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Post by yeltzman on Apr 3, 2018 7:32:51 GMT -5
Fantastic Version CLV I have put this version on the google Spreadsheet of Real Course list at Hb studios,If you think another version is better just place name by it and maybe comments on comment section So playable outstanding and looks great. link (spreadsheet)
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Post by theclv24 on Apr 3, 2018 9:08:47 GMT -5
Fantastic Version CLV I have put this version on the google Spreadsheet of Real Course list at Hb studios,If you think another version is better just place name by it and maybe comments on comment section So playable outstanding and looks great. link (spreadsheet) Thanks yeltz! It feels like it should be easier than the old max firm max speed, but I could still only muster a -3 on the Thursday pins in low winds. Some days I just get some crazy pull hooks... I'm going to blame the humidity, it rained recently. I have one more version pending this week for the 2018 pins. I see too many little things here and there that bug me, though, probably since I have been working on this course for 3.5 years. I'm planning an overhaul for TGC 2019 which will hopefully put it in a great place for the future.
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Post by theclv24 on Apr 6, 2018 10:03:30 GMT -5
Having been pinning this course for several years now, I am convinced that each green has 5 pins max, and some only have 4. They rarely change pin positions, and instead just change the order they appear in. This year so far they seem to be inching the pins ever so slightly closer to the edges of the greens. That pin on 15 yesterday was 1 foot closer to the front than that pin was last year on Saturday.
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Post by B.Smooth13 on Apr 6, 2018 10:41:46 GMT -5
CLV - played the 2017 pin version with Brighttail yesterday, and it was an absolute pleasure. My personal preference would be for 187 speed, but I understand how demanding that may be for the casual player, and since the published course wasn't made specifically to host the tour event it's an understandable decision.
The only suggestion I would make is similar to one I made to Royce when we rangers were beta testing his version - texture colors. The overhead light is fantastic for visibility, but I think the texture colors in use in combination with that bright lighting gives the course an odd visual coloration that's a bit off from my personal sense of what Augusta looks like (100% personal opinion). That look kind of makes sense to me given that your 1st version was much darker, but the coloring in light - to me - appears more yellow-green than a deep, lush, over-seeded dark green that in-game almost appears to have a slight blue hue. The greens texture color is especially challenging I think, as with the overhead lighting the color gets washed out and blends in really closely with the green grids, making it tough to see the grids in certain spots. This is your baby so certainly not demanding you change things in the least, but I would love to see your next version have some of those darker texture colors (maybe try #'s 13/14?).
Anyway, lovely representation of the course, as we already knew. Especially find your methods for creating the more gradual, blended sloping to be really fitting of how the course appears to play irl - but again, not a revelation that the course plays fantastically, it always has. Awesome work, really look forward to following the progression of the course in the weeks/months/etc. to come, thanks for all the effort!
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Post by theclv24 on Apr 10, 2018 16:49:11 GMT -5
Edit: Now published.
Going to do another release fairly soon, but wanted to get the type up done first. The release will be named Magnolia OG. Hoping for a release tonight.
This build is completely experimental in nature, and is not super polished. It is just to get a feel for what kind of changes Augusta could potentially make to bring back some elements of the original MacKenzie design, which are totally missing in today's version. I do this with complete understanding that some people have no issue with the current version of the course today, so I won't even declare with confidence that this would be an improvement to the course. It would not make the course harder, either, as it would likely make it easier. The main goal of these changes would be variety of shotmaking, so that each player is not asked to hit the exact same shots on every hole.
The changes to each hole are detailed below. Note that were I to go all out, I would completely redo every bunker, as today's bunkers (other than the 10th) have no MacKenzie soul at all. I have only made what I consider are the most obvious changes, which would easily be in budget.
