MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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PAC (beta)
Apr 23, 2019 21:22:46 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MikeB on Apr 23, 2019 21:22:46 GMT -5
Published as "PAC (beta)". Sorry no pics, this was done on XBox.
Everything is pretty much done. I'd love to hear from the community about it before I publish the final version. Some negative feedback I got on my last course (Emerald Hills) was the sculpting and fairways blending to the green. Tried to work on that here. I'd love some help and feedback to publish something worthwhile.
Set along a rocky coast, par 71 with 6 par 3's and 5 par 5's, 7,128 yards from the tips. Some greens are tough, some not.
Holes I'm proud of: #1 460 yard par 4. 2nd shot over the vegetation. #9 349 yard par 4 reachable with tailwind, but it slopes front to back, lots of trouble in the front. #10 long par 5 #12 the signature hole. 151 yard par 3 over water #14 188 par 3 redan. Pins 1 and 3 in the back use the slope #18 473 yard par 4. Well-placed tee shot is key to an easy or difficult approach.
I'd love to hear what you think of the planting scheme and sculpting. Any unfair greens, odd sculpting that doesnt look good or play well. This took months off and on, sketching, resculpting, plants, etc. All the odd sculpting is pretty much part of the design.
Thanks in advance anyone that gives it a play.
Oh, last thing... you name it. Couldn't come up with a name. If there's interest I'd think it would be fun for the community to name it. Post the best names, I'll post a poll thread. Or not, just an idea.
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Post by theclv24 on Apr 26, 2019 16:01:31 GMT -5
Can't help you on the name, but I like what you have going on here. I think your planting was good, really a nice looking course. I had no issues with the sculpting at all, and there were a couple nice bunkers that I liked. I wouldn't recommend changing anything on that front.
I would say the 1st and 9th were my favorite holes. The rest of the course was quite open and I didn't think, other than maybe the 18th and a few others that are escaping me, that it made much difference which angle you came in from. I cruised to a -12 59 without much thought. That's abnormal for me... I'm not very good. There weren't any bad holes that I would blow up, and they all looked nice, but some were indifferent on strategy. That might not even be a bad thing if you were going for a casual round, just an observation from a design nerd.
You are certainly on the right track, though. Nice job with this one.
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MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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PAC (beta)
Apr 26, 2019 19:21:20 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MikeB on Apr 26, 2019 19:21:20 GMT -5
Can't help you on the name, but I like what you have going on here. I think your planting was good, really a nice looking course. I had no issues with the sculpting at all, and there were a couple nice bunkers that I liked. I wouldn't recommend changing anything on that front. I would say the 1st and 9th were my favorite holes. The rest of the course was quite open and I didn't think, other than maybe the 18th and a few others that are escaping me, that it made much difference which angle you came in from. I cruised to a -12 59 without much thought. That's abnormal for me... I'm not very good. There weren't any bad holes that I would blow up, and they all looked nice, but some were indifferent on strategy. That might not even be a bad thing if you were going for a casual round, just an observation from a design nerd. You are certainly on the right track, though. Nice job with this one. Thanks for playing. I think it does play easy. I'm not really going for a difficult course. But you do have good points about strategy.
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MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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Post by MikeB on Apr 26, 2019 20:00:57 GMT -5
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Post by doctanick on Apr 27, 2019 8:17:03 GMT -5
I just tried your course and it looks really nice. My suggestion for a name is Pacific Coast Links.
The only real issue I noticed was some of your fairway bunkers seem oversculpted. I landed in the middle bunker on the first fairway and I couldn't get out of it because the front of it was far too steep. I noticed this on a few other holes as well. The backs of the bunkers are built up quite high so that they can be seen from the tee. I would suggest elevating your tee boxes more and lowering the backs of the bunkers slightly. Or a combination of both.
A couple fairways (18th in particular) could be leveled off as well. I noticed very steep grades side to side.
