Post by reebdoog on Feb 14, 2020 15:09:56 GMT -5
Overbrook Valley 3-0-0 9 points ADVANCES
Saxondale 1-1-1 4 points .18 Zscore tie break ADVANCES
Starlight Lake 1-1-1 4 points - .34 Zscore tie break
Doubtful Creek 0-3-0 0 points
Overbrook Valley vs. Starlight Lake Golf Club
Judge 1:
Overbrook Valley - Good course all round. Decent scores possible for all skill levels. Few minor technical issues let this course down
Starlight Lake Golf Club - Course plays well and if tidied up would score higher. Few technical errors and minor aesthetic issues but still a good solid course
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Judge 2:
Overbrook Valley - Well presented course and environment. An enjoyment to play and travel around the plot.
Starlight Lake Golf Club - A good course that winds it's way around this mountain lake and valley, however a couple of errors on the 7th and an extra long uphill Par 5 on the 15th spoilt this course for me.
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Doubtful Creek CC vs. Saxondale
Judge 1:
Doubtful Creek CC - This course is pretty fun and the routing around the creek is used well to create some interesting hole designs. The overall polish of the sculpting and shot options aren't quite up to the same level as the competition.
Saxondale - Saxondale has a lot of depth, it gets more fun with every play through. The hole designs are generally quite interesting with the dificulty lying in the subtleties of the sculpting. Hole 9 is a particular favorite of mine. I also quite like the mix of open and wooded areas which add a lot of visual interest without relying on visual gimmicks.
WINNER: Saxondale
Judge 2:
Doubtful Creek CC - Is this a good course/. Yes depending what you want. These courses are seen on the CC tours too often. Simplistic and boring. This course felt like an autogen with time spent. All the holes had a similar feel, if youmlook at the distances of some of the par 4s they are all most similar in length... 423yds, 427, 425, 424 uuhhhmmm?!.....fairly flat and wide fairways with the one odd centre line bunker just for "interest" but it did not call for any strategy adjustment at all. This course is a hit and just hit it again track....which causes you to loose interest The green speeds at 136 are too slow and nothing grabs your eye or your mind while playing. Now lets ask the question again...is this a good course....It has been well made and well executed, yes. Can it be seen on tours... OH hell no but probably yes......is this a good designer .. YES he is, but does this course belong in this contest.....NO. I know I have been harsh and negative on this course but in a restricted field of 32 you would hope each and everyone brings and delivers their best eve if you tried something and failed....Here nothing was even attempted.......Since this was one of the last released courses this designer might have run out of time. Do I want to play this again.....Doubtfull.
Saxondale - A course with minimal mistakes.Some holes could argueably play a little long but thats ok. The course offered some options off certain Tees. I felt a slight change in design, on holes 15 and 16 with an uneven T box, split fairways and different shaped greens. The heavy rough color is not one of my favorites but ...different strokes......It is nice to see a course where the lighting doesnt dominate the look of a course and just adds to the flow of it. The course could have done with some level lies in the fairway but that adds to the cerebral aspect here. Is this course a winner of the WCOD....perhaps too early but it should advance out of this pool.
WINNER: Saxondale
Overbrook Valley vs. Doubtful Creek CC
Judge 1:
Overbrook Valley - Overbrook Valley was beautiful, technically sound and had a good variety of hole designs. A good deal of thought is needed to golf your ball round this course.
Doubtful Creek CC - Doubtful Creek was a very good course. Possessed nice subtle strategic elements. Its bunkers and slightly repetitive hole designs meant it fell slightly short of Overbrook Valley.
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Judge 2:
Overbrook Valley - A really cool looking course with some great hole concepts that required thinking. I always wanted to go back and try some of the holes again to see what I could have done differently each time.
Doubtful Creek CC - Doubtful Creek felt like a real golf course but just had too many repeated hole concepts and did not have the "Wow" factor to stand out from the pack. It is a very good technical course that would be a great stop for a CC tour.
