| |
|
|
APCD Courses
The Real Courses 31-36
|
| |
|
| Oakland
Hills South |
| |
| Steve
Avery |
| 7099
yards. Par 70. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
Parkland
|
| Real
- 85mb |
| Jun
2006 |
Overall
Rank 31st
|
|
|
Located in Bloomfield
Hills, Michigan USA, the Oakland Hills South
Course is ranked at 13 on the top 100 US courses
by Golf Digest. It was designed by Donald Ross in
1918 and has been subsequently redesigned by
Robert Trent Jones and Arthur Hills. It has
hosted ten major championships, including the US
Open in 1985 and 1996, and most recently the 2004
Ryder Cup, and the next major will be the 2008
PGA Championship when there are plans to lengthen
the course to 7300 yards. The course was built on
rolling terrain and only features relatively few
trees closely bordering the fairways. Water
hazards (two ponds and one creek) come into play
on three holes, and the signature hole on the
South Course is at 16, a 406-yard, par 4,
requiring two well-executed shots up a dogleg
right fairway to reach its very small green over
the pond. The last five holes are memorable and
are known as the "Fearsome Fivesome." After a
lengthy par 4 at 14, the 15th has a fairway
bunker to make you edgy off the tee, the
aforementioned 16th tee shot must find the
fairway to get over the pond, the 17th is a
lovely uphill par 3, and the long final hole
overlooked by a great 3d clubhouse is a 490 yard
par 4 that will really test you. Steve
Avery has brought us a number of course designs
including the highly rated Oakland Hills North
and was co-designer of Sarazen Links. His
contribution to the game is much appreciated, and
this design is superbly textured and planted,
with lovely bunkering, has blended paths and
excellent clubhouse work. The rough is deep here
for true US Open conditions and it makes this
course really tough to play. This is one of the
rare courses that really looks its best when the
crowds are included bordering the fairways,
adding a layer of depth to the course, as the
venue can seem a little plain without them. It is
considered by many as one of the great world
venues, and this design is beautiful but the real
course seems to lacks a little something extra to
make it exciting. The fairways are narrow and
pinched where you want to drive, and the rough is
deep which dictates your play, and although it
does finish strongly the apcd ranking therefore
does reflect the fun factor of playing here. That
said Steve has done an excellent job and you will
never need to use your old Microsoft converted
version again.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
 |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Gut
Larchenhof |
|
| Guenter
Kujat |
| 7294
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
European
Parkland
|
| Real
- 46mb |
| Jun
2001 |
Overall
Rank 32nd
|
|
|
Guenter
Kujat is a masterful designer with a speciality
in producing real life tournament experiences.
Gut Larchenhof is a European Tour course design
from Cologne, Germany. Originally designed by
Jack Nicklaus, it is brought to life quite
beautifully. The course is open parkland in
style, but with a links look to it, containing
deep wild brown grasses bordering the holes,
making recovery shots tougher to execute. The
green rough grass textures and bunker sand will
seem familiar and pleasingly stays in character
for the designer. The attention to detail here is
again evident in abundance, with clever use of
objects, including distance markers at the tees,
a few excellent small buildings and perhaps the
best ever apcd clubhouse which backs the 9th and
18th holes. The woodland panorama fits
beautifully, and looking out across the gently
undulating course is quite beautiful. The
tournament option includes camera crews,
advertising boards, a blue hot air balloon
located near the clubhouse, and the par 3 jaguar
car at the 16th. Sounds are also included, and
the crickets and bird calls add great atmosphere
especially near the long grass. The course
strategy is very good here, fairways are
reasonably generous with two cuts to the rough,
and one or two fairways also contain central
bunkers. Greens are nicely sloped and on the
whole are tucked away behind bunkers and lakes,
making approach shot choices very important.
Trees border the course, but generally they do
not block the course views, and are not really in
play off the tees. The lakes are superb, with
excellent and realistic reeds growing at the
edges, and the swan at the 5th was a vision in
itself. A wonderful course being both visually
and strategically strong, and with excellent hole
by hole previews which also name the holes.
Technically it is very much one of the best apcd
course available, and a course slideshow is also
provided and can be downloaded separately.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
 |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Crandon
Park |
| |
| John
Andersen |
| 7179
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Hard |
| Real
- 30mb |
Tropical
|
| Apr
2005 |
Overall
Rank 33rd
|
|
|
This
course was originally released by John Andersen
in Jan 2001 as The Links of Key Biscayne, a real
course used on the Seniors PGA circuit and known
on the tour as Crandon Park Golf Course, located
in Florida. This is a natural island setting
complete with the expected planting of palm trees
and abundant mangroves which enclose the
fairways. It is superbly set out reflecting its
real life venue perfectly, with its strategy
being extremely strong, created by the many lakes
around the course, and with often narrow
entrances into the greens. Palm trees dont really
affect tee shots too much, but the planting is
very consistant with the setting, and looks
gorgeous. The lakes are excellent, some
containing small overgrown islands, which greatly
enhance the views of the course, and not all are
in direct play as hazards. Bunkers are also well
designed, have good variation in shapes, and
guard the greens well. There is an amazing
atmosphere to this course, from the sound effects
to the local wildlife which enhance many of the
views. Herons populate the lakes, small birds
strutt around the fairways, and racoons creep out
the mangroves, and lets not forget the favourite
iguanas, especially the monster at the 12th. The
variations in play are extremely good with par
3's offering different lengths, and a nice mix of
long and also reachable par 5's, the 10th is now
quite a superb hole to play sitting between the 2
lakes. The grass texture is so smooth and
beautiful, it really does lift the course to the
highest level. Rounding things off you get custom
flags, excellent splash and start up screens, and
great hole previews which also show the greens
contours and slopes. The 2005 update version by
Ross Mackenzie and Eric Dorse has added new
textures and amended the rough to normal to play
much better with the new Links 1.06 modification,
more realistically and fairly. This is one of the
best tropical course ever made available.
