EPRC (Rookie Design WIP)

[mapcollector]

I finally published a functional "alpha" version of my Rookie Design Contest course, called "EPRC (final alpha)"
The inspiration for the environment is the river bluffs I grew up around along the Mississippi River. The inspiration for the course design is a bit of a mish-mash. If any of the holes were good they were inspired by Jivesinator designs (although I made this course much more forgiving than any Jives course), with a touch of MattF's golden age style courses in there. If any of the holes are bad they were inspired by TPC courses. Generally this course has more of the standard and safe hole designs on the front and the quirky and riskier designs on the back. I think 11-16 will probably be the stretch that needs the most attention as I revise this, especially the green site on 11, split fairway on 12, and double green on 13. Planting is sparse still and sculpting a bit rough in places but it's in a state I could have friends play matches on now.
Obligatory Pictures:

[mapcollector]

Newest Beta Release is out: EPRC Beta
Will maybe be the last beta I post before I publish. The golf course is mostly finished, I just need to do some grass planting and a few decorations here and there.

[GeneCreemers]

Hey bud,

Played the tips and pin 2. Default set up the rest of the way.

General comment - Check your pins in relation to how close they are to the edges. I know it's an unwritten rule, but quite a few are probably not 5 paces away from the edge of the green. Something I should've known on my own course as well based on how much I play IRL and follow the sport. But someone else pointed it out to me on my beta. I didn't even think of it until it was pointed out. Some pins on this course just feel waaaaay too close to the sides of the green IMO.

hole 1 - Seems really dark. (Update: I thought it was going stay that dark the entire time, but it has weirdly lightened up by the third hole and I'm enjoying the lighting more now.)
hole 3 - not a huge fan of the split bunker on the left of the fairway, but I like the shape of this hole a lot. I like the split bunker up closer to the green with the tree. I just don't think the first split bunker works or is needed.
hole 4 - Nicely shaped hole. Green seems smaller than other holes on the course. Could be because the shape makes it feel pinched in perhaps? Like maybe it's the same circumference, but it just seems off to me and doesn't match the rest of the course.
hole 5 - This green feels better to me than the last hole to me... size wise
hole 7 - digging this hole. Love the approach shot. Loving all the sight lines of the next hole that I was able to see when the camera was setting up my player to putt. Maybe check the sloping on this pin though. I didn't hit a great putt here, but I was only slightly long and it rolled 20 feet away.
Hole 8 - pretty tee shot. Like the options.
Hole 9 - Clouds have come back and it's like night time out here. I can't even see the fairway. I can see the bunkers near the green, but it is daaaaark. I wish I could tell you what the solution for that is, but I usually just use very light clouds on my courses because of the darkness in 2k23. Nice sloping left of the fairway. Pulled my shot just a little left and it kicked it back out to the fairway for me. Love when that happens. Liking the look of the green complex here.
Hole 10 - Still pitch black out here and my thought about the darkness is this... the darkness kind of takes away from being able to see the course. Like, I can see that there are trees in the background, but because of the darkness, it's just a dark blob behind the green. This pin is a bit extreme imo. Very little space to land it from a sloped fairway and a long-ish shot in.
Hole 11 - I like the look of the hole, but not the placement of the fairway bunkers. Felt like I was forced into hitting a 3W. Which I'm not against in the right situation. In this situation though with hole being downhill for the second shot, it's begging to give me the option to reach it in 2 which I'm not even close after hitting a 3w off the tee. Hope that one makes sense. It was a little tricky to explain. Also the green runs away. So I feel like I hit a good tee shot, hit a good second shot, and my reward for having a short shot in is trying to hold a green that slopes away from me.
Hole 12 - I like this hole if the left option was completely cut off. And I don't think you need to block the view of the green from the tee with more trees either, but maybe some bushes or a grasses. Going left just seems like a really unnecessary risk for not much reward. Going right gives me the best view in and the green is long enough to hold my 5 iron. So why even risk going left and contending with the trees off the tee and greenside bunker on the approach?
Hole 13 - like it and damn right I'm putting that ball 6 feet from the cup and a putting for eagle.
Hole 14 - what's the green to the left? nice little short par 3
hole 15 - like the way the hole plays, but the waste area feels out of place considering there aren't any other areas like that on the course (I don't think?) Either do these waste areas everywhere or take this one out.
Hole 16 - Like the hole a lot, don't like the gully on the left of the fairway a lot. Kind of looks/feels out of place. But the hole plays nicely.
Hole 17 - maybe bring those bunkers up a little. I purposely hit it into them because they looked really low. Hit my bunker shot perfectly with the club wide open and didn't get it up that slope. Otherwise the hole looks nice.
Hole 18 - What's the reward for going right? Seems like it's not needed. If I go that way, I'm forcing a long second shot over a bunker. Where as if I go left, I have a clear shot in. I would think about losing that right fairway completely, shifting the right bunkers even more right and giving people a little wider fairway. It's 533 yard par 4 so I feel like the landing area should be less penal. Like if I get a case of the slows or fasts, there's no way I'm reaching that green in 2. But with a wider fairway, there's less chance of going in the rough and you still have to hit a really long shot in.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Hope that helps and good luck in the contest!

