Fab & The
BadBody at the Links
With Guest Reviewer, Dave
06/26/01
Rock
of America By Robert@
Fab: I
had the privilege of being one of the beta testers on this course,
and would like to thank Robert for that opportunity.
As always Robert’s courses are great to look at and fun to
play. This course has
some dramatic elevation changes and some severely elevated tees.
As a matter of fact if it were not for Bob’s and my rocket
packs we’d still to trying to climb the 11th tee
box….lol. Speaking of the 11th tee box, be smart and wash
your golf balls before getting to the tee.
That ball washer is in a very treacherous spot and now I too
am wearing a body cast…..lol.
Thanks Robert….lol.
One
of Robert’s best holes in my opinion is hole 17. This is a very
short par three to a green surrounded by sand.
I think the shot distance varies from 65 to 80 yards
depending on the pin location.
Sounds easy enough, but a short hole like this can be
treacherous and obtaining par here is very good.
Most
of the par threes on this course are a challenge with tees at high
elevations. You really
have to do some thinking so as not to over fly the green.
Another interesting hole is #10 where it looks like you
don’t have a clear tee shot.
That’s because you don’t really….lol.
Some times you make it and some times you don’t.
Although
this course will probably not go down as a classic, since it is a
fantasy course it is and will be a great fantasy course to have and
to play just for the shear fun.
 
Excellent – A Definite Keeper
BadBodyBob:
I need to start out by saying,
this is not your ordinary golf course. It’s more like an outdoor recreation facility. While I was
playing my round at Rock of America, I managed to get in some bungee
jumping, some hang gliding and some very scary cliff jumping. The
high elevation changes made for some excellent adventures.
I
couldn’t help but notice that on 4 or 5 holes, I had one tree
following me. I swear it was the same tree getting in my way on
those holes. Anyway, Robert has done a great job of
bringing us a truly high attitude course. It seemed like
every shot was a challenge, whether it was off the tee or on the
fairway. I never really had a clue where my ball was landing but it
didn’t matter. I must say, I had a blast, especially for not
having a clue. The views were breath taking off the tee’s. If you
shooters out there really want a challenge, crank it up to very dry
and strong winds.
Overall
for a fantasy course, Robert@ did a great job, IMHO. What more could
you ask for, I mean, golfing, cliff jumping, hang gliding. What a
great day in the mountains. All I can say is, what’s next from
this designer??? Maybe an underwater course is in the works…lol.
Have fun and play nice.
 
Excellent – A Definite Keeper
Glorietta
Pass Country Club By Bryan Carroll
Fab:
Glorietta Pass is a desert fictional course
located in the foothill area of Santa Fe.
As such the fairways are rolling and the bunkers are deep,
and I mean deep. I know
that because I visited many of them.
I thought it was the least I could do since BB is still
recuperating from back surgery and he’d have a hard time
navigating those bunker walls.
Besides I didn’t have that much time to waste laughing at
him stumble his way out….lol.
The
bunkers as I said were deep, however extricating the ball from the
bunkers was fairly easy, and some of my best shots were from the
bottoms of these bunkers. The
biggest problem to scoring well on this course was the greens.
They were all heavily sloped most to the rear, and that made
it hard to hold the green or leave yourself with a short putt.
We played this course in dry and breezy conditions, which
just added to the excitement…lol.
Overall
Glorietta Pass yielded a fun round of golf, and for those of you who
are fans of desert courses this would be a keeper

