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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 17:28:59 GMT -5
Dropped out of the community and the game for the last few months, got a little bit tired of how slow things were on PS4. Turned on the game again once Titleist was introduced and decided to give the designer another go.
So far I've got 10 holes on the go, nothing 100%, but majority of those are very close to being polished off. My inspiration for this course is different locations throughout Ireland that have been used as film locations for TV shows and movies.
The overall concept was to build a course that featured a lot of water. I try to do something new with each project I attempt, don't want to get stuck into doing the same kind of course continuously. Being a big GOT / ASOIAF nerd I robbed the name for the course from that and tbh when there is some form of water featured on the first 10 holes, including the next two that are currently just laid down.
I'll drop some screenshots of progress as it happens
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 17:54:44 GMT -5
1st Hole - Nothing overly complicated playing roughly 400 yards, pin depending. Trying to incorporate water while also sticking to my only rule about the 1st Hole which is; Hole 1 is an invitation, not a punishment, I took a look at some opening holes IRL and fell in love with the 1st Hole at Le Golf National in France. Really liked how it challenged the player to make a decision straight away, "do I play aggressive or play smart?" Play a big drive down the right and leave a flick of a wedge in or do I take out a fairway metal, put myself in position and try make a good shot in with a short iron. The green isn't the toughest, pin 1 & 3 are very accessible. Pin 2 is tucked in behind the front bunker, but with a wedge/short iron in hand, it shouldn't be hard to get at. Pin 4 is a little tougher, tucked to the left near a gentle slope that takes the ball off the green, bunker back left and front leaves it well guarded. In windy conditions, better to play towards a fatter part of the green.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 18:50:22 GMT -5
I'm cheap and Tapatalk won't let me add more than one image to a post so we're just going to continue on this path 😂😂 Here we have the 2nd hole. The image itself isn't great as you cannot see much of the green but is a nice view from behind the tee box. The hole itself plays back towards the first tee, mid length, can play from 155 to 175 yards depending on pin. With the invitation now out of the way, all the pleasantries done, it's now time to test players. Water lurks short and left here, get your club or tempo wrong and it's a watery grave for you. There is a bailout long of the green to a green side bunker or to the right to a small apron of fairway, however danger constantly lurks with your chip shot back, with water lurking beyond the pin waiting to catch any misjudged shots. In the backdrop is the 3rd hole, with no flyovers, I really wanted to work on making the course feel more integrated and flowed like a natural course would. Hope they look to bring them back in in the future, loved getting to see other sections of the course as you played your way around.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 19:25:41 GMT -5
I've started this now, so I may as well go on. These next two holes are somewhat inspired by the last season of Vikings. I finally got around to finishing off the show recently and loved some of the locations used in the shoot. In the final season when Ubbe and clan reach the "golden land" the scenes were absolutely beautiful. In one of the scenes the camera pans along this stream in a valley of trees, a stony pathway on each side, trees of all colours. With wanting to make it a part of my course, I could only use one side of that scene and so used the river as a way to cut through the hole with stony pathways and trees to one side, a fun par 5 to the other. The 3rd is another hole that asks questions of the player, but those questions are wind depending. Downwind, it's got to be a 3 wood, unless you can execute a partial swing really well, as the end of the first section of fairway is roughly 300 yards carry. Into the wind or cross winds your main worry is just getting your tempo right. Go left and it's another water ball, right and you are not getting home in two. If you can tread one up the middle about 290 yards, you now turn to the left and are faced with roughly the same distance to an elevated green. Breeze behind you, you could get there in two but in most cases your best bet is to drop your second short of the fairway bunker and rely on your short game to get you up and down for birdie.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 19:53:39 GMT -5