I am wondering if you are planning on making the heavily planted area on the right side of hole 1 Out of Bounds. Visibility is zero when you land down there.
Overall the course looks fantastic. Keep up the great work.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Apr 27, 2019 8:41:24 GMT -5
Easy way of doing pics off the Xbox is to screenshot, go to xboxdvr download the pic then upload it.
Nice looking course dude
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MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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Post by MikeB on Apr 27, 2019 12:37:35 GMT -5
I just tried your course and it looks really nice. My suggestion for a name is Pacific Coast Links.
The only real issue I noticed was some of your fairway bunkers seem oversculpted. I landed in the middle bunker on the first fairway and I couldn't get out of it because the front of it was far too steep. I noticed this on a few other holes as well. The backs of the bunkers are built up quite high so that they can be seen from the tee. I would suggest elevating your tee boxes more and lowering the backs of the bunkers slightly. Or a combination of both.
A couple fairways (18th in particular) could be leveled off as well. I noticed very steep grades side to side.
I am wondering if you are planning on making the heavily planted area on the right side of hole 1 Out of Bounds. Visibility is zero when you land down there.
Overall the course looks fantastic. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for playing and replying. The 18th is something I've sculpted many times and interested what others would think... it is flat along the left side. It is very possible to hold the left side and not go down the hill. The risk is a severely sideways lie for the 2nd shot or in the rough to the left, the reward is a shot nearly the same level as the green with the bunkers out of play. It's also much flatter further back. So a 2w or 1i can keep you at the same height as the green and on the left side. And last choice is just crushing it down the hill. You have less green to work with and an elevated shot. Firm fairways did not run down to the rough, but very firm will. I understand not everyone is going to scout the hole or play practice rounds. But knowing there are flat areas that I have tested under many conditions can be held, would you have a different opinion? I'm going to check each bunker. Again, thanks for playing. It's tough fixing issues on your own if you never run into the problem. And you're right, I should add OB.
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MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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Post by MikeB on Apr 27, 2019 12:40:22 GMT -5
Easy way of doing pics off the Xbox is to screenshot, go to xboxdvr download the pic then upload it. Nice looking course dude I haven't tried xbox DVR. What I did was upload to onedrive, download it to my phone, then add thru tapatalk.
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Post by doctanick on Apr 28, 2019 10:27:12 GMT -5
I just tried your course and it looks really nice. My suggestion for a name is Pacific Coast Links.
The only real issue I noticed was some of your fairway bunkers seem oversculpted. I landed in the middle bunker on the first fairway and I couldn't get out of it because the front of it was far too steep. I noticed this on a few other holes as well. The backs of the bunkers are built up quite high so that they can be seen from the tee. I would suggest elevating your tee boxes more and lowering the backs of the bunkers slightly. Or a combination of both.
A couple fairways (18th in particular) could be leveled off as well. I noticed very steep grades side to side.
I am wondering if you are planning on making the heavily planted area on the right side of hole 1 Out of Bounds. Visibility is zero when you land down there.
Overall the course looks fantastic. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for playing and replying. The 18th is something I've sculpted many times and interested what others would think... it is flat along the left side. It is very possible to hold the left side and not go down the hill. The risk is a severely sideways lie for the 2nd shot or in the rough to the left, the reward is a shot nearly the same level as the green with the bunkers out of play. It's also much flatter further back. So a 2w or 1i can keep you at the same height as the green and on the left side. And last choice is just crushing it down the hill. You have less green to work with and an elevated shot. Firm fairways did not run down to the rough, but very firm will. I understand not everyone is going to scout the hole or play practice rounds. But knowing there are flat areas that I have tested under many conditions can be held, would you have a different opinion? I'm going to check each bunker. Again, thanks for playing. It's tough fixing issues on your own if you never run into the problem. And you're right, I should add OB. I dont think you should have a severe sideways lie if you put the ball in the middle of the fairway, regardless of whether or not the fairway is flat in other places. It just feels needlessly punishing for a shot placed mid fairway.
