Golf Sim Clubhouse Forum

Brad,

you'll never, never know, if you never have a go!

Cheers

Brad

Hole #9 @ Patriot's Point is yet another par 5, this one at 577 yards. You can truly assess your options with the wide open view of the landing area off the tee. You have the wind at your back and a green that can be reached only with two mighty shots but a miscue left will find the pond or bunker and two bunkers protect the right side. Anything off the fairway will force the layup shot leaving a short lob to the stick. A few of the pin placements will challenge the average putter but plenty of birdies will be had on hole 9.

Views from the tee, approach, layup and from behind the green.

The series of mounds on the right side of fairway are really nice looking, and very realistic! This hole looks fantastic

The series of mounds on the sides of the fairway are really nice looking, and very realistic! And what a view backwards from behind the green! This hole looks fantastic

tarheel wrote: ↑October 13th, 2023, 3:56 pm The series of mounds on the right side of fairway are really nice looking, and very realistic! This hole looks fantastic

Thanks Brad. Remember, those mounds are 'love bumps'. LOL I use them on quite a few course's, Palm Harbor I believe, had quite a few as well. They are everywhere on this one.

Hole #10 @ Patriot's Point is a 452 yard dogleg left par 4. Off the tee you have a wide open shot allowing you to crank it up but it's into the wind and short drives, especially to the left will find themselves with a very tricky approach. The long narrow green is protected on the right with a bunker and a runoff to the left. Long putts will be a challenge.

Views from the tee, approach and front of green.

Designer Notes: Let's talk cart paths. They are truly a real pain and a large number of designers just don't use them. I personally think, if done properly, really enhance the design. I picked this hole because I wound the path at the foot of a hill on the right side of the green. There's elevation as well as wrapping it around a few trees to give it a realistic appearance. I also have always liked the look of a cartpath winding between two holes when I do adjacents on a course. When doing the path zoom in as close as possible to set the vertex points and try to avoid too many of them as it just increases the difficulty. I always try to wind the path if possible and will usually put a few elevation mounds along the path at key points where it is visible. Once you get the width correct then just keep moving down the path setting the points about the same. Often times when you have a couple paths set on the first few holes you can copy and paste them into the newer holes so you have continuity throughout the course. You will only have to move some vertex points to set the path on a new hole and again, it saves a lot of time. On a side note, if anyone is reading this and has questions about something I've noted just shoot me a message here at the site.

Cart paths done well like this really do majorly improve the overall feel of these courses. I will have to reflect on that more as I play through my season, to see how many of my personally ranked courses end up highly rated exactly because of the addition of cart paths!

Hole #11 @ Patriot's Point is a 465 yard par 4 channeled between two bodies of water. Off the tee it looks more like an alley than a fairway but it's wider than it looks. Fading to the right you can find water with your drive and power drivers could visit a huge bunker or water to the left as well. Your hitting into the wind so the approach will be a long iron most likely to a well protected green with bunkers and water everywhere. The green slopes forward from the middle with subtle breaks throughout making this a good par!

Views from the tee, approach and in front of green.