longer course to play, and harder to hit the
wide fairways, asking more questions from your
game. Knowing that you are playing a Gene Sarazen
course that never quite saw the light of day is
very special indeed.
| Hole
Previews : Very Good |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| DriftWood |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7058
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Woodland
|
| Fictitous
- 62mb |
| Apr
2003 |
Overall
Rank 30th
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Mike
Jones is a real life professional golfer and used
his knowledge to create an absolutely amazing
course experience on his debut in February 2001
called DriftWood, eventually updating the design
in 2003. Driftwood is a fictional course, but it
could easily be mistaken for a real life one,
both visually and via its hole structures. The
strategy around the course is still amongst the
best ever seen, fair and realistic with
variations in the elements of difficulty, and
with a wonderful mix of challenges. The fairways
vary in width from a nice generous 1st tee shot
to calm the nerves along to the long tight scary
one at the 6th, a difficult par 4. All the new
textures are excellent, a deeper brown grassy
look has been achieved, and the tree and bush
planting at ground level is first class.
Predominantly this is a green and brown woodland
course, but there are natural splashes of colour
to add interest with occasional bright colouful
bushes and flowers. Overlooked by the distant
mountain panorama it gives the impression that
the course is nestled down in a valley. The par
3's excell here in particular, and still rank
with the best ever created, the 9th being a super
tribute to the Augusta 12th, and the 17th a very
well executed hole with a raised green surrounded
by sand. Par 4's vary in length from shorter
holes at the 1st and the 10th to the longer and
more difficult ones like the 6th and the
extremely clever 15th. The three Par 5's offer a
nice mix, with a couple of reachable ones in two
shots, but with some tricky risk attached. The
bunker hazards and lakes all look extremely good
and are really well placed, and the greens prove
to be some of the best ever seen, with tricky
placements found between bunkers available, and
tiers and gentle slopes to add difficulty and
interest but without being at all unfair. If your
approach is close on the correct tier then a
straightforward birdie opportunity should present
itself to you. Attention to detail is obvious all
around the course, and even the tee areas are
well designed with split tee off spots. The new
look with brown grass and scrub bushes edging the
fairways is excellent, full texture blending has
been added, bunkers are much smoother, and the
out of bounds penalties removed. It always was a
real early favourite of mine, and remains one of
the most played courses in my collection. Here is
my hole by hole guide. |
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