Just played Vernon Glen, default conditions, black tees, Pin Set 4.
Hole 1 - decent initial look off the Hole 1 tee...until I realized there's a water hazard 235 yards away from you that's completely hidden due to unintentional blindness here. You should really be able to see that when standing on the tee box. I am also not really digging the color of textures chosen. The yellow-ish heavy rough, the bright green light rough, and the pale green fairways/greens don't quite mesh in my opinion.
Hole 2 - the green slope near the bunker is too dramatic...it's bold red going right into the sand, and I don't think the fringe could be mowed in any reasonable way in reality:
Hole 3 - this hole would be a logistical nightmare if this were real life. An island par-3, where the only way to get from the green to the next tee is to walk back straight at and past the front of the Hole 3 tee box. I know this is a minor thing because pace of play and safety isn't a problem in virtual golf, but in my mind, it takes away from the playing experience. You'd never actually see this on a real course. Between all the shots hit into the water and the time it would take players to get out of the way, this hole might add 45 minutes to your round...
Hole 4 - fairway bunker is not quite visible from the tee, but I like the design of this hole. I am starting to notice that planting is a bit hit or miss here. I see you mentioned that planting was the most difficult part, and it does seem like it could use more attention in spots.
Hole 5 - unintentional blindness from the middle of the fairway...cannot see green or flag due to sculpting issues:
Hole 6 - kind of surprised to go from the edge of the lake to the middle of the forest on the Hole 6 tee. Routing seems a bit off...like the walk from Hole 5 to Hole 6 would take a really long time. Anyway, I do like the view through the chute of trees. But the green here on a 555-yard par-5 is way too big for this kind of hole.
Hole 7 - Another decent view from the tee, but again I feel like I am somewhere completely different than I was on the last hole...there's hardly any trees around, and I was surrounded by them on the last hole. Planting in front of the green is kind of random. Green slopes would lead to standing water in reality.
Hole 8 - not a bad par-3...green is a bit wide and narrow for a hole that's over 200 yards long. But still, it played fine.
Hole 9 - tee box is over 300 yards from the last green...that's a bit much. Landing zone on this hole is a bit narrow with three centerline hazards. And there's no real strategic reason for these hazards to be there. You gain less than 10 yards if you go to the very narrow right side of them. So I'd always stay left to be safe. Planting in front of the green is a little much...I couldn't see the green from the fairway when I was hitting my third shot.
Hole 10 - I kind of get the idea on this hole, but left is always the way to go for the shorter distance to the green. Sculpting here is all over the place though, just randomly sloped and bumpy. And the green is again too big for a par-5 like this.
Hole 11 - wish you could see the stream from the tee more here, but otherwise this is a nice par-3. Maybe some more slopes here that would not allow for drainage off the green, but that's minor stuff.
Hole 12 - a 90-degree dogleg isn't the best of design choices IMO. Feels forced and makes a 300-yard hole more "difficult" artificially. Also, you could never realistically climb the steep hill to get to this green - my drive left me 62 yards away, and I was more than 30 feet below the green:
Hole 13 - aside from the trees really close to the green, I like the design of this drivable par-4. I would also say that people would likely die or be seriously injured quite frequently here, due to the sheer drop-off at the back of this green that falls right into the lake!
Hole 14 - the sculpting of the edge of the land against the water here is a bit harsh. And a par-3 that's over 220 yards in length that's all carry over water is demanding, but the green is big enough to help counteract that, I suppose.
Hole 15 - very narrow fairway here, and the pin location was quite tucked up front against a dramatic false front.
Hole 16 - the layout of this 570-yard par-5 is not great, IMO. The fairway is split into four parts here. My tee shot is 10-15 mph downwind. The two options available off the tee are:
1) hit a razor-thin fairway on the left that has three bunkers guarding it, but I could run out of room as the fairway ends about 330 yards away, or
2) aim for the more open right fairway, but I cannot use driver, as the fairway ends 315 yards out.
I chose option 1 and hit a well-timed 94% driver...and ended up in the rough 327 yards away.
I then went back and tried option 2, and a tree blocked the path to the green anyway. So neither of these options is really a good play. The false front on the green here is also way, way too much...it's like 30 feet of solid red slopes, so you could never run a shot up onto the green.
Hole 17 - another really decent looking par-3. Nicely framed and plays well.
Hole 18 - NOPE:
I'd get rid of that tree...looks strange and, honestly, isn't even in play, as the hole is just 360-ish yards long. No one is not choosing to hit driver to a point where it doesn't factor into your approach.
General thoughts...green speeds at 143 are really close to one of the default speeds (Moderate - 144)...consider choosing a speed that's in between default speeds and not close to the defaults so players and potential society schedulers can have more flexibility in choosing a variety of speeds (other defaults are Very Fast - 187, Fast - 163, Slow - 119, and Very Slow - 101.)
Some sculpting is harsh, but not too bad. Routing needs work, as the course logistics seem odd - near a lake on one hole, then in the middle of a forest on another. And Hole 3, as I mentioned, would cause real-life pace of play and safety issues. Plus, some holes were miles away from each other. In the same vein, planting was very sparse between holes, and then was dense right in in the middle of the fairway or right in front of the green. Plating is very time consuming, but if it's not done properly to a certain level, it really sticks out.
If you haven't, I'd recommend watching the CrazyCanuck1985 Course 101 series on Youtube -
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMfOamKMuHDuC9B69-29kORMJ4jacde0P I saw some decent ideas here, and many of the things I brought up are common new designer issues. Keep at it, and thanks for sharing your course!
