Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2019 10:58:35 GMT -5
Group G Results
1. Falcon's Landing 2-0-1
2. Rosarito Bay Golf Club 1-1-1
3. Stillwater Mountain GC 1-1-1
4. Ave of the Giants Black 0-2-1
Falcon’s Landing vs. Stillwater Mountain GC
JUDGE 1
Given the level of the courses thus far in the competition it's difficult for me to see either of these courses going very far.
Falcons Landing:
Not a bad course, but it never wows me and it feels very repetitive. I'm also not a fan of the lack of light rough given the fairways get so narrow at times. It's not a very difficult course though so I'm sure this could find a home on the CC tour at some point.
Stillwater:
More than a few issues. I won't list everything I didn't like about it, but I encourage the designer to ask for more detailed feedback once the competition is over. It's a very difficult course so if you are looking for a challenge you don't need to look much further than this.
Winner: Falcon’s Landing
JUDGE 2
Falcon's Landing:
Absolutely beautiful course, amazing environment with lots of extra polish, clubhouse area with parking lot, condos with pool and hot tub, etc., just really well done. Cart paths are clean and frame the holes nicely. Course flows nicely from hole to hole, with a nice variety of holes/distances/shots. I'm not a fan of no light rough, but it's consistent so clearly that was the designer's choice. I love the finishing stretch of 16-17-18, just a great combination of holes to finish a round. 16 is one of my favorite holes in the contest so far, a fantastic short par 4, with so many ways to play it, and plenty of trouble if you mess up. One area of the environment that could have been better was the area out beyond #6. It was a big flat openness that didn't seem to fit with the rest of the course, it needed some hills or buildings or something, but that's just being really picky and trying to find something to complain about. This is just a great course and a joy to play.
Stillwater Mountain:
Nice environment, clean clubhouse area, but sculpting around the driving range with the vertical wall is harsh. Course flowed pretty well, with some fun holes and multiple ways to play them. It could play very differently with different conditions and pin locations. Nice opening shot. The scale of the orange flowers was off, though, they dwarf the player. #1 green had some humpty bumpty sculpting in the front portion of the green. I hit a shot just short of pin #1 that rolled back, but as it rolled back it rolled about 4 different directions and looked like an off-center weighted ball rolling. I saw a few other greens with something similar, but not quite as bad. Slopes are fine, multiple breakers are fine, but the slopes should be smooth enough that the ball doesn't wobble like that. There were lots of curvy fairway edges that seemed forced and unnatural to me. Sometimes one side of the fairway would be a flowy curvy path, but the other side would be sharp and abrupt. If you sculpt those areas with some hills and valleys and mounds, as well as fairway bunkers, then fit those curves to those features, then those curvy edges look more natural and look like they belong. Some of the shoreline sculpting was harsh.
I didn't like the fairway completely surrounding every green, and there were some very random shapes of fairways around the greens as well. Hole 5, I didn't like the middle fairway finger out to the right, it makes no sense to me and looks out of place. Hole 17, the view from the tee could be greatly improved by raising the tee and/or lowering the initial part of the fairway, that could give you a view all the way to the green with a glimpse of the water. There are some good ideas here, but also lots of room for improvement with overall sculpting, texture shapes, and general polish.
Winner: Falcon’s Landing
Ave of the Giants Black vs. Rosarito Bay Golf Club
JUDGE 1
Ave of the Giants:
2nd hole is actually got a nice look to it with the creek running by the right side. Very Jekyl and Hyde course for me... some holes with great looks off the tee, while others leave me scratching my head. I couldn't wait to see what hole came next, but left feeling a bit empty. Course, for me, verged on the gimmicky as opposed to the unique.
Rosarito Bay:
This course just has that feel of a resort course you'd find anywhere on the ocean. I played 13 into a strong left to right wind and had to aim my drive over the lake...Was fun to have to trust the swing. 18 left me wanting a bit more as the end of the course seemed to flow together, but I can see this as a tour stop down the road.
Winner: Rosarito Bay
JUDGE 2
Giants Black:
Maybe the most "memorable" course in the contest, in that it had so much to look at...plus some really fun shots to play. Was it a bit TOO busy? Yes. Is it going to get used for "serious" tournaments? No. But it is a well-executed course and I appreciate the risks the designer took. There are some issues with playability, as the course is very straightforward and incredibly punishing in places...and that does affect how many people can play and enjoy it. Some really good holes though...I especially liked the par 3 4th.
Rosarito:
Some sharp looks and a golf course that is fun to play. I thought the course could have forced a bit more thinking off the tee, but it really was a good challenge tee-to-green, and had me thinking about my approach shots. I did not particularly care for the planting, as some areas were well done and others were left to auto-populate, and stick out quite badly. The plot is a good one, but is closed-in by too many trees. Would have liked to see them thinned out. Overall a clean course from tee-to-green...but a bit sloppy outside of the fairways.
Winner: Rosarito
In the end, playability was the difference...though the eye-candy factor almost did put Giants Black over the top.
Falcon’s Landing vs. Ave of the Giants Black
JUDGE 1
Falcons landing has great playability and looks great a very polished course.
Ave of giant blacks was poorly done in all aspects… tiny fairways and greens. poor sculpting and planting.
Falcons Landing is the winner.
