Boldly Go Collection/version40.iso/TS/14A/DORALFIN.ZIP/DORAL.DOC

Text File | 1991-12-14 | 9.2 KB | 170 lines

     Course:  Doral Country Club

     Site:  Miami, Florida

     Year Opened:  1962

     Course Designer:  Dick Wilson

     Length:  6,939 yards

     JNUG Design:  Kerry Mark Leibowitz

     Acknowledgements:  I borrowed Ted Maiden's Butler National
                        background and modified it slightly; I used
                        a number of Scott Chesney's objects (the palms
                        and ball washer, for instance); also objects
                        from Bill Permenter's Dorado Beach course,
                        and John DeFraites' English Turn course.  I'd
                        also like to thank Lee Ritze, Keith Holzapfel,
                        Paul Conrad, and Mark Willett for their helpful
                        comments.

THE MOTIVATION

The original version of Doral on the Accolade BBS was one of the first
courses I downloaded, in January of this year.  I wasn't satisfied with
the design, so I set out to revise it, and ultimately ended up starting
from scratch and creating a new version.  I was happy with it; I felt
that each hole layout was quite accurate, and that I had done a good job
with the greens and the bunkers on each hole (which had taken a great
deal of time since I had adjusted each individual block's height).  Yup,
I thought, this is a solid if unspectacular effort.  I was, I guess,
pretty smug about it.  This was no Scott Chesney or Jay Johnson design,
but it was a good simulation of Doral.  I played the course a great deal
in the play testing phase, and was satisfied, and then I uploaded it to
the Accolade BBS.


RECOGNITION OF AN INFERIOR EFFORT

Well, since that time I've downloaded a large number of courses--probably
125 or so, and I'd guess that I've played roughly 70 of them at least once.
I can honestly say that my version of Doral was one of the most boring,
unappealing courses that I've seen.  In that time I've come to realize that
many of the things that I had neglected in my simulation are very important
to the aesthetic appeal of a golf course designed with the JNUG course
architect (the background, a variety of objects, a variance of terrain,
etc.).  Almost every course I've played is superior to mine in this
regard--many are VASTLY superior--and, thus, I enjoy playing them more.  I
was, actually, quite embarrassed.


TIME TO MAKE AMENDS

I decided that, in lieu of all this, that I should revisit my design.
Doral, I felt, deserved better.  (Quite frankly I would have been perfectly
satisfied had one of the many terrific JNUG designers out there decided to
REALLY do justice to the course, but none have, to date.)


WHAT'S NEW?

The background is a very modestly altered version of Ted Maiden's Butler
National backgound, which I felt complimented Doral nicely, without
dominating it.  I don't know about everyone else, but I, for one, am SICK
TO DEATH of that parkland background that comes with the designer (this
of course did not prevent me from using said parkland background in my first
version of Doral).  Four more objects have been added to the existing set,
making a total of nine that are now used on the course.  (New objects
include a ballwasher, a bench, a short palm, and a big, leafy, semi-tropical
looking bush.)  I think Scott Chesney mentioned in one of his text files
somewhere along the way that he felt each course should have at least some
new objects.  I couldn't agree more--it makes the course much more
interesting to look at.  Unfortunately, I stink at creating new objects
(though I am getting better, which says, in effect, nothing, since I
couldn't have gotten any worse), so my "new" objects are borrowed.  I also
added a cart path to each hole, which I decided, upon reflection, adds a
nice bit of contrast to the layout.  Finally, and perhaps most significantly,
I made a large number of adjustments to the terrain of each hole; in other
words, I created some hills.  Here I took some liberties with the real
course.  There's just no getting around the fact that Doral is one flat
course--not suprising since it's built on swamp land.  The problem is, given
the limit on the number of objects allowed for each hole, flat courses look,
well, awful.  The horizon just seems to fade off into oblivion.  The view
from many places on my first version of Doral made it look as though the
course had been plopped down in the middle of the Gobi Desert.  So I made
some hills, and I think it looks infinitely better.  Virtually all the
changes are off the playing area, that is, out of bounds, so, for the most
part, these adjustments are visual only.  A few changes, however, were made
to the playing areas, but these should have only a modest effect on play.
Additionally, in conjunction with the terrain changes, I added more trees
and bushes--all of them out of play--purely for aesthetic purposes.  The
result is, I think, a much more appealing course.  I certainly hope you
feel the same way.

