Feedback was requested in the shoutbox by
picanto for "Red Roosters Retreat".
Used Pin 3, blue tees, default conditions.
Hole 1 - this looks like a course that's going heavy on the "fantasy" side. Giant rock formations and cacti that are extremely huge. Bunker sculpting is a little underdone and could use more touch to smooth out the surfaces. Green speed is set to 114 at default, which is quite slow, and there are basically no internal contours in the green. The 114 speed is just 3 feet off of the default "Slow" setting as well, so it would limit scheduler's flexibility, since "slow" and your default green speed are basically the same.
Hole 2 - sculpting around the green is a little wonky. Runoffs into heavy rough all around it, and the surfacing looks a bit odd because of how steep the slopes are. But again, there's little to no sloping in the interior of the green, so it's like a turtleback style.
Hole 3 - each hole has been essentially the same to this point - a slight dogleg right par-4. The surface transition from fairway to green is a bit strange here...the fairway bits in front of the greenside bunkers look off.
Hole 4 - this hole looks pretty cool. I like the water running thru it. I will say, though, it is the fourth par-4 in a row, and it looks like 6 of the front 9 holes are par-4s.
Hole 5 - bunkers in the fairway need a bit better sculpting. The front dip in the green is too harshly sculpted and is more like a bowl than a false front. The ginormous cacti are really distracting, to be honest.
Hole 6 - this should be a par-3, probably, instead of a 278-yard par-4. There's zero danger off the tee, so there's never any decision to make - you're always going for the green off the tee.
Hole 7 - I get the design of this par-5, and it works. Green complexes are an area I'd focus on...the sloping and sculpting of them is always the same - red slope runoffs on the edges, and basically no sloping internally. I don't think I've had a putt with more that 3-4 inches of break.
Hole 8 - the cacti need to go. This would be kind of a neat short-4 with them taken out. Instead, one huge cactus is right in the line of play, and it looks too over the top. This green does have some internal sloping and two tiers, which works well.
Hole 9 - the tee box markers look a bit weird all stacked like this. The green has zero movement to it.
Hole 10 - I like the idea of this hole quite a bit. That said, the way the fairway is laid out, I am always going left, as the fairway option to the right is more narrow and farther away from the green.
Hole 11 - same issues here...bunker sculpting, surface transitions, and greens with little to no slopes.
Hole 12 - nice view, but the tee markers look odd again.
Hole 13 - another split fairway, but this one doesn't work as well for me. Fairway is too narrow and there's no real option here. Going one way or the other doesn't offer the player any real advantage.
Hole 14 - this one's OK, same issues
Hole 15 - same...an OK hole
Hole 16 - more of the same, although this one's green did have more interest.
Hole 17 - another OK one.
Hole 18 - OK finisher, same issues here too.
I'd suggest taking a look at the YouTube tutorials out there for greens and bunker sculpting, as well as fairway to green transitions. And on future builds, I would be mindful of the size of the planting you do...the cacti here were way over the top.
Good luck on your next course!
