WIP Publish looking for some feedback

[greyeagle]

Hi community!
Just publish a WIP and looking for some needed feedback. 
What I was attempting with this course design was to raise the course difficulty level without being heavy handed and unfair, as well as not tricking things up to achieve the increased difficulty. So, what I'm asking for from anyone willing to give the WIP a playthrough is and honest and thorough critique. Did I raise the difficulty level? If so is it fair? And if the course play simply then I want to know that as well. I know these are busy times, and that there are many great designs to play with "The World Cup" going on, so I'm not in a huge hurry, but if you find the time and are willing to respond to this thread I'd much appreciate it! The course is titled gjwip001.
Thanks in advance for the playthroughs and thoughts.
Greyeagle

[fargo]

Hey, it's not yet available on PS4. I'll try again tomorrow.

[sandgroper]

ok, here we go...

Firstly the plot i.imgur.com/ckwOiNp.jpg. Looks good although a little sparse in places. There are a lot of large blank spaces that you can see as you make your way around.
Lovely little clubhouse area with starters hut i.imgur.com/nzZjnBz.jpg
The carpark was empty and what looks like an abandoned gatehouse i.imgur.com/BGyYZL0.jpg. A bit of sculpting for the corner of the grass area as well. I checked out the range down the back and it looked good as well.
I like the transition shot off the first with the clubhouse in the background i.imgur.com/4s46H41.jpg
The first tee complex looks good except for the poor red tees who don't have any rock love i.imgur.com/ExAQ9HN.jpg

I got lucky off the first after finding the bunker with my drive. The first cut looked a little strange the way it angled in around the bunker, may be smooth it out some.
I hit a poor tee shot on 2 and found the water. It wanted me to drop on the other side of the lake which is OK, but may be a strip of fairway over there to give the player a drop zone. I decided to go back to the tee instead.
A pinch at the driving area is OK but don't go to that well too often. The bunkers cutting through double surfaces will get marked down if you are going to submit the course for approval.
Also the sculpting is a little aggressive when the bunker starts to quilt. The lip on the greenside one also needs smoothing as you can see it saw-toothing a little.
That 5th green is massive. 6th drive pinching. Pretty savage ridgeline through the green. 8th, pinching. Drive on 9, you get the idea...
On the 9th green something that had never happened before. I was panning around and it just took off on it's own, went back to the putting and ripped the putter back on it's own and then slammed my putt off the green. Not sure what happened but it was very strange. You can see as I pan around it all of a sudden goes up into the sky...
The fairway bunker on 10 seemed out of place seeing as there were none anywhere else.
13th green needs some smoothing out, the red slopes end in green with no transition.
I managed to get some serious side spin on the 17th, which looked unnatural.
The 18th fairway can do with some additional sculpting/smoothing, when you look back you can see quite a lot of flat spots and ledges.

So a little more planting to fill the blank spaces and it will be looking good.

Course distances. Watch out that you don't have too much repetition.
Par 3's: 170, 260, 140, 206, 174
Par 4's: 463, 492, 500, 454, 491,327, 452, 492, 327
Par 5's: 592,620, 572, 609

[greyeagle]

Thank you Sandgroper for the playthrough and the very concise critique, exactly what I was looking for. The blow up on hole 9 was really strange. Thanks again.
Greyeagle

[retteach]

Hey Greyeagle,

I played your course this afternoon and had some observations.( I am no expert but also design myself).Overall Iliked the Autumn look and the course is enjoyable and very playable.In general I would change the way some bunkers cross over to fairway or light rough.Your bunkers are very basic in shape- they look stock overall.Some could be a bit bigger which is opposite of what most designers do.Some of your fairway bumps need sculpting to smooth the transitions as do some in the rough. You tend to rely often on narrowing the fairway at the 290-300 yard mark.Maybe find another angle or hazard at different yardages.Don't rely solely on centerline in fairway bunkers.
#1. I drove dead center and a hump threw me into the left bunker.First green is big -but too much yellow and orange sloping.
#3. Tight driving area.Small bunker to left in front could be joined with the next one.Strong red slopes.
#4. Nice looking par 3 but needs a run up area since it requires a full 3 wood.
#5. Fairway bunker doesn't work as the area to the left is too tight.Maybe shorten the bunker to 270-280 in the left rough forcing the player right.Whole 2/3 of the green is red and mostly unplayable.The little trough area in the middle doesn't make sense to me.I almost landed at the top of the red with a bit of backspin and rolled all the way off the front.
#6. Flatten tee. A decently layed out par 5.Strong red on the green and a bit open- planting might make it look a bit better.
#7. Nice looking hole off the tee.Bunker placement looks a bit awkward.My pin placement gave me a 20 foot flat putt.
#8. nicely framed hole with a solid look overall.Like the left option for big hitters.Rerd sloping at back of green is too severe.False front is also severe.
#9. Nice framing off the tee.Unintentional blindness on the 2nd shot?Couldn't see the green or bunkers on the right.Interesting green slope but soften a bit.
#10.Hump splitting the middle off the tee doesn't seem to work.
#11. Nice look and framing.Too easy for a driveable 4- needs more risk/reward factor.
#12. good look-good hole but landed 5 feet short of the hole with backspin and still advanced forward rolling all the way off the back?
#13. Centerline bunker doesn't make sense as it is.Green slope needs softening.
#14. A decent par 5- red sloping on the green is too severe.
#15. Raise the tee a few feet to see more of the water-a great looking hole.Too much red on the green.
#16. Plant a bit in front of the tee to the sides of the fariway to frame the hole better.2nd shot uphill 3 feet but completely blind.Intentional?
#17. Needs some framing- trees on each side or planting to draw eye to the middle of the fairway.
#18. Okay- a bit plain for a finishing hole.Sculpt some of the fairway humps.

Overall your course is very playable.I tend to have very small or yellow orange undulations on greens I design so maybe it is just me.I hope this helps and is what you are looking for.Looking forward to seeing the final product.

retteach (Troy)

[greyeagle]

Yes Troy this is exactly what I'm looking for, Thank you very much! 

Greyeagle