The above was written to accompany my FIRST revision of Doral.  Very
after finishing that revision, and uploading it to the Accolade and Double
Eagle BBSs, I joined Prodigy, and got so much information to designing good
golf courses from the JNUG gurus, that I decided to make MORE revisions.
This is it--no more changes, I promise.  As far as I'm concerned, the third
time's a charm. I'm almost as tired of revising this course as I assume you
are of downloading it. I made a some pin placement changes, revised some
pre-existing topographical settings, and again made changes intended to
improve the course's aesthetic appeal. Throughout this long process of
creation and revision I've learned a great deal about designing golf courses.
Had this not been a re-creation of a real course, I probably would have
simply built on the first effort by creating a better SECOND course.  But,
since I wanted there to be what I considered a good version of Doral in the
public domain, I kept re-working the original until I had something that
appeared to be satisfactory. I THINK I've succeeded.  I hope so.

What follows is the original text file that accompanied this course.  It
should be good for a chuckle.

By the way, I thought I'd take this opportunity to (hopefully) thank
all the designers out there who are putting out so many terrific works for
the rest of us to enjoy.  There are so many outstanding computer architects
now that I can't name them all.  I'll just have to remain confident that
you know who you are.  Thanks.

                                Kerry Mark Leibowitz



The Doral Country Club has been the site of the Doral Ryder Open since
1961.  The tournament was known as the Doral Open originally.)  Known as
"The Blue Monster" (so dubbed by Frank Strafaci following the Open's
third round in 1962), Doral has plenty of water, and at least as much
sand.  At first glance, the course doesn't appear to be particularly
difficult; the water, though prolific, doesn't come into play that often,
the foliage appears to be nothing more than a nuisance, and the greens
are typically of generous proportions.  A close look will show that the
greens, particularly on the back nine, can be very nasty, there are a
number of strategically placed trees (and groves of trees), and the often
blustery winds (the tournament usually plays under 15 to 25 m.p.h.
breezes), make the precision shotmaking needed to avoid the many traps a
very dicey business.

The course can be tamed when played under perfect conditions (i.e. little
or no wind).  For a more accurate simulation of Doral golf (and more of a
challenge), be sure the wind is set well up on the gauge.  For added
difficulty, set the greens on "dry".  Since Doral is built on what was at
one time a swamp, the course is quite flat--just gentle mounds and very
modest rolling hillocks dot the terrain.  And, despite its Miami location,
Doral is not a seaside course--the country club is several miles from the
coast.  Sources used in the recreation of this course include "Golf Courses
of the PGA Tour", by George Peper, and "America's Greatest Golf Courses",
by Davy Hoffman.

Thanks go to Scott Chesney and Jay Johnson, since I pilfered number of
their objects (e.g. both palm trees).  If for some reason you haven't
sampled any of their work, I strongly encourage you to do so--it's all
first rate stuff, much better than what I'm able to do.  If you've seen
Scott's Pebble Beach and Castle Pines layouts and compared them to
Accolade's versions, you know how good his work is, even in comparison to
the "official designs".  In fact, I'm hoping Scott will take a look at
this course and improve it, in order to do justice to Doral, which is
usually ranked among the world's top 50 courses.

This is my first course design, and I welcome comments and suggestions.
By the way, if anyone knows a good source for fairly detailed course
layouts (similar to those included in "Golf Courses of the PGA Tour", I'd
greatly appreciate hearing about it.  Thanks, and I hope you enjoy
playing Doral.

                            Kerry Mark Leibowitz
                            343 Maple Ave.
                            Glen Ellyn, Illinois  60137