Golf Sim Clubhouse Forum

WorldSwing Week 4
First Weekly Venue
Stranded Lighthouse

Where are we?
Currently we are in the far reaches north of Denmark


Time to fly just a little northwest across to Denmark, and we tee it up at another Göran Mentzer course. This one again has all the signatures of his courses...complete with animals, farmlands, a links-style, and a challenge. This is our third stop in the Baltic/Scandanavia area, and there has been very little relief from the wind and/or rain. Round 1, again has the winds blowing at us especially without many trees to break it up a bit.

With 6917 yards to play 18 holes, the par is 71, but even with strong winds in the first round you should be able to keep the ball reasonably in play. If you find the green, putts on the first pin are moderately difficult if not close. The course was released in December of 2000. The design is fictional, placed in Lönstrup, Denmark in an area with a large sand dune and the lighthouse Rubjerg Knude which due to the sand is no longer visible from the sea. As Mr. Mentzer tells us, golf courses are not allowed near the sea in this area due to fragile environmental conditions...which is why this is pure fantasy.

Thanks for playing along!

This week, we have the usual two regional courses, but don't forget we fly to Italy on Sunday for a guest appearance at the Ryder Cup!

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Strong - Normal - Pin 1
Round 2: Medium - Hard - Pin 3

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> https://golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn6/f ... thouse.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 7
Tarheel's .round files
Par 4 number 18, approach shot towards the clubhouse


Par 4 number 4, from the green


Par 3 number 16 from the tee

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

WorldSwing Week 4
Second Weekly Venue
Örebro Golfklubb

Where are we?
Currently we are inland approximately south-central Sweden


Friday morning, after last nights 234 mile flight from Denmark, you get to wake up in south-central Sweden for our last course in this region of the world. This time, we leave the familiar links style courses and enter a more traditional forested golf course. Also, the winds are reasonable and the grounds are firm for the first round.

Henrik Gustafsson created Örebro Golfklubb in May of 2000 which is a real world course in Lanna, a small town close to the city of Örebro in Sweden. Its 7071 yards, par 71, and rather a refreshing round of golf after some real challenges over the last several weeks. He tells us that the first nine holes were opened in 1940 and the final 18 hole course completed in the early 60's. According to golf digest at the time, the course was the fifth ranked in Sweden. He claims that Hole 3 was the most famous hole in the country.

Not sure what weather we'll have for Saturday, so enjoy round 1.

We catch a flight Saturday evening to Italy to play a round at the Ryder cup (which will by necessity be at an alternate Italian location from the real world).

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Medium - Hard - Pin 2
Round 2: Medium - Hard - Pin 5

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... bro_GK.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 7
Tarheel's .round files
The most famous hole in Sweden, number 3, Par 3!


Hole 8, par 4, seen from the green. The buildings are interesting here.


Second shot on number 10. A lone tree stands guard in the fairway, reminiscent of that hole in back in Iceland, remember?

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

WorldSwing Week 4
Special Event: The Ryder Cup
Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & CC

Where are we?
Currently we are flying to Italy


Our flight from Sweden brings us 950 miles near to Milan


In celebration of the Ryder Cup we are playing a single day event. The real competition is in Marco Simone Golf Club near Rome, a location not available for our JN6 game, so I confirmed a play date with the competitors here in Milan at Castello di Tolcinasco Golf & CC. Andrea Cavallari designed this real world course version for JN6 in April of 2007. Its par 72, measuring 7261 yards from the black tees and was built around a castle from the 16th century, opening in 1993. At the time, it was host of the Italian Open.

Overall, you will find this likely to be the easiest course so far this season, with exceptionally flat greens...so all you have to do is stick them. Mild winds add to your comfort playing today.

I would suggest you download my file, and then play with two AI opponents in addition to yourself. One of the AI's are your partner and the other is mine. Add up our scores (using handicaps if inclined for us as described earlier) and go at it...decide if you are USA or ROW.

For anyone who played along with me last year, we did a round at another of Andrea’s courses, Golf Club Alpino on Dec 18th during the PGA break on one of the Vacation Club outings. I really liked that course a lot. Link here: http://golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/view ... 881#p11881

Have fun, we're headed to Asia next week.

