Tor (Rookie Design Contest)

[Q]

Welcome to Tor, my entry into this year's Rookie Contest.

Featuring a wild bunker-less landscape, this course is a more realized and defined version of what I was trying to achieve in a previous design league contest. 
After burning out heavily during dream team, my goal here was to re-focus on what I wanted out of design, and ultimately my goal here was to create something that first and foremost was fun to play. The strategy is more subtle and less punishing, the greens are still Q greens so there still is a challenge here but probably more on an Elite/Kinetic level than my usual Plat Shenanigans. 
To further emphasize ground game I added large swaths of fringe around the greens which cause the ball to roll much farther than it normally would, leading to large punishing slopes in some places and significantly helpful ones in others. 

I recommend playing this in high winds and to make sure you have the settings on Very Firm for both greens and fairways due to the Highlands firmness glitch to play it in it's best state. 



Expect a manipulated tee version later down the road

[blueblood1995]

Love the name!

[sandgroper]

You Sir, should not be allowed to hold a shovel. That place is frightening.
And to ensure I got the full experience I cranked up the wind, ran it at 187 and played pin set 3.

I'm sure someone had greased my ball before I went out there as the dimples seemed to have no effect.
The ankle deep heavy rough was enough for another paddock of sheep to be let loose.

From above the plot looks quite serine i.imgur.com/RwYBh54.jpg but at ground level...
I can see the fairway mowers i.imgur.com/cICS6YG.jpg
Such a wonderfully packed little village i.imgur.com/uZEinef.jpg with the clubhouse and range in the foreground.

Wonderful transition shot with the village in the background i.imgur.com/CVW70ue.jpg
As a player with no course management I was way out of my depth and just blasted around trying to find my ball shot after shot.
Some of the lies are diabolical and like an onion I was crying at the end.
5 stars!

[pizzastrangler]

Damn this one is wild! Really enjoyed it.

[blindwolfgolf]

This course was a blast man. Cranked the firmness/speeds and had a great time playing it. The fringe trick was very well done and not only adds firmness around the greens but helps you realize all the slopes you can use off the green to work the ball in.

Highlight was a near alb (stopped within 1 inch) on the first par 5 with driver off the deck. Found myself using a ton of deloft just to watch the slopes feed the ball around. Great work man this is really fun. Gl in the comp

[mrheibai]

This looks great as always Q. Excited to play it.

[axelvonfersen]

This sh%$ slaps.

[yeltzman]

Looking forward to playing this on Xbox, saying that not had a ps4/5 or pc release on the server in the last 20 hours...only xbox designs.

Hopefully be there tomorrow.

[talented_mr_yipley]

Just finished up a round here. Bold sculpting galore. Really, really fun.

[indijesstion]

Really liked the textures and the look of the course. I love ground game so liked how you added the large fringe around the greens. The par 3 #15 was a beauty and then of course #18 that's just a kick in the face! Nice work!

[blueblood1995]

As I said above I love the name.... but this is not all...

* 5-star fav
* Has genuine replayability due to terrain, elevation, and a change in wind speed.
* Unique environment - reminded me of the barren NW Scottish landscape. Not sure I've played anything like it in game. Perhaps Bryn Awelon?
* Immersive and very believable landscape - felt like you created the plot and then allowed the course to wrap around and over the land
* never a big fan of really low lighting but this was perfect and allowed the muted colouring to work just enough to distinguish between fairway, rough and green. a fabulous blend of colours.
* great little township and hole 18 was as an iconic hole as I've played in game. Just brilliant!
* loved the extra run around the green fringes
* the farmhouse and hedged paddock was a great touch.
* You completely nailed your brief - it was indeed an incredibly "fun" course to play

Course highlights
* Green sites at 4, 12 & 16
* Long downhill par 3 no.15
* And of course no.18 !!

I really can't fault this design.

You have now designed 2 of my very courses - Zodiac and Tor.

Great stuff and best of luck in the comp!

[yeltzman]

Really, Really enjoyed this one, Little too dark for my liking in places with not using the aiming circle but in the end that's more the Game design's fault than the designer's choice (courses always seem darker on xbox to me), just really nice to play a fictional course which feels like something real you could play, just my level of play as well.

 

[scootmcgoot]

Bloody hell this was fun to play. Cranked the firmness up with high winds and it was a blast. Under clubbing in many spots, delofted a lot of shots, letting the land and slopes run the ball towards the hole was good fun. Environment was solid as usual, very immersive. Definitely a course for the upper tours for sure but a good challenge for any skill level. Well done as usual

[jcollick]

Wow what a course. Played some match play with a buddy and it was so much fun with the conditions and green speeds turned up. Gotta say I think this is my favorite of yours and has a really good shot at winning Rookie.

[cambuehl]

good lord, the amount of adrenaline I felt while playing a *digital* golf course is unparalleled here. felt like playing in real life in that birdies were real accomplishments and most shots were a little terrifying. 18 tee shot had me a little nauseous, won't lie. really fun to try to find a flat lie - somehow I ended up with a few, which was good luck.