Flinders Range Golf Club by Craig Johnson [New Course]

[BrianZ111]

Course: Flinders Range Golf Club (31.4 MB)
Type: Fictional, Parkland
Designer: Craig Johnson
Date: 4/4/2011
Images: Sp, #2, #12, #16
Libraries Used: fountains, The_Ridges, TheCountryClub2, victoria, woodfordpark

[Indy Anna Jones]

VERY impressive looking.
Good job Craig. A good thinking course, you have to really be careful where you place your drive or the trees will eat you up.
We played the f9 on normal greens and the back on dry. The greens rolled smooth and very fair.
Definitely an A-lister IMO.

[spencerturner]

Wow, interesting course. A nice change of pace from the usual look we all get used to. I liked the rock formations and the rolling fairways that move your ball from side to side and up and down in the landing area. The greens were also nice with some good movement in them. Fariways are a bit narrow and you have to play target golf and do some layups if you want to score well. I liked some of the par 3"s and very much liked the wall in front of the 18th green. I would have liked to see some underbrush under all of those trees too make the course have a "fuller" look if that makes sense. I thought the tees were well done and have some imagination to them. The course is difficult (for me at least) and a bit punishing if you stray off like just a little. The water features were well done and the water was all flat. The Bunkers were ok but had a bit of sameness to them. All in all a very nice and interesting design, and you will not be bored with this one. Well done Craig and thank you for your hard work. Spencer.

[SteveHorn]

Craig ! Well made course. I needed to play a few rounds of golf to let the AI adjust to my new golfer I was forced to create because of my computer problems. I went ahead and played your new release. I won't go into great detail but to say I liked it alot. Reminded me somewhat of Greenbriar by Wagers. Love the rock formations exspeically around the tee's. Greens were well done with few straight putts to be found at least in my 1 round vist. Once again SWEET.

[bryce]

I really like this one Craig!

THE GOOD

Everything! I love the layout. You have to use some sort of strategy, even on approach shots. The greens are very undulated, which goes along perfectly with the hills throughout the course. Too many times a hilly course will have flat greens, but Craig puts it all together nicely! The planting is top notch, especially the grass growing around the rock formations. That might be the best looking grass usage I've seen for this game. Speaking of rock formations, these rank up there in the Robert Wagers level with all of the subtle jagged edges and realism.

THE BAD

I did find a spike on one of the greens, but I can't complain because it bumped me to tap in range! There is one bunker that someone will be upset with if they are in it. It's in front of the 13th green and is about 25-30 feet below the putting surface at it's deepest point. I do understand why it was made that way, since it's on a very reachable par 5, but the +5 and +10 golfers will not be able to get out of it.

OVERALL

Love it! Craig, you just keep outdoing yourself. Each of your courses in the last 2 years or so have been better than the last, but now you have really set the bar high for yourself! I was so awe-struck, that it took me 5 holes to realise that I was +4! I managed to birdie 5 of the last 6 though to fight all the way back to E. If you think before you hit, you will do well at Flinders Range.

[Craigus10]

Thanks for the reviews everyone. I'm glad that it has been well received.

I did want to chnage the bunkers on the 13th hole, but after all of the issues I had with that hole, I think I was too scared to touch them incase something happened. I did want to make this challenging in strategy and shot selection, as it isn't the longest course and most par 5's are reachable in 2. I did have a look at adding some plating under the trees, but found it difficult to find plants that I liked and felt went with the course.

I enjoyed deisgning and building the course and I am happy with how most of it turned out. Thanks again.

[sandwedge]

Just wanted to put in my review for one of our hard-working designers. I really liked the way the land is sculpted in this one - the rocks, the fairways, the tee areas - fantastic! I also like the water elements - both where they were placed on the course and the presentation of them. A lot of designers do not really do creeks very well, but I found the streams and rivulets on this course realistic in appearance. I did not like the abundance of trees though - too much in my opinion and too many in the way of shots from the fairway into the green. I realize this is a personal preference - some might find it to be a more challenging round of golf with the trees where they are - but for our family, well let's just say one of us wanted to quit after the front nine Nevertheless, this is better than Craig's contest course - and I liked that one a whole lot!! Download this one and keep it on the hard drive - the bar for designing courses has been raised again. Thanks Craig

[A Brandt]

Awesome work Craig! I really enjoyed this course! It plays very fair and certainly tests your course management skills. No two holes felt the same and some of the views are great. I managed to find that DEEP bunker on 13, but was able to flop it out onto the green. The visuals of this course are what I like the best, it looks so real! The textures and the trees all fit perfectly. The cliff work is amazing, maybe the best I've seen. The greens are beautiful and have very realistic contours. On the first tee, I thought the lack of underbrush was something that could have made the course better. That faded quickly as my round progressed, as I was too focused on all the positives of this fine track. Maybe a different texture in the trees would have finished it nicely, but the course is still magnificent and shows how much this game still has to offer.

[gova]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for a very challenging and tough looking course.

I scored +10, so a very difficult course and the rating handicap of -1, which shows how ridiculous this game's ratings are. hehehe

A pleasure to play your courses and your improvement in designing courses is obvious.

How is Royal Melbourne going?, as I am really looking forward to this course.

Cheers
Brian

[Craigus10]

Thanks for the reviews.

Brian, Royal Melbourne is all laid out, and I have started the first hole with adding elevations, etc. I decided to take a couple of weeks away from the computer after this course and doing any course design work.

I'll post some shots in a week or two of the progress on Royal Melbourne.