JUDGE 2
Ave was unique visually - really felt like I was in Gulliver's Travels (and I was one of the Lilliputians!). Misses severely punished - some very narrow targets. Pretty laggy first few holes - but improved later on. Very fantasy! A few technical issues.
Falcon - loved the first 3 holes (esp the par 3, despite making triple!), and the last 3 (esp 16+18) - but in middle the holes got a little repetitive and same-y. Similar with the greens - started off tricky - and then got a little bland. Nice retaining wall work, realistic layout.
Winner: Ave of the Giants Black
Stillwater Mountain GC vs. Rosarito Bay Golf Club
JUDGE 1
Stillwater Mountain GC:
Bunkers feel largely incidental and not fully integrated into the hole designs. Green contouring is very good. Very clean course, great teebox paths to the fairway. Bunkers feel flat and slapped on in places. Felt a very straightforward course, accuracy test on approaches. An acceptable amount of planting, though more could have helped the course pop more. Epic setting, but never any epic holes that seemed to take advantage of the setting. Signature skill: Green sculpting. Signature Hole: 11th
Rosarito Bay:
Really good bunker shapes and sculpting. Course plays very fair with lots of minor risk/reward choices. In some spots, the multiplant grass just looks bad….tee shot on 13 is an example. On the one hand, the cart path looks good. On the other, the texture of the path looks badly out of place. Really nice green complex on 13. Nice clubhouse design. Course plays enjoyable but not specifically difficult. Signature skill: Bunker shapes and sculpting. Signature Hole: 6th
Winner: Rosarito Bay
JUDGE 2
Stillwater Mountain GC:
Beautifully designed, from both a strategic/playability standpoint and an aesthetic one. Clean lines, flowing, organic fairways from tee to green. The walking pathways are flawless and a significant design element in the course. Flawless transitions from texture to texture, beautifully-sculpted bunkers, and fairways contoured with ball roll in mind. Green complexes are beautiful – rewarding good approaches, punishing poor ones, favoring multiple pin positions, plenty of room for planned rolls and good rollout areas, very nicely-sculpted. Strategically, there are multiple choices to be made from the tee and on the approach shots, due to the width and shapes of the fairways and routings of most holes, despite appearing to dictate play at first glance. Depending on wind, distances, clubs, etc., multiple options present themselves on most shots. Aesthetically, a minimalist planting approach works excellently here, with shorelines showing the most detail and most teebox and green areas free of anything, other than some occasional clusters of grasses; the designer lets the bodies of water and trees and organic beauty of the course itself speak for themselves. This course has replayability and variety written all over it, and appears to be aimed at CC-Pro/Web.com skill levels primarily, although with slight variations in green and fairway firmness and wind speed it would challenge the very best golfers.
Rosarito Bay Golf Club:
Visually stunning. #5 is one of the most memorable par 3’s I’ve seen. The “marshlands” that appear throughout the course – shallow water, with grass and other plantings filling it – are one of the unifying design elements throughout this tropical course that binds it together, and are excellently done. Shorelines are beautifully planted. Bunkering is flawless – mostly mounded, and strategically placed on every hole. Routings are clever, dictating play only partially, with choices needing to be made on most shots based on wind, trees, split fairways, and the follow-up shot, and thought needs to be put into every stroke. Green complexes are immersive, expansive, with fine sculpting that leans on the more forgiving side at least with default settings. Planting is sparingly-done in most places except along shorelines, and select areas where hillsides or other areas are lushly planted with bright flowers and grasses (like on the green on #18), and great rock-lined clusters of plants placed sporadically throughout the course as a unifying design element. Along with great rockwork, all create a gorgeous tropical environment. Nice sightlines emphasize the views from most teeboxes and most fairway shots, producing many iconic/signature holes - #9, #13, #18 for example. Overall the result is a very memorable round of golf, albeit on the more forgiving side, although this would raise the appeal to a wider range of skill levels.
Winner: Stillwater Mountain
Falcon’s Landing vs. Rosarito Bay Golf Club
JUDGE 1
NOTES TO COME
Falcon’s Landing wins.
JUDGE 2
Falcon’s Landing:
IMO, the wrong choice of texture colours - too dark with this lighting. The dark rough looked ok where it was edged by path but it just looked unnatural against the sand beds - that much water to create the greenness would cause plant growth on the transition. Well done cartpaths. A well-constructed course otherwise which was fun to play.
Rosarito:
Not sold on the lighting - at times it looks very pretty but sometimes it makes it too dark or too bright for playing purposes. Overall a well-constructed, relaxing and pretty course but nothing really sticks in the memory.
This was a close one but the winner is ... Falcon's Landing
Stillwater Mountain GC vs. Ave of the Giants Black
JUDGE 1
Stillwater:
Very good sightlines throughout. Needs more sculpting, however the lighting designer chose also did him no favors
Giants:
Tgc1 fairways! Full credit for trying some really ambitious looks/holes. Had some great looks, was just way too condensed.
Winner: Stillwater Mountain
JUDGE 2
Stillwater:
Very generic and pre populated generic tees and flat single shape bunkers. Limited sculpting. Not one ill go back too intentionally.
Ave of the giants:
Idea is good but executed very poorly. I felt like i was ant man on the first tee but thats where it stopped. Grew tiresome very quickly with the poor lighting and poor sculpting throughout. Also very laggy throughout.
Experience needed. Some good ideas but more hard work needed to execute ideas properly. Wont go back to either anytime soon.
Winner: Stillwater