[mapcollector]

Feb 2, 2023 14:50:05 GMT -5 GeneCreemers said:

Hey bud,

Played the tips and pin 2. Default set up the rest of the way.

General comment - Check your pins in relation to how close they are to the edges. I know it's an unwritten rule, but quite a few are probably not 5 paces away from the edge of the green. Something I should've known on my own course as well based on how much I play IRL and follow the sport. But someone else pointed it out to me on my beta. I didn't even think of it until it was pointed out. Some pins on this course just feel waaaaay too close to the sides of the green IMO.

hole 1 - Seems really dark. (Update: I thought it was going stay that dark the entire time, but it has weirdly lightened up by the third hole and I'm enjoying the lighting more now.)
hole 3 - not a huge fan of the split bunker on the left of the fairway, but I like the shape of this hole a lot. I like the split bunker up closer to the green with the tree. I just don't think the first split bunker works or is needed.
hole 4 - Nicely shaped hole. Green seems smaller than other holes on the course. Could be because the shape makes it feel pinched in perhaps? Like maybe it's the same circumference, but it just seems off to me and doesn't match the rest of the course.
hole 5 - This green feels better to me than the last hole to me... size wise
hole 7 - digging this hole. Love the approach shot. Loving all the sight lines of the next hole that I was able to see when the camera was setting up my player to putt. Maybe check the sloping on this pin though. I didn't hit a great putt here, but I was only slightly long and it rolled 20 feet away.
Hole 8 - pretty tee shot. Like the options.
Hole 9 - Clouds have come back and it's like night time out here. I can't even see the fairway. I can see the bunkers near the green, but it is daaaaark. I wish I could tell you what the solution for that is, but I usually just use very light clouds on my courses because of the darkness in 2k23. Nice sloping left of the fairway. Pulled my shot just a little left and it kicked it back out to the fairway for me. Love when that happens. Liking the look of the green complex here.
Hole 10 - Still pitch black out here and my thought about the darkness is this... the darkness kind of takes away from being able to see the course. Like, I can see that there are trees in the background, but because of the darkness, it's just a dark blob behind the green. This pin is a bit extreme imo. Very little space to land it from a sloped fairway and a long-ish shot in.
Hole 11 - I like the look of the hole, but not the placement of the fairway bunkers. Felt like I was forced into hitting a 3W. Which I'm not against in the right situation. In this situation though with hole being downhill for the second shot, it's begging to give me the option to reach it in 2 which I'm not even close after hitting a 3w off the tee. Hope that one makes sense. It was a little tricky to explain. Also the green runs away. So I feel like I hit a good tee shot, hit a good second shot, and my reward for having a short shot in is trying to hold a green that slopes away from me.
Hole 12 - I like this hole if the left option was completely cut off. And I don't think you need to block the view of the green from the tee with more trees either, but maybe some bushes or a grasses. Going left just seems like a really unnecessary risk for not much reward. Going right gives me the best view in and the green is long enough to hold my 5 iron. So why even risk going left and contending with the trees off the tee and greenside bunker on the approach?
Hole 13 - like it and damn right I'm putting that ball 6 feet from the cup and a putting for eagle.
Hole 14 - what's the green to the left? nice little short par 3
hole 15 - like the way the hole plays, but the waste area feels out of place considering there aren't any other areas like that on the course (I don't think?) Either do these waste areas everywhere or take this one out.
Hole 16 - Like the hole a lot, don't like the gully on the left of the fairway a lot. Kind of looks/feels out of place. But the hole plays nicely.
Hole 17 - maybe bring those bunkers up a little. I purposely hit it into them because they looked really low. Hit my bunker shot perfectly with the club wide open and didn't get it up that slope. Otherwise the hole looks nice.
Hole 18 - What's the reward for going right? Seems like it's not needed. If I go that way, I'm forcing a long second shot over a bunker. Where as if I go left, I have a clear shot in. I would think about losing that right fairway completely, shifting the right bunkers even more right and giving people a little wider fairway. It's 533 yard par 4 so I feel like the landing area should be less penal. Like if I get a case of the slows or fasts, there's no way I'm reaching that green in 2. But with a wider fairway, there's less chance of going in the rough and you still have to hit a really long shot in.

Anyway, just my thoughts. Hope that helps and good luck in the contest!

Thanks for giving such detailed feedback. I actually had changed a couple of the things you mentioned already, the bunker on 3 and the lighting. I had been using the 3-grid (about 3.3 yard) rule for pin placements, I see a lot of them were within 5. I've moved all the pins to be at least 4 yards from the green and only kept a few pins inside 5 yards when I think it makes sense to ask for a precise shot. I don't know if I'll be able to implement all the notes as the course is close to done and would be difficult to make big changes to (and my object meter is at 99%) but 4, 10, 11, and 17 I've adjusted. Good luck to you in the contest as well.

P.S. I forgot you asked about the greens on 14. The one on the left there was what I had on the Alpha version of the course but I make the current green later. I left the original there because I thought it made for an interesting visual. The 13th originally was a double green, but I removed the green surface on the left, which is why the fairway there is so flat and square. I could change those holes but I like the idea that a golf course would have "backup" greensites that add a bit of quirkiness to the river holes.