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
ONE ROUND: Mild - Normal - Pin 3

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... i_Toll.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 7
Tarheel's .round files
Looking back to the castle on hole 1, a par 5 with great eagle chances.


Hole 17, par 4, with water acting as a warning for the water on hole 18.


Par 3, number 5

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

WorldSwing Week 5
First Weekly Venue
Three Birches Country Club

Where are we?
Currently we are near Lake Onega, Russia, Northeast of St Petersburg


Its a very long flight of 1500 miles to get us from northern Italy to northern Russia! We are near Lake Onega, and NE of St Petersburg. Temperature has dropped to the mid 40's and so its time to cover up a bit. Our course today is Three Birches Country Club, created Oct 7 2002, designed by Manuel Kellner, who has designed a number of exotic golf courses, several of which are planned this season. On the PGA-Tarheel tour, we played his Meteora Monestary and Rapa-Nui on the Vacation Club break, which I remember as quite challenging and immersive visually.

On the verge of its 21st birthday, this fictional forest course is no exception and is 7024 yards, par 72 with a real variety of holes to play. You will find an insanely long par 5, where par feels like a birdie for example, and then go right to a couple of surprisingly short par 4's to make you feel better about it! The landscape and artistic design could not feel more different from the courses we have played on our tour so far, and thus you really do feel like you have travelled somewhere.

Be careful, you can get into some serious trouble if you don't think about what you are doing here and try not to stray off course from the tee.

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Medium - Soft - Pin 2
Round 2: Medium - Normal - Pin 4

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... hes_cc.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 7
Tarheel's .round files
Hole 11, a long par 4, with the hole tucked doglegged around behind the building on the right of tee.


Hole 14, par 3, seen from the green back to tee


Hole 8, a quite short par 4. Eagle opportunity.

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

WorldSwing Week 5
Second Weekly Venue
Mount Kongur Golf Club

Where are we?
Currently we are near the Himalayas, maybe Nepal


We have moved 3160 miles southeast to the Himalays for our next adventure. Temperature is now about 71 degrees at our new destination as we tee off with a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains.

The next two rounds are hosted at Mount Kongur Golf Club, which comes from Breezer and Charlene in October of 2002. It is par 71 and 6878 yards. With winds blowing hard it could be a good challenge, but in the milder winds you should really have a good opportunity to shoot low. Fairways are very receptive and you can afford to make small errors. Plenty of eye candy has been used to bring this one to life, and its no wonder that there are so many people hanging out at the tees and in other locations around the course as you play through. Dell Skillton (Breezer) and Charlene worked on many JN6 courses, and I consider myself lucky to have them available.

Next stop, we will spend a couple of weeks playing courses from Mr. Holden before we move towards Australia.

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Mild - Normal - Pin 5
Round 2: Medium - Hard - Pin 2

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... kongur.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 7
Tarheel's .round files
Hole 18, Par 4, coming into clubhouse


Hole 12, par 4, approach


Hole 16, from the tee, par 3

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

WorldSwing Week 6
First Weekly Venue
Designer Break: Steve Holden
Dark Trails

Where are we?
Somewhere near mountains, could be many places in the world, possibly Idaho.

Technically, the tour is paused in the Himalayas, and for the next two weeks we are celebrating the prolific course designer, Steve Holden. Steve has brought a huge catalog to the Jack Nicklaus virtual golf community over the last few decades. One course listing I have as a reference shows his work as early as 1994 for JNSE. He may have upwards of 37+ courses for JN6, all of which are carefully created masterpieces.

Our course to start this week is Dark Trails which is a JN6 conversion of a JN5 course. I believe it was released in June of 1998 and I don't feel like it shows JN5 at all. It really looks on par with the best of JN6. This course is a par 72, 7134 yards fictional mountain and forest golf club. Originally there was a text document, but the zip files I had did not contain it. Zipadeedo's course list identifies this course as being in Idaho, so perhaps that was Steve's vision, and included that in the missing file. It is quite playable and not difficult however the trouble you can get in come more from being greedy, and in a few situations not planning your placement in advance (you could wind up behind a tree for example). I think this is a design characteristic that Steve has maintained throughout his career.

