|
|
Post by jwtexan on Nov 30, 2020 15:07:13 GMT -5
Amazing work as ever Ben. I knew you were way into this one from the start and it shows. The amount of time and dedication you put into every detail definitely stands out. Not shocked to hear you put close to 300 hours into it. Excited to see more as you continue release the youtube series around it.
|
|
|
|
Post by mattf27 on Nov 30, 2020 15:24:08 GMT -5
Edit: I opened the wrong tab. Silly me.
|
|
|
|
Post by hallzballz6908 on Nov 30, 2020 22:37:11 GMT -5
Great work here, Ben. This one definitely lived up to expectations. Just beautiful.
|
|
|
|
Post by jimgem on Dec 3, 2020 19:27:31 GMT -5
Very nice course mate' Really enjoye it' Screwed up big time on one of the hole and took a triple...
|
|
|
|
Post by Han on Dec 3, 2020 20:38:28 GMT -5
Fantastic course, awesome work !
|
|
|
|
Post by hershalcrustofsk on Dec 4, 2020 8:50:52 GMT -5
Great track. Looked great and provided an awesome challenge. Found quite a few bunkers and man, those greens 👌. Well done sir.
|
|
gova
Caddy
Posts: 43 
|
Post by gova on Dec 4, 2020 14:06:30 GMT -5
Loved the course, as very familiar sand belt course with plenty of bunkers, which I landed in.
I live in the sand belt area, so enjoy any course that looks like it is based in this area.
Five star looked great and very challenging.
Cheers
Brian
|
|
|
|
Post by grovey31 on Dec 10, 2020 13:50:48 GMT -5
Well Ben, I told you I owed you a review on this one. I played another round today and was obviously really impressed. I'm not envious though at the amount of time and energy and focus you put into the bunkers haha They looked awesome though. My favorite bunkers were those that were sort of tucked under trees or into little hills that the trees were coming out of. They have such a cohesive look and feel to them (I think 13 comes to mind). Also, the ones that bleed out of the sandy natural areas, all of the way into the greens. The way they tie everything in is awesome.
The greens were pretty tough and seemed to be on the smaller side (I could be wrong though). I think the par threes had some of the toughest greens as well as some of the best green sites. You had to be pretty accurate on them which I'm totally ok with.
I don't usually care what I shoot so I don't even remember my score but I do know I was constantly looking for angles and distances both of off the tee and into the greens. I really enjoy that about your courses and this one did not disappoint. I will be watching your planning videos as well since that part of the process intrigues me the most and is a good way to learn new perspectives.
This was an overall great effort and I was impressed about how well you captured the vibe and the playability of the great sandbelt course, well done!
|
|
|
|
Post by b101 on Dec 10, 2020 17:19:47 GMT -5
Well Ben, I told you I owed you a review on this one. I played another round today and was obviously really impressed. I'm not envious though at the amount of time and energy and focus you put into the bunkers haha They looked awesome though. My favorite bunkers were those that were sort of tucked under trees or into little hills that the trees were coming out of. They have such a cohesive look and feel to them (I think 13 comes to mind). Also, the ones that bleed out of the sandy natural areas, all of the way into the greens. The way they tie everything in is awesome. The greens were pretty tough and seemed to be on the smaller side (I could be wrong though). I think the par threes had some of the toughest greens as well as some of the best green sites. You had to be pretty accurate on them which I'm totally ok with. I don't usually care what I shoot so I don't even remember my score but I do know I was constantly looking for angles and distances both of off the tee and into the greens. I really enjoy that about your courses and this one did not disappoint. I will be watching your planning videos as well since that part of the process intrigues me the most and is a good way to learn new perspectives. This was an overall great effort and I was impressed about how well you captured the vibe and the playability of the great sandbelt course, well done! You're not wrong. The greens are actually pretty big in terms of raw footage, but don't play that big. I ended up making them a fair bit larger as I went and kinda wish I'd gone even further with a few of them - although I did want it to play tough. Definitely have Jamie to thank for the bunkers that merged planted areas in with the fairways and greens - his advice helped this course hugely. Glad you picked up on the angles and distances. By far the toughest thing about this was ensuring it all felt cohesive and yet challenged in multiple different ways. I found that when you don't use: central hazards, coast, water, cross-bunkers or lots of elevation and go with lots of width, you have to be very thoughtful not to make the hazards play the same (i.e. can I carry this bunker? yes/no, rinse and repeat). You'll find lots of bunkers you want to skirt close to, but can't carry, some you risk rolling into, some you can carry but shouldn't, some that you should etc etc. Probably only the sort of stuff that 5-10 people will pick up on when playing casually, but I'm far more interested in the mental challenge of designing this sort of course than anything else. Really appreciate the comments and glad you enjoyed! |
|
|
|
Post by Koop on Dec 15, 2020 9:32:22 GMT -5
Nice course, very tough. Had fun! Thank you for making this!