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Starlight Lake Golf Club vs. Saxondale
Judge 1:
Starlight Lake Golf Club - Starlight looks super. Except for the green shapes. Seemed to be the same similar hour glass shape throughout. Par 5 670yd?? A bit much. Bunker work was ok but not great.
Saxondale - It is an ok course, nothing to get excited about. six par 3's a bit of a turn off. Multi-tiered greens on most hole made it deja vu repeatedly.
WINNER: Starlight Lake Golf Club
Judge 2:
Starlight Lake Golf Club - This course has some awesome hole ideas and a really cool environment. For the most part it flows very well, the ‘Swiss swamp’ planting on 8 is awesome, and the green site on 9 is pretty spectacular.
It does have a lot of technical missteps and some sculpting to improve. Bunkers tended towards bathtub, green shapes became repetitive, most holes could’ve used a more dominant strategic backbone, and sculpting got away in some places, especially on 15.
Saxondale - The routing is impeccable. There is an absurd amount of variety, and although there are a couple ‘callback’ holes (1 and 11, 4 and 13 to name some) it feels fresh the entire way through. Visually spectacular, shot framing is top notch the whole way through. It’s not over-planted or in your face with its environment but it’s exactly where it needs to be and generally in just the right amounts. Design-wise this is an intriguing course, as it’s highly strategic but rarely forces the player to hit to smaller targets (including smaller sections of fairway off the tee) in order to score, but from some angles the player has to use green slopes differently or work the ball a bit. There are so many good holes on this course it’s almost impossible to pick a couple favorites, but 17 is my least favorite. It’s a great hole, but maybe it’s just my bag setup. Most of the time I was trying to hit in-between distances, so I never really got to play the hole as intended. Also, there were some pins tucked in nearly inaccessible locations, especially on a few par 3s, which contributed to the course’s unexpected difficulty. Par was always a possibility but birdie required a heroic shot of the highest order. The balance of strategy, playability, variety, and encouraging player creativity here is basically as good as it gets.
WINNER: Saxondale
Overbrook Valley vs. Saxondale
Judge 1:
Overbrook Valley - Lovely to look at, beautifully crafted and a good test of a player's game. For me this course edged the match-up by being strong in most areas and never losing the enjoyment over four rounds.
Saxondale - A beautifully executed course which stimulates and challenges. It was almost too close to call but in the end I felt that the high-octane nature of the course ultimately on a couple of holes, particularly the 18th, stepped a couple of paces beyond the line in terms of fairness.
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Judge 2:
Overbrook Valley - A very nice course in a nice setting. Had pretty good strategies throughout. A variety from day to day would make this course good for tournament play. Few small things here and there kept the course just out of the excellent range.
Saxondale - Good course with a fair share of tough pins. It was fun for me but I could see where others might not care for it. Aesthetically it was nice, but not much stood out. A few blind approaches took away from what could have been way better views.
WINNER: Overbrook Valley
Starlight Lake Golf Club vs. Doubtful Creek CC
Judge 1:
Starlight Lake Golf Club - Nice effort here. The looks on some of the flatter holes are great, but the elevation changes lose the plot for me. Just a minor bit of scultping around the pins and greens to smooth things out could also go a long way.
Doubtful Creek CC - Also a nice effort here. I think a lot is lost here by basically being forced to play these greens at 136. Anything more makes the greens play unrealistic. I also with the desgner had broken up the creek holes a bit. The theme and idea was great, but it just started to feel the same after a while. It's a clean course though and it looks great, just the above shortfalls have me give the nod the other way in this matchup.
WINNER: Starlight Lake Golf Club
Judge 2:
Starlight Lake Golf Club - I thought the elevation changes and tight approaches made it more appealing than Doubtful Creek. Also I found it challenged my all round game more.
Doubtful Creek CC - Certain parts were well done like the holes that had the creek running through them. The greens were a real challenge and would be even harder on a different setting. But I think it fell short on the fairway side of the game too often.
WINNER: Starlight Lake Golf Club
