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APCD Courses
The Fictional Courses 1-6
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| Burn's
Old Links |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7118
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Scottish
Links
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| Sep
2003 |
2003
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 1st
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Burn's Old Links is the
9th course design by Mike Jones and is a
traditional 'old' style Scottish links course,
moulded amongst the coastal dunes, and situated
close to an old town. Its roots lie in the famous
courses of St Andrews and Prestwick, and it
becomes the closest simulation of links golf ever
seen. Your round begins close to the old town,
with a scary opening tee shot if you decide to
take the shortest route to the flag. You then
follow the road at the 2nd tee, before driving
over the edge of the bordering buildings at the
3rd in true St Andrews style. Progressing to the
6th you meet the magnificant wooden faced bunker
guarding the green, leading you towards the
'Bunning' burn which splits the fairway at the
8th and 12th holes. The design is just awesome,
the course simply flows around the landscape and
hazards, with dips and valleys, dune peaks, and
greens that perfectly follow the contours of the
surrounding fairways and rough. The texturing is
both outstanding and groundbreaking, again
exceeding his previous releases, with dry ground,
worn patches, sand speckles, humps and bumps all
blended seemlessly together. Planting is lower
key here, formed by natural low level bushes and
grasses, and looking so realistic and natural,
but the real beauty here is more in the rolling
landscape of textures than bold colours. In lay
out terms this is the closest course seen in
style to St Andrews, with wide open views and
many route choices to the flags, it is a course
to learn and admire and i feel certainly best
played without aiming using the top camera view.
The type of play offered here is different to any
other apcd course, as there are so many decisions
to make, weighing up the risk between routes,
hazards, distances and topography. The atmosphere
created by this design is excellent, the old town
buildings are just right for the location, the
custom global sounds of the birds, backed by the
distant sea rumble add ambiance, a driving range
is evident, the Burn's new course runs alongside
the 5th and 9th holes, and all the hazards are
named for added realism. This design is special
and should be admired, there are many extra
special techniques used in this course design,
many that you will not even realise are there.
Playwise it is links at its best and the ball
lies will offer up a tricky challenge. It is
simply the cleverest course i have seen. |
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| Tall
Pines Estate |
| Wayne
Hewitt |
| 7185
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Pine
Forest
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| Feb
2003 |
2003
Course of the Year Runner Up
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Overall
Rank 2nd
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Wayne
Hewitt has previously designed the courses named
Kylane and Autumn Valley; both were great in
their own right, but in some respects simply seem
as stepping stones to the creation of Tall Pines
Estate. Every now and then a course design comes
along which sets new high standards in its
execution, looks or playability. This course is
definately one of these, it is breathtaking its
its beauty, immaculate in its attention to
detail, and strategically impressive, with holes
that will become instantly memorable. The course
is set within a pine forest location, its best
real life comparison must be the immaculately
planted and well kept Augusta National course,
and when you step out onto Tall Pines Estate you
know that the groundsmen have done their job to
perfection. At times you will almost feel the
need to gasp, as patches of coloured flowers
border the fringes of the holes, or a covering of
wild grass extends into the shaded pine forested
areas. No detail has been missed, smooth paths
wind through the trees, benches and hole signs
stand to the side of tee areas, and even the
lilliepads on the lake contain pink flowers. The
views across the course are often amazing as you
can peek through the trees to see other fairways
or natural features. The texture blending makes
this a real treat, just take a look at where the
pine areas meet the rough. Other great points of
interest include the lovely stone bridge at the
16th, the river creek at the 14th which is a
reachable par 4, and the superb custom clubhouse
at the back of the 18th. The faint chit chat of
birds will follow you throughout this stunning
course. Playwise the course is always fair, it
offers some great shot choices, and the par 3's
really do shine out as beautiful set pieces. Hole
previews are lovely and provide the information
you need including the green slopes, and the
tournament option is complete with crowds and
advertising boards. For overall visual beauty and
a manicured finish this arguably remains the
number one choice. It is the fictional Augusta
and the holes quickly become like old friends
which you regularly will return to.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : Excellent |
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| Crystal
Pines |
| Mike
Jones |
| 6682
yards. Par 71. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Mountain
Forest
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| May
2004 |
2004
Course of the Year Runner Up
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Overall
Rank 3rd
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Crystal
Pines is the 10th course design by Mike Jones,
and is a visual masterpiece. Amazingly the
designer still manages to offer something new and
interesting to players, this time a fir tree
forest course, backed by the snow capped
mountains, and remeniscent in style of say Banff
Springs. At the opening tee you overlook the
course, a majestic view with a stone wall running
along the left of the hole. The textures are soft
green and look fantastic. The 2nd hole offers a
testing short par 3 over a crystal clear lake,
before the 3rd wraps around the lake to produce
an amazing drive choice in true Bayhill style.