|
|
|
|
Post by b101 on Jan 1, 2021 5:03:53 GMT -5
A shameless bump, because why not? Plus, there's a new tutorial packed with info on how the course came together. Gotta be worth a look, right?
|
|
|
|
Post by lostsoulsforeva on Jan 1, 2021 7:31:42 GMT -5
Great course Ben very strong contender for the comp good luck mate
|
|
|
|
Post by williamwes626 on Jan 9, 2021 13:01:23 GMT -5
Ben, I wanted to try out this course and give you some comments. But before I do, I just wanted to thank you for the help that you’ve given out, it wasn’t just generous of you to give so much content about the designing of the course and the inspirations connected to the location and layout but also how doing all of that puts you far and ahead of everyone in the competition when it comes to putting it all in context. I have a layer of enjoyment in the actual golf itself but then I get a more human, architectural, and social enjoyment from finding out the details behind the scenes at South Yarra. I’m more convinced this was a real golf architecture project by a real architect when you start showing graph paper sketches – it’s all brilliant and I learned a ton from that and then playing the actual course- about real life design, video game design, etc. You’ve given a ton of feedback about everyone’s course as well and I for one really appreciate these golf and non-golf aspects of dually promoting not just yourself but everyone in the contest. Just a really thorough effort – easily the pitch that got me most pumped to play a Dream Team course.
Hole Layout
Your strategies are flawless. Played the 4th pin and black tees. I thought the first 2 holes played somewhat easy like I like with #2 having a lot of character winding around those huge fairway bunkers. It allowed for a runup 2nd shot too. The dogleg left #4- sloping the fairway left with bunkers left of the green had me fading the tee shot into the slope. So a fade then draw worked best. #5 green was boldly sloped going left and I used it to my advantage luckily avoiding a nightmare lag putt. Used a low draw on #7 and let the green ride the ball to the right and almost holed it then missed the comeback 15 footer. I liked the second shot challenged on 8 by the fairway bunker right because you can avoid the bunker row left and not notice the fairway camber leaning opposite. Great runoff back of 9 by the clubhouse-always a fan of front-to-back holes in case the golfer isn’t checking the greens before approach.
10 fooled me since I used driver and found myself with an awkward pitch -extra bad with the green sloping away-put full backspin to hold the green – excellent short par-4. Another stellar short par3 with its undulating green followed. 15 was another brilliant short par-4 – did everything I could to draw it around the bunker left of fair for leverage on the approach. I really enjoy a hole that tests the fade and draw like 16 and gives an opportunity to run it up onto the green. 18 was another clinic in design-what a runoff. You know all this already but I have to give you major kudos regardless. 9 birdies and a double for a 65 (-7).
Highlights
Great framing and looks off the tee and the planting was great all around – especially on 8 where you had some trees splitting the huge bunker. The cloud-like bunkers were awesome in style, shape and placement – it was a pleasure squishing my feet in them occasionally. I also got to see some houses peeking through the trees near the green on 8. 13 spreads the trees out for long wide par4 – liked the look changeup but put too much backspin from back bunker and got my first bogey (a double). The Sunday pin was extra tough here and on #1. Holed a 40-footer on the really tough 14th to try to make up for it. Those trees left of the green on 15 are so little and adorable LOL. Great tee box planting on 16. Not sure which would be the signature hole but it doesn’t matter – 18 knockouts.
Amenities
I like extras, but yes, I know the golf course is the moneymaker and the priority at country/golf clubs. Hip and modern clubhouse.