Nice Course Worthy of Keeping
BadBodyBob:
Hmmm…where to start. I must
say I was quite impressed with the read-me file that came with the
course. It was one of the most detailed read-me’s I’ve ever
seen. The one thing that stood out was it said 53 bunkers…OMG. I
figured for sure to get some close-up action in those damn craters.
I think some meteor’s landed on this course. Talk about deep
bunkers.
Glorietta
Pass is a very nice desert course. I thought I lost Fab on a couple
occasions. It looked like he was swallowed up in those craters. The
fairways were big, so there was really no problem off the tee unless
you found one of those big things. The greens were pretty tough,
imho. With all the slopes and levels on the greens, nothing was a
gimmie. Overall, Bryan has brought us a very fine, crater filled
desert course.
Thanks
for taking my place in the bunkers Fab. I really do appreciate it
bud, I owe you one. The one bunker I did hit, I left a piece of me
in it. It was time to say goodbye to my walker, you were there when
I needed you most, oh trusted walker but it’s time for me to move
on without any help. If anyone ever needs a walker you will find it
in the 20ft deep bunker on the 16th hole, greenside. Have
fun and play nice.

Nice Course Worthy of Keeping
Joshua
Ridge By Steve Opfer
Fab:
First of all let me set
the conditions for this game, Bad Body and I decided to play Joshua
Ridge in Very Dry and Strong Winds, kinda like a hurricane in the
desert….lol. If we
had known the slope to these greens we might have chosen something
different then very dry…lol.
No actually we had more fun on this course then you can
imagine, it was great. Amazingly
for the first 9 holes I was under par, by the finish I was over par,
but still respectable….lol. You’ll
have to ask BB about his score, I’m not talking….hehehehe.
Besides this is his first course review after his leave and
I’m sure if I told you his score he’d blame it on his delicate
condition, “You know it’s hard to drive and hold onto my walker
at the same time”…… lol
Joshua
Ridge is another excellent course by Steve Opfer.
The layout, terrain and play was all close to perfection.
The only thing I don’t like on Mr. Opfer’s courses are
his bunkers. They all
appear to be a ground level at the edges instead of being sunken.
This results in easy outs, and really penalizes the golfer
who gets in one very little. If Steve would sink those edges this course would have been
perfect.
For those of you looking for
some nice elevation changes, and raised tees, then this would be the
perfect course for you.

Nice Course Worthy of Keeping
BadBodyBob:
Your too much pard….lmao.
Hmmm, my score, let me see. Forget it, I’m not telling, na na na
na....lol. How’s 3 touchdowns give or take a safety sound. I must
say for my first review in over a month, I had a blast. Oh boy did
we ask for it choosing those settings. I was laughing so hard I
almost split my body cast.
Joshua
Ridge is an excellent course. I can see why Steve is regarded as a
top designer. Everything on this course seemed right in place. I
enjoyed the way I had to lay up on some holes off the tee. The
fairways had some very nice rolls to them. The bunkers were well
placed but were easy to get “nice outs”. The greens were a
different story. The slopes and dips made for some very challenging
putts.
If
you want a challenge, crank up the settings to very dry and strong
winds. You will not be disappointed. Remember that this is just a
game, so instead of getting pissed, have a blast with those
conditions. It’s a must to shoot with a partner. Got to go now,
looking for some duct tape to patch up my body cast. Thanks Fab for
a most enjoyable round.
 
Excellent – A Definite Keeper

Keperra
Country Club By Stefan Lawinski
Fab:
Keperra Country Club is
Stefan’s first attempt at course design.
He wrote me an e-mail asking me to take a look at it so he
could get an idea of how he did. In that e-mail he pointed out to me
that he did a lot of reading and studying of the tutorials that are
available on PGA course design.
Well, it paid off. For
a first attempt at course design Stefan did an admirable job.
Not to say the course was perfect, by no means, but if this
is what he can do on a first attempt, watch out for this guy, he’s
gonna be good.
The
terrain of Keppera CC is of the rolling hill variety, the fairways
are plenty wide enough and the greens are of ample size.
The bunkers do have sunken lips, however a little more
definition of the bunker itself would make them better.
The greens are of adequate size and the one area where Stefan
needs to concentrate his efforts on his next course.
They are not bad but most rely too much on the bowl shape
method of constructing greens.
Water
is a problem as it is with most first time designers.
There were a few lakes where the water level was off from end
to end by more then a few feet.
Something that’s easy to overlook, however its an important
detail to get right. Also
I would suggest that on the par 3’s that the designer surround his
greens with more then just a few feet of fringe and then rough.
It’s OK to do that on some holes but on most par 3 greens,
its nice to have some fairway or a wider fringe to chip from.
Overall I was quite impressed
with Keperra Country Club. Stefan
surprised me with this first attempt course.
It has some shortcomings but they are small and this course
is worth the time to download.