| Hole
Previews : Very Good |
 |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| TPC
@ The Woodlands |
| |
| Alan
Price, David Russell & Ross Mackenzie |
| 7040
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Woodland
|
| Real
- 89mb |
| May
2005 |
Overall
Rank 34th
|
|
|
Alan
Price originally released this course in Mar
2001, a follow up to his first course at The
Woodlands, this was the more well known PGA
tournament course venue at the same location in
Texas. TPC @ The Woodlands was an amazingly
accurate replication of the former home venue of
The Shell Houston Open. In 2003 David Russell
gave this design a visual makover including new
textures, hole previews, re-planting and a fuller
tournament crowd option, and in 2005 Ross
Mackenzie added texture blending, a couple of new
textures and some general smoothing over. The
predominant feature of the course is the
importance of water on key holes, and the deep
rough which surrounds the fairways. Fairways are
reasonably wide, and rough areas often generous,
so you can be wayward off the tee but recovery
shots are difficult, and lay ups may be needed as
a result. The holes are set well, being lined
with woodland trees, some planted in areas of
pine needles, and the course looks very
consistant from start to finish, rich green in
colour. The designers have achieved what is still
one of the best use of buildings around, with
many of them all around the course, lurking
within the woods edging along the holes. They
look unobtrusive but make their mark very well,
there are some duplications but its varied enough
to do a great job. Water is a common hazard and
is often in play on approaches in particular,
making for some great strategy. There are also
now patches of grass planting for effect around
the course but this has been kept to a minimalist
look so as not to detract from the original
release. The hole structures make this course
special, you can usually play safe to avoid
hazards, and there is a mixture of reachable and
unreachable par 5's in two shots, and a good
balance between the more difficult and easier
holes, with some tricky par 3's thrown in. The
island green on the par 5 13th works really well,
as it will be reachable for the very bold, and
the lakeside closing holes are just excellent,
the 18th featuring a really nice stepped backdrop
from the green to a large leaderboard. This is a
very well designed course which offers excellent
playability, has great hole previews, and now has
full blending and a superb tournament atmosphere
too.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
|
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Creek
at Dubai |
|
| Lloyd
Henchey |
| 7534
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Tropical
|
| Real
- 54mb |
| Feb
2007 |
Course
of the Month
|
Overall
Rank 35th
|
|
|
Lloyd Henchey is not a
newcomer to the apcd, his early release in 2002
of Le Versant showed a promising talent which has
taken its time to develop itself into another
final release. The Creek at Dubai is a tropical
venue in the style of Doral, Blue Monster where
lush green fairways are surrounded by water
hazards and bordered with beautiful palm trees.
This is a real course, but with limited available
information, so this version may not be an exact
replica, but being as close approximation as
could be done and certainly feeling like the real
venue, it was good enough for me to label it a
real design. The quality is high, the designer
has done really well with a limited available
tree palette to avoid obvious duplications and
the look of the course is very neat indeed. The
panorama really stands out here, complete with
the tallest clubhouse in golf, and the cityscape
is a very prominent feature overlooking this
course. You can really imagine returning to your
yacht after the round is over. All the features
are expertly built, from the cart paths and
bridges to the beautiful lakeside edging in wood
and stones. Splashes of colour appear here and
there, and the blending is neatly presented. The
strategy is both interesting and challenging, as
water plays a prominent part. The views over the
harbour are great too with a lighter than usual
water texture. Given that there are very few good
tropical designs around, this helps elevate the
design into a course that is a must have to own,
and will certainly feature on many tour lists at
certain key times of the season. The tournament
option is pretty much the default one here, as
like Augusta the stands are re-built, but given
its location it looks much better with everything
turned on anyway.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
|
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
|
| |
|
|
| Talon
@ Grayhawk |
| |
| John
Andersen |
| 7017
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Desert
|
| Real
- 26mb |
| Sep
2001 |
Course
of the Month
|
Overall
Rank 36th
|
|
|
A great
name for this beautiful real life desert golfing
experience. Set in the Arizona desert at
Scottsdale, this course has been re-created by
John Andersen, a well known and highly
accomplished designer. This course has been
designed with the desert sand being
comprehensively planted up with varieties of
cacti, flowers, bushes and rocks, and everything
is in keeping with the arid setting, but adding
just enough colour variety to remain beautiful.
The grass texture looks superb too, a soft green
shade, and with a fair measure of rough before
you reach the actual desert. Individual dry
looking trees are cut into the edges of the rough
in circular cleared patches, with flowers planted
beneath, which all adds to the lovely detail
provided. Holes are laid out really well,
seemingly very fair to play and often with safer
driving areas to lay up to. It is superbly
designed for the harder levels of play
especially, but fairways do roll to keep approach
shots interesting. Hole previews in the game
compare to the very best and enhance the
experience, as do the birds calls and occasional
rattlesnakes, a small hawk is perched at the
first tee, and an owl at the 3rd green. Water
features do come into play at times, also great
looking, with the 10th tee shot looking
exceptional, and bunkers are varied, some with
the excellent lighter brown/green edging which is
common to the region. The 17th hole has its own
unique look, a short par three across a lake and
edged with red flowers and wooden boards and a
tricky undulating green, it is a wonderful hole.
This is an excellent desert course which has a
wonderfully involving background panorama that
really complements the course beautifully, and it
comes with some excellent notes which set the
scene perfectly. and include a course map,
pictures and a scorecard. This is a design which
really captures the feel of the location, and is
a complete high quality package.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
 |
Tournament
Option : None |
|
| |
|
|
|