Experience
Just blown away and since I’m fresh to a lot of the top architects in 2K21, for the first time, I got a real feel for what everyone talks about when they mention a Ben course. The strategy alone was remarkable but toss in all the time and thought of everything involving the course and all I can do is applaud. I’d never be able to come up with a course this good or such in-depth features like you’ve provided. But just the professionalism and expertise in all areas of course design – my goodness. Cheers and happy new year, I’ll have to stop by South Yarra again, thank you very much for the experience and all you’ve taught me thus far.
|
|
|
|
Post by b101 on Jan 9, 2021 17:03:54 GMT -5
Ben, I wanted to try out this course and give you some comments. But before I do, I just wanted to thank you for the help that you’ve given out, it wasn’t just generous of you to give so much content about the designing of the course and the inspirations connected to the location and layout but also how doing all of that puts you far and ahead of everyone in the competition when it comes to putting it all in context. I have a layer of enjoyment in the actual golf itself but then I get a more human, architectural, and social enjoyment from finding out the details behind the scenes at South Yarra. I’m more convinced this was a real golf architecture project by a real architect when you start showing graph paper sketches – it’s all brilliant and I learned a ton from that and then playing the actual course- about real life design, video game design, etc. You’ve given a ton of feedback about everyone’s course as well and I for one really appreciate these golf and non-golf aspects of dually promoting not just yourself but everyone in the contest. Just a really thorough effort – easily the pitch that got me most pumped to play a Dream Team course. Hole Layout Your strategies are flawless. Played the 4th pin and black tees. I thought the first 2 holes played somewhat easy like I like with #2 having a lot of character winding around those huge fairway bunkers. It allowed for a runup 2nd shot too. The dogleg left #4- sloping the fairway left with bunkers left of the green had me fading the tee shot into the slope. So a fade then draw worked best. #5 green was boldly sloped going left and I used it to my advantage luckily avoiding a nightmare lag putt. Used a low draw on #7 and let the green ride the ball to the right and almost holed it then missed the comeback 15 footer. I liked the second shot challenged on 8 by the fairway bunker right because you can avoid the bunker row left and not notice the fairway camber leaning opposite. Great runoff back of 9 by the clubhouse-always a fan of front-to-back holes in case the golfer isn’t checking the greens before approach. 10 fooled me since I used driver and found myself with an awkward pitch -extra bad with the green sloping away-put full backspin to hold the green – excellent short par-4. Another stellar short par3 with its undulating green followed. 15 was another brilliant short par-4 – did everything I could to draw it around the bunker left of fair for leverage on the approach. I really enjoy a hole that tests the fade and draw like 16 and gives an opportunity to run it up onto the green. 18 was another clinic in design-what a runoff. You know all this already but I have to give you major kudos regardless. 9 birdies and a double for a 65 (-7). Highlights Great framing and looks off the tee and the planting was great all around – especially on 8 where you had some trees splitting the huge bunker. The cloud-like bunkers were awesome in style, shape and placement – it was a pleasure squishing my feet in them occasionally. I also got to see some houses peeking through the trees near the green on 8. 13 spreads the trees out for long wide par4 – liked the look changeup but put too much backspin from back bunker and got my first bogey (a double). The Sunday pin was extra tough here and on #1. Holed a 40-footer on the really tough 14th to try to make up for it. Those trees left of the green on 15 are so little and adorable LOL. Great tee box planting on 16. Not sure which would be the signature hole but it doesn’t matter – 18 knockouts. Amenities I like extras, but yes, I know the golf course is the moneymaker and the priority at country/golf clubs. Hip and modern clubhouse. Experience Just blown away and since I’m fresh to a lot of the top architects in 2K21, for the first time, I got a real feel for what everyone talks about when they mention a Ben course. The strategy alone was remarkable but toss in all the time and thought of everything involving the course and all I can do is applaud. I’d never be able to come up with a course this good or such in-depth features like you’ve provided. But just the professionalism and expertise in all areas of course design – my goodness. Cheers and happy new year, I’ll have to stop by South Yarra again, thank you very much for the experience and all you’ve taught me thus far. Wow. Thanks for the in-depth comments and positive feedback - glad you enjoyed it and picked up on a load of the stuff I was trying to do here. Hope you enjoy any future rounds and -7 is a seriously good score here! |
|
|
|
Post by cd06 on Feb 15, 2021 3:59:03 GMT -5
Bump  We all know how great this course is. Faultless on a technical level, beautifully planted and the bunkers are so, so well done. I haven't played it from any tee other than Black yet, so maybe I'll have to play three rounds from the three championship tees today! Well done Ben, you are great at what you do and I can't wait to see what you produce for the WCoD! |
|