Nice Course Worthy of Keeping
BadBodyBob:
I must say for a 1st time
design, Keperra is impressive. Oh sure, it had some minor problems
but the key words here are 1st time design. Stefan most
definitely did his homework before releasing this course. I was
quite impressed with the overall hole design and layout.
I found
my driving off the tees enjoyable. Most fairways were nice in size
and even had some rolling hills. I don’t believe I found to many
bunkers so I really can’t comment on them. But seeing I didn’t
hit into the bunkers, I’m going to give Stefan some extra points
here…lol. I found the greens to be challenging but fair. The
course was landscaped rather nicely.
I
would really like to see Stefan’s next creation. Since he did an
excellent job on his 1st design, I’m going to expect
bigger and better things from him. Sure this course had some minor
faults but none really came into play for me. If your looking for a
nice course, grab this one up. You will find some challenges here if
you crank up the settings. Have fun and play nice.

Nice Course Worthy of Keeping

Bocar
Hills Golf Club By Fabita
Dave:
Bocar Hills, is a course when first viewed
shows an attention to detail that is not always present in a lot of
courses. That is, that the earth is NOT flat! Fab shows this in
interesting detail on this course. In fact if you’re not careful
you will end up with a bad body after walking up and down all the
hills and burm's found on this course. LOL
All
kidding aside, the burm's actually play a large role in the course.
Hit the shot wrong and end up behind a hill, or worse yet bouncing
or rolling off to one side of it, and you will find your next shot a
bit more challenging. Think! Don’t jump and you will do great
here.
Once
again Fab has shown us his love of water by letting us have plenty
to play in on this course. You will never say you didn’t have a
chance to clean your golfballs! Again, Think! Get the idea? LOL
Fab did
an excellent job on this, his finest course to date. It has all the
elements of a great course. Each hole makes you look before you
leap.. Don’t swing and hope for the best here. The course is
smooth and clean and I did not find, in my wondering around in the
trees and sand, an area that did not look natural.
If you
want a course that’s fun and a challenge that will keep you coming
back for more.. Grab this one!
Great
Job, Bro.
 
Excellent – A Definite Keeper
BadBodyBob:
Lately my reviews have
been done with some lower standards. I think beginning now I will
raise the bar…lol. Ok, I will start raising the bar on my next
review cause this course needs all the help it can get…LMAO. Of
course, I’m just kidding, just wanted to throw a little scare into
Fabita. Hmmmm…why does this course name sound familiar. I
know, it was designed and named for someone who was laying helpless
in a hospital bed. My hats off to you Fabita.
I was
honored to have play tested this course before it’s release.
Everything that I ever wanted in a course is right here. Of course
everyone has different tastes but personally I really enjoyed Bocar
Hills. If your into “grip and rip” courses, then read no
further. Every shot, I do mean every, needs a major thought. I have
never changed so many clubs before in PGA2000 as I did on this
course. You will find yourself laying up on the majority of holes.
If the deep rough doesn’t get you, the water or trees will. Oh
yes, those rolling hills on the narrow fairways give brutal bounces,
so take that into consideration off the tee. The bunkers were well
placed and always came into play when I was hitting. The greens were
tough but fair. Don’t be surprised if you end up 3 putting.
Birdies can be had on this course if you shoot with
precision.
I
played this course with the settings cranked up. OMG, what a
challenge and a total blast. Fabita has brought us a very fine
course. I said earlier about me raising the bar but I think Fab has
done that on his own with this nicely done course. So grab a friend,
crank up the settings and have a blast. IMHO, this is a FABulous
course.
 
Excellent – A Definite Keeper


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