I WOULD WELCOME STEVE TO COMMENT ANY MEMORIES HE HAS OF THIS COURSE!

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Medium - Normal - Pin 1 - 50% Fog (early morning)
Round 2: Medium - Hard - Pin 3

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... Trails.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 8
Tarheel's .round files
Hole 5, par 4 from the tee; great elevation work and a canyon you must hit over


Par 3 from the green, number 16; nice contour on the green to create different challenges


Seen from the second shot location on the par 5, number 14; try going over the water or lay up?


Hole number 6, par 4, from the tee

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

Brad,
From what I remember Dark Trails was maybe my second course designed for JN5. All the textures are stock as are most of the objects. I pieced together a background and the sky, both of which make me cringe now but that's how I learned to create my own artwork. It was a slow and painful process but eventually it paid off. This is probably my least favorite course I've designed but it is a testament to the fact that with a whole lot of patience and practice you can improve.
I'm not really sure where this design is supposed to be but will see if I can find a text file for it. Most of my designs don't have a specific location. I think Randy and Galen used to suggest the locations when they ran the tournaments over at the Golden Bears Den.
Thanks for using it in your tour and if I find that text file I will shoot it your way!
Steve

WorldSwing Week 6
Second Weekly Venue
Designer Break: Steve Holden
Hickory Gulch

Where are we?
We are in the foothills of Tennessee, possibly east of Knoxville


This weeks second course from Steve is another mountain/foothills golf course, but this one further along in his career after fine tuning his craft. We are playing at Hickory Gulch, a 7710 yards par 72 moderately difficult challenge. Here, distance becomes more of an issue than at our last course, because quite often, landing areas are tight with hazards well placed if you aren't exact. You may have to decide to risk power or club down. A primary feature here is the 'crick' which will eat up stray balls and forces some thought before swings. The course was given to us in Nov 2012, fourteen years after Dark Trails. As much as I liked that course, this course blows it away with small details and immersion. File size should really tell the story: Dark Trails (12.1mb) vs Hickory Gulch (247.7mb)

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Mild - Normal - Pin 3
Round 2: Medium - Soft - Pin 2

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... _gulch.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 8
Tarheel's .round files
Hole 16, par 4 from the green back, with views of the creek. psss, doesn't my tour flag look dandy!


Number 11 approach shot on this par 4. Hickory crick is sitting there, still waiting.


Really nice attractive big scoring opportunity down the hill to number 17 par 3. The little touches are there, the ball washer...the gorgeous tree next to the tee. Things that have no effect on play, but add nuance to the design.

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217

Tarheel didn't mention the Ace he shot from the elevated tee at 17. A thing of beauty that descended towards the green hitting the right front of the dance floor, gliding over the mound and finding the cup!! Great shot Brad!!

WorldSwing Week 7
First Weekly Venue
Designer Break: Steve Holden
Scorpion’s Tale

Where are we?
Somewhere in the Southwest of the USA

Welcome to the second week celebrating the creations of Steve Holden. This time, we challenge one of his few desert courses, Scorpion's Tale. This course was released in Sept 2012 and boasts 7557 yards to get a par 72. Don't let the low growth surroundings trick you, because there is a lot of trouble to be had with water, well placed traps, and in your face wind. The distances make reaching your green targets difficult and add the Strong winds in round 1 and you might be in for a beatdown. The course looks great, as you would expect from Steve, and it is quite a departure from last weeks two locations. As of now (10/16), not sure what the conditions will be for round 2, but surely they must be easier?

Other desert courses by Steve are Mojo, and I believe Sandstone (which will be played at the end of this tour in Algeria).

PLAY INFORMATION

CONDITIONS
Round 1: Strong - Hard - Pin 1
Round 2: Medium - Normal - Pin 2

No gimmes (recommended)
No mulligans (recommended)
BLACK tees
Medium or faster meter
I am playing each round once and taking what I get


-------> http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/jack/jn ... s_tale.zip


Tarheel’s current hcp: 8
Tarheel's .round files
Tee, hole 12, par 4


Par 4, number 8


Hole 5, par 3, seen from the green

Return to season schedule: http://www.golfsimclubhouse.com/forum/v ... 217#p13217