Nate's Links Golf Design Site

Welcome to my golf design site!  Here is an update of Templeton Golf Club.  It is a fictional par-71 course of about 7,200 yards, set in the beautiful rolling hills of the central Appalachians amongst vibrant Fall colors.  My goal is to make this course challenging, realistic and fun for Links golfers.  The course features a variety of different hole layouts and elevations and large, undulating greens.  There will be many crucial risk-reward decisions needed to navigate the course, and many hazards await errant shots, so proper execution is necessarily to score well.  I am closing in on finally finishing this course.  Click on a screen shot below to enlarge it. Some things I have yet to do are: Straighten out mesh problems Map rock faces, bunker lips, and other textures Add grasses and tweak the planting a bit Add other 2D objects (e.g. benches, ballwashers, etc) Add hole previews Fix any remaining bugs/problems and add the finishing touches This course is currently in beta testing.  The beta version is available at Links Corner. I have also started designing a 2003 course called Masontown Golf Club.  It will be a par-71 course of around 6600 yards also set in the wooded rolling hills of the Appalachians, but this time in Spring or Summer colors.  It will be a challenging layout featuring lots of risk-reward options for the brave golfer.  See below for an overhead of the layout.

View my Top 100 APCD Course Chart! Also includes Top MS designs.  An update to this list is planned in the near future..

Hole 1 Par 5 538 Yards S.I. 11 A long, straight drive makes this opening par-5 reachable in two.  Make sure your approach shot carries the large bunker short left of the green.

Hole 2 Par 4 438 Yards S.I. 7 An accurate drive is needed to avoid trees left and a bunker right.  The green is shallow and well guarded, calling for a high, soft approach.

Hole 3 Par 4 419 Yards S.I. 9 You may consider a draw off the tee.  If you can carry the fairway bunker, the left side leaves a better angle of approach.  Otherwise, stay right.

Hole 4 Par 3 173 Yards S.I. 17 Keep in mind the elevation drop and the wind when selecting a club.  You will not want to miss this green, especially left or short right.

Hole 5 Par 5 508 Yards S.I. 13 This tricky tee shot favors a fade, but not a slice!  Avoid the hazards off the tee and the green is quite reachable in two, though surrounded by trouble.

Hole 6 Par 4 433 Yards S.I. 3 Narrow fairway with bunkers on either side.  Take plenty of club on the approach, as anything short rolls back 20 or 30 yards and leaves a touch up and down.

Hole 9 Par 4 387 Yards S.I. 5 Short but dangerous par-4.  A driver is very risky but leaves the best angle of approach if executed properly.  The safer play is to lay up with an iron off the tee.

Hole 7 Par 4 459 Yards S.I. 1 Watch out for the tree branches on the right and bunkers on either side.  Approach shot must carry a creek and hit a shallow, heavily sloped green.

Hole 8 Par 3 214 Yards S.I. 15 Club selection is important here as this peanut-shaped green is protected by three deep bunkers.  Keep your ball on the proper level of the green.

Hole 12 Par 4 472 Yards S.I. 4 Another tee shot favoring a draw.  The green is guarded by a large bunker, sits up on a plateau and drops off on all sides, calling for a stellar approach.

Hole 11 Par 3 195 Yards S.I. 14 This treacherous par-3 favors a draw into this narrow green.  Bunkers catch a bail-out right and long and a pond swallows anything left and short.

Hole 10 Par 4 418 Yards S.I. 16 Make sure your tee shot doesn't roll into the middle fairway bunker.  The approach must be keenly judged, especially if the pin is on the left.

Hole 14 Par 4 350 Yards S.I. 18 The green can be reached from the tee but requires a perfect shot.  Most pros lay up to the left with a 3-wood and rely on a crisp wedge for a birdie.

Hole 15 Par 3 232 Yards S.I. 10 Brutally long par-3 calls for your best effort off the tee.  The left bunker is preferable to missing right, which leaves a fast, downhill pitch.

Hole 13 Par 4 456 Yards S.I. 8 A drive down the right side brings two bunkers into play, but leaves a much easier approach.  You will not want to miss your approch left of this green.

Hole 16 Par 4 398 Yards S.I. 12 A long drive requires a draw.  Short drives are played safely to the bend.  Approach must be clubbed properly as the green is shallow and well guarded.

Hole 17 Par 5 615 Yards S.I. 6 Monster par-5 requires both length and accuracy.  Second shot is key.  Either lay up short of the donut bunker or hit over it for an easy pitch. Don't leave your approach short!

Hole 18 Par 4 461 Yards S.I. 2 Demanding par-4 finishing hole.  Avoid bunkers on either side of the fairway.  The peninsula green is narrow and the green slopes sharply towards the water.

Additional Screen Shots of Templeton

Teeing off at the par-5 5th.

Approach shot to the first green.

Approach shot at the 2nd.

A putt for par (which goes in!) on the 13th green.

A 3-iron to the par-3 8th.

Watching my tee shot on the 6th.

Tee shot on the picturesque 14th.

Whacking one at the green from the 15th tee.

8-iron approach on the par-4 16th.

Back Nine Card

Front Nine Card

My New Project - Masontown Golf Club

New - Links to Other Great Golf Sites Links Course Profiles The ultimate golf course review site. Crusader's in-depth reviews of many of the top APCD and Microsoft courses Artist's Golf A great golf site showing overhead maps and information about all Access/MS courses and some real APCD courses as well Dan Perry's Links LS Site An oldie but goodie of a golf site.  Dedicated to Links LS, with interesting info and stats for LS courses.  Includes charts, tips, wavs, trivia, etc. APCD Offline Tour A relatively new tour that uses the finest APCD (free and pay) courses available.  There is one tournament played at a different course each month. Ed Balaun's Golf Designs Home page of the designer of many great courses, including Firestone North Mike Jones Links Course Designs Mike Jones's home page.  He is possibly the most prolific course designer in the Links community.  You can purchase his courses for a small fee. Alliegator's World Alliegator's Home page, lots of good golf information The Frozen Empire Home page of Big Fat Frosty.  Loads of golf information including advice, charts, avatars, wave files, course downloads, and more Tiger Woods Community A great site with a forum and massive amounts of Tiger Woods PGA Tour information and resources, including golf course designs Tiger Central Another nice Tiger Woods site with a forum, hosted by Gamespy PS Online Another nice Golf site with PS tours, forums, resources, links etc. Golfcom A site dedicated to the Golfcom online tours Links Corner One of the best "unofficial" links sites...the place to go to download golf courses, see golf course reviews, Forums and lots of APCD add-ons Links News My friend Doug's golf website dedicated to bringing the community up to date on the latest Links news.  Forum included. The Dogghouse Can't leave this one off!  This is my own golf site with Forums, downloads, news and more. Crissy's Site An awesome new site by Crissy.  Complete with news, chat, discussion forums, and even cool games like PacMan, Space Invaders and Tetris!

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