After the 4th hole, you leave the lakes behind
for a short while, and view the beautiful
splashes of colour and customary amazing planting
down the rest of the back nine as you rise up
into the hills. Bunkers will shield many of the
approach shots, and watch out for the lovely
clubhouse building at the back of the 8th hole.
After the turn is one of my favourite holes, a
160 yard par 3 to a green set on a plateau which
slopes away down to the left, just awesome. Then
you play a long par 5 and a tricky par 4, again
with great buildings on show, before the most
spectacular view of the course at the 13th tee
making full use of the excellent panorama.
Another beautiful tee shot greets the 14th,
complete with a valley to this fairway, onto the
15th which again wraps around a large lake. The
16th features a clever split fairway, and the
17th is another trademark par 3 of superb quality
before you finish overlooking another lakeside
hole offering some great risk versus reward play
at the par 5. Mike Jones always likes to try
something never before seen, this time it is the
lakeside bunkers at the 3rd and 7th holes, and
they are remarkable, and complete with a wet sand
texture edge they work beautifully. I've taken
you on a little tour of this course, visually it
is amazing and true to the designers usual style
and all the extras are evident. The attention to
detail is extremely high, even with aged bare
trees in key places for effect. Frankly, we have
seen little to match the beauty of this course
design, and it remains one of Mike Jones' very
best efforts. |
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| Pacific
Breaks |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7358
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Coastal
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| Dec
2003 |
2001
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 4th
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Mike
Jones is rightly considered a genious with the
apcd. Pacific Breaks was his 4th course release
way back in December 2001 and was a fictional
design set on the pacific coastline in the style
of Pebble Beach and Cypress Point. This was yet
another innovative and ground breaking design,
with the coastline sea taking on the most
realistic beauty ever seen at the time, complete
with superb cliffside edges and white surf on the
waters. Adding to this is the most amazingly
realistic planting, and the designers artistic
abilities should not be underestimated. You tee
off the first hole inland, a beautiful setting,
with superb undulating fairways, and a new
lighter than usual set of textures which fit the
location perfectly. You progress inland across
some cleverly designed layouts, until you gimpse
the sea in the distance at the back of the 5th
hole, and your heart will beat faster. The 6th
tee and your eyes will fill with wonder and
delight at the view over the cliffs to the par 3
green, an amazing sight. There follows a series
of coastal holes which contain astonishingly
clever strategy with risk always playing off
against reward and penalty for mistakes. Finally
you move inland again down the back nine, but
each and every hole not only looks superb, it
plays like a dream, looking comfortable off the
tees, but in reality there is loads to learn
about the best places to lay up, and fairways
undulate to make ball lies more difficult. Greens
here are often well protected too. As with many
of the best courses, the last few holes play as
some of the hardest challenges and making pars
down the 17th and 18th will make you breathe a
sigh of relief. In 2003 the planting was
upgraded, a few holes redesigned including a par
5 18th hole, and new cart paths added with
amazing bunker texturing and surround blending,
all improving this beautiful course. In 2001 this
design pushed the boundaries of what the original
apcd could achieve, visually and at times
strategically there is once again little to beat
this course, it is just beautiful and fantastic
to play. A former number one groundbreaking
design and course of the year, its 2003 update
lifts it back among the best ever courses
available for the game. |
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| Pilgrim
Trails |
| Mike
Jones |
| 7579
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium |
Pine
Forest
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| Jun
2009 |
2009
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 5th
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Pilgrim
Trails brings Mike Jones out of a 4 year Links
retirement and is the designers 14th course
release, which is quite astonishing in itself.