1st - I have thinned out the trees and widened the playing corridor. This hole never featured a centerline bunker at any point, but by clearing out the trees on the right it does leave a very small runway right of the bunker to shoot for, making a front left pin more accessible if executed correctly. 2nd - There seems to be a general agreement that the bunker on the outside of the dogleg doesn't make much sense. The original bunker was on the inside, and that's where it appears here, in a somewhat similar shape to MacKenzie's original. Long drives can carry the bunker and significantly shorten the hole, while safer drives to the expanded right side of the fairway will have a longer approach. Long drives down the right side may have a shot at left pin locations now. 3rd - The cluster of fairway bunkers suggested by Jack Nicklaus are completely out of character with the rest of the course, and have been replaced by something close to the original MacKenzie bunker. The fairway to the left of the bunker has now returned, offering different angles to right pin locations. It is a tough landing area, though, so playing short of the bunker or attempting to go long over are still the suggested routes if going left. 4th - This hole, while one of my least favorite, is one of the closest to the original design. It was an attempt at the Eden hole ( no. 11) at the Old Course. It mostly just plays much too long, so I've bumped up the tees just a little bit. 5th - Designed after the Road Hole at the Old Course, the relocation of the two left bunkers, which now really can't be carried by any players off of the tee, kills any strategy off of the tee. Thus many players will layup short of the bunkers with a 3 wood and try to stay right. The second bunker has been eliminated while the shorter bunker remains, tempting a player to hug the left side of the fairway the way they would take one right over the hotel at St. Andrews. The right side has been widened to allow those going right to still attempt a driver rather than a layup. 6th - This hole was designed as a Redan, although now it is a Redan with a sinister plateau on top of the mound. I didn't see any obvious changes with this one, so it remains as is. 7th - The original here was inspired by the 18th at St. Andrews, with no bunkers and a valley of sin. Deemed much too easy, this hole has become bastardized through the years, now featuring 5 bunkers, an extremely narrow fairway, and a much farther tee shot. The only play is a straight tee shot, followed by a perfect approach to a shallow green. I have eliminated the front bunkers, reintroduced the tongue on the front right of the green, and expanded the left side of the green. It now plays like a Lion's Mouth green, but only with a swale in the front, rather than a bunker. 8th - The fairway bunker here used to be a centerline bunker, so I greatly expanded the corridor to make it that way again. The shorter route plays to the left of the bunker, while the longer route with a straighter angle is on the right. The green was thankfully returned to its original design many years ago, so no changes needed there. 9th- The corridor has been widened here, but the biggest change is to restore some of the original MacKenzie green design, which featured a boomerang green around one bunker, sort of like a Lion's Mouth. I have eliminated the front bunker and added a tongue to the back left to create the Lion's Mouth effect.
10th - After Perry Maxwell relocated this green from just to the right of the massive MacKenzie bunker to its current location, not much has changed, other than the fairway narrowing. Just a little bit of widening has been done here. And no, I did not think about returning the green to its original position. Historians seem to agree that it wasn't a very interesting hole, and the green had terrible drainage problems. 11th - The row of trees added down the right side of the fairway have been eliminated, and the original width of the hole restored. In addition to allowing may routes into the green, patrons can now view shots from the fairway once again! 12th - No changes here. 13th - Not much to change here. I widened the fairway in the landing area just slightly, and moved the tee back a few yards and just a few feet to the left. I want safe tee shots to the right that don't draw to still find fairway, encouraging players to make a courageous attempt at the green from a terrible sidehill lie. 14th- The story here is always the green, so I have only widened the corridor here, allowing more direct tee shots down the left side, but resulting in a steeper sidehill lie. 15th - This hole used to be massively wide, and the trees that cut in on the left were once a small island of trees, rather than a peninsula. The path down the left side and to the left of the trees is now available once again. 16th - The original played across a creek, rather than a pond, and to the location where the fans now sit today. By all accounts it was an uninteresting hole. I have left this one as is. 17th - This hole, along with the 7th, has suffered the most from tree encroachment, making a straight tee shot and straight approach the only options. The corridor has been widened considerably. I have not touched the green, although I might consider in the future a return to the original homage to the 14th at St. Andrews. 18th - One only has to look at Jordan Spieth's most recent tee shot here to understand how the trees have crowded in. MacKenzie originally had a strange cross bunker here that was too far off of the tee to be in play, but too short of the green in play. I have compromised with the current version and eliminated the second bunker while keeping the first, widening the corridor, and moving the tee up slightly. Brave tee shots can now attempt to clear the bunker, while the best angle still remains for a fade along the right tree line. This hole now becomes a finisher where birdie might be possible, as opposed to the current hole where most leaders will simply be attempting to avoid bogey.
I could change this in a million ways, but that is all I will attempt for now. If I (and others) like the way it plays in wind, I may go a step farther in future versions.
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Post by theclv24 on Jul 2, 2018 12:29:48 GMT -5
Looks like I am going to be asking for a nice camera for my birthday or X-mas this year. I just won Monday practice round tix for next year. That makes 2 out of 3 lotteries I've won so far, which from what I have gathered from others is pretty much unheard of.
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