I played a second round on your course and I bounced my approach shot on 1 off of the bunker steps and it bounced way up onto the green. I would consider moving the steps to the back or removing the steps completely and resculpting the hill.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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PAC (beta)
Apr 28, 2019 10:49:50 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Deleted on Apr 28, 2019 10:49:50 GMT -5
Easy way of doing pics off the Xbox is to screenshot, go to xboxdvr download the pic then upload it. Nice looking course dude I haven't tried xbox DVR. What I did was upload to onedrive, download it to my phone, then add thru tapatalk. I might try that way, seems a bit easier
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Post by b101 on Apr 29, 2019 0:35:46 GMT -5
I haven't played it, but this is your preference IMO - there are plenty of real life courses where you want to be aiming to one side of the fairway or the other and can be stuffed if you hit it middle of the fairway. Try playing almost any links course with undulations. Sidehill lies are part of the game, particularly if that is partly your choice to take that chance off the tee. If there is no 'good' option, then I would have an issue, but sounds like you are being asked to weigh up pros and cons off the tee - if executed right, it's a good shot. Just my opinion
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Post by gamesdecent on Apr 29, 2019 7:52:29 GMT -5
Thanks for playing and replying. The 18th is something I've sculpted many times and interested what others would think... it is flat along the left side. It is very possible to hold the left side and not go down the hill. The risk is a severely sideways lie for the 2nd shot or in the rough to the left, the reward is a shot nearly the same level as the green with the bunkers out of play. It's also much flatter further back. So a 2w or 1i can keep you at the same height as the green and on the left side. And last choice is just crushing it down the hill. You have less green to work with and an elevated shot. Firm fairways did not run down to the rough, but very firm will. I understand not everyone is going to scout the hole or play practice rounds. But knowing there are flat areas that I have tested under many conditions can be held, would you have a different opinion? I'm going to check each bunker. Again, thanks for playing. It's tough fixing issues on your own if you never run into the problem. And you're right, I should add OB. I would disagree with pretty much all of what the other person suggested. To me, the more nuance there is in the fairway only makes the hole more interesting. The fact that you have to find the right spots to land your tee shot is part of the strategy of the hole, and punishing the players that just want to speed through hitting driver off the tee toward wherever the waypoint is placed is well within your right as an architect. There's something to be said about learning how to play a course over multiple rounds. I would also not be worried about bunkers being penalizing. There are plenty in real life that you have to hit sideways or backwards to escape from, especially on links courses like this one. I'm also anti-OB in the planting. The hit boxes on bushes are small enough that the only real penalty that you have when going in there is the lack of visibility of your golfer, so I like the choice of playing blind or choosing to take an unplayable and having to re-hit.
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MikeB
Amateur Golfer
Posts: 255
TGCT Name: Mike Branca
Tour: Elite
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Post by MikeB on Apr 29, 2019 13:47:24 GMT -5
[/quote]I would disagree with pretty much all of what the other person suggested. To me, the more nuance there is in the fairway only makes the hole more interesting. The fact that you have to find the right spots to land your tee shot is part of the strategy of the hole, and punishing the players that just want to speed through hitting driver off the tee toward wherever the waypoint is placed is well within your right as an architect. There's something to be said about learning how to play a course over multiple rounds.
I would also not be worried about bunkers being penalizing. There are plenty in real life that you have to hit sideways or backwards to escape from, especially on links courses like this one.
I'm also anti-OB in the planting. The hit boxes on bushes are small enough that the only real penalty that you have when going in there is the lack of visibility of your golfer, so I like the choice of playing blind or choosing to take an unplayable and having to re-hit.[/quote]
So what you're saying is that right side bunker on hole 1 should be 20 feet tall?... Seriously though, that bunker was meant to be a monster. It was adjusted because everything crazy I add there's a voice "thats not fair" in my head. I lowered the mid fairway bunker, I might return the right one to its former glory.
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