This new course wont particularly surprise you,
it definately has all the usual Mike Jones
details with wide expensive views of the course
that winds far away into the distance. The
strategic element is always well thought out,
with a mix of tests and club use. At 7579 it is
one of his longest designs so expect some key
driver use. Every one of Mike's designs has a
signature feel, and this continues the theme with
blueberry bushes blooming in bright red found all
over the course. It really adds colour and depth
to the view. This course winds through pine
forests, trees are not always close to the
fairways and there is plently of rough area to
stray into. The bunkers, which look exceptional,
seem to always be in key places so expect a few
visits during your round. This course is one of
the best textured so far, there is immense
blending here, with worn patches and faded areas
always in sight to add extra realism. Also the
buildings here, a few homes hidden in the trees,
and some red tiled outbuildings to match the
amazing clubhouse by Pat Auge, are all exeptional
and look expensive too. I enjoyed the wishing
well objects scattered around too. What makes
this course extra special though is its natural
feel. Mike often has set piece views of extreme
quality, this one has less dramatic ones than say
Pacific Breaks or Las Joyas, but no less
involving and certainly very realistic. In terms
of planting lets just say that this designer is
just about the best in the business. Moving onto
some favourite holes, all the par 3's are
exceptional both clever to play and great
visually and different lengths too, but the short
14th with its crooked tree is just edged by the
pretty 3rd hole with a narrow entrance and
downhill run off. The par 5's are long here and
the best one is the 11th where if you drive into
the narrow gap between the bunkers you can get a
3w to the green, but watch the lake guarding the
right side. The closing holes are a wonderful
test, the 16th is guarded by the largest lake on
the course, the 17th is a long par 3 and the 18th
a long and semi blind tee shot. This is a superb
design, uses all the latest apcd developments and
loosely reminds me of a cross between the
immaculate Pinehurst and the rugged Bethpage
Black. |
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| Crooked
Creek |
| Wayne
Hewitt |
| 7201
yards. Par 72. |
| Difficulty
Medium/Hard |
Australian
Pine Forest
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| Apr
2006 |
2006
Course of the Year
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Overall
Rank 6th
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Crooked Creek started
life out as a sister course to the amazing Tall
Pines Estate. The grand plan was to build a few
courses that were all in a similar location such
as Pinehurst. However, inspired by a photo of the
3rd hole at Brookwater Golf Course in Queensland,
Australia, Wayne Hewitt set about a design that
was cross between Tall Pines and a Melbourne
sandbelt course. The results are remarkable and
most successfully achieved, with an Australian
feel definately captured. Wayne is already a
master of apcd designing, with Tall Pines Estate
and Wagga Wagga as shining examples of his work.
Crooked Creek is simply breathtaking, both
beautiful to look at and engaging to play. The
quality of the work is exceptional on the
blending, textures and overgrown bunker work, and
visually the green fairways contrast superbly
with the dusty sandbelt and waste ground areas.
The pine trees look fabulous, and the planting is
just about the most realistic you will ever see.
Everything seems to have been meticulously
planned, the tee views create stunning set pieces
complete with small stone water dispensers, the
elevations are superb and the lay out calls for
thoughtful play and offers a lot of choice. A
wonderful 3d clubhouse overlooks the course
perched on small hillock. The panorama adds extra
depth with a small village and a neat craggy
outcrop becoming distinguishing features of the
course. Two holes i have chosen to look out for
are the 11th surrounded by sandy wasteland thats
looks so amazingly natural, and the short par 4
which is reachable off the tee over a lake, so
will you dare to take it on? The custom tees and
course logo are excellent ideas to complete the
realism of this design. You wont get any
tournament crowds here, but you really wont want
to spoil the view ! I believe this is probably
the highest overall quality design of them all,
particularly for natural realism, planting and
elevation, but it just doesnt quite endear itself
as my favourite overall course, as there are a
few others that i find more memorable and
exciting to return to play.
| Hole
Previews : Excellent |
Tournament
Option : None |
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