Hole 4 plays along that same theme from the 3rd hole, borrowing that same inspiration with some added river formations where the force of the river has cut through the land, meandering towards the green and even forming a small ox bow. Waters back, well it never left and this time its hanging down the right side (with tempo being a big focus I wanted to challenge players on both sides of the perfect tempo and have tried to balance my water hazards). What else is back?? More Questions!! YAAAAY!! The question here is do you play a fairway metal to the fat part of the fairway and leave yourself a 4 or 5 iron into the green, take most of the water out of play or do you play it risky and bomb one up the left to a much narrower stretch of fairway that slopes significantly towards the water but leaves you a much shorter club and a much better angle to the green.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 20:33:57 GMT -5
My favourite kind of hole is the 5th, the first of two drivable par 4s. This is the first hole that has water that is very much in reach but not really in play unless you happen to really let one loose out the right. It's 290 to reach it, so it's game on. Bunkers surround the green, short, right and left which will make life much harder when you find one of them. Pin 1 is located to the back of the green, get the ball landing on the small apron short left will allow the ball to run up the green and leave you somewhere between 10 & 20 feet for Eagle. Pin 3 is more central but again on that same line. Hit that same landing area and you'll find yourself that same 10-20 feet, but now beyond the hole. Pin 2 & 4 is where the risk amps up. Should you go for the green in one, both pins are placed on the front with hardly any room to stop the ball and the green sloping away from you. Your best chance at birdie is to take a fairway metal or long iron to one of many spots on the fairway and give yourself a better chance of sticking one close and making birdie.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 26, 2021 20:49:18 GMT -5
I think I'm going to finish it up tonight with the 6th hole. I was originally just going to pick a few photos and talk about the project, but here we are, 6 holes in and just blabbering on to an empty theatre. The 6th is the second and final par 3 of the front 9, coming in at the similar medium length yardage to the second hole. The main difference is that the water here is long of the green, down the bottom of a small stone Quarry. Again like the 5th, water shouldn't come into play unless you've hit a world's worst tempo, got your club very wrong or didn't pay attention to the wind. The short 9th hole lurks around in the distance.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 28, 2021 17:33:13 GMT -5
Adding some more background features inspired by filming locations on the island of Ireland. This one is a recreation of the Dark Hedges in Co. Antrim that featured in a few scenes as the Kings Road in Game of Thrones, pictured below.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 28, 2021 17:33:58 GMT -5
Down the right side of the 11th fairway is where it is in place. Pictures below of in game walkway and walkway in real life on a foggy morning.
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 29, 2021 15:21:15 GMT -5
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 29, 2021 15:22:52 GMT -5
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Post by cathalos1991 on Mar 30, 2021 17:20:39 GMT -5
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irwinm2006
Weekend Golfer
Posts: 118
TGCT Name: Eric Fletcher
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Post by irwinm2006 on Apr 1, 2021 12:35:25 GMT -5
These pics look awesome, looking forward to when you publish this, really like the look of the course. I noticed you said you were on PS, how did you get these screenshots? I'm just learning the designer and thought you had to have a PC to get these types of framed pics? TIA
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Post by cathalos1991 on Apr 1, 2021 13:03:15 GMT -5
These pics look awesome, looking forward to when you publish this, really like the look of the course. I noticed you said you were on PS, how did you get these screenshots? I'm just learning the designer and thought you had to have a PC to get these types of framed pics? TIA When you click publish it brings you to a screen to take a photo for your course. Instead of taking the photo I take screenshots and send them in a message to myself on PSN
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irwinm2006
Weekend Golfer
Posts: 118
TGCT Name: Eric Fletcher
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Post by irwinm2006 on Apr 1, 2021 13:23:17 GMT -5
These pics look awesome, looking forward to when you publish this, really like the look of the course. I noticed you said you were on PS, how did you get these screenshots? I'm just learning the designer and thought you had to have a PC to get these types of framed pics? TIA When you click publish it brings you to a screen to take a photo for your course. Instead of taking the photo I take screenshots and send them in a message to myself on PSN Oh Awesome, thanks for the tip!
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