week 19 under the radar

[Larry_Warrilow]

this week's under the radar event at both pro and champ is at Riviera CC, a real world 6935 yd par 71 course located in los angeles, modeled by apcd designers Chuck Clark and Pat Auge, and released in jan '07. while riviera itself would not be considered by many to be an under the radar course, the fact is that this apcd file has not been used yet on the lspn tour (the LS file has been used once), and after an initial flurry of use on the arcade when it was released, hasn't been used much (at pro or champ anyway) lately.

and that's too bad, because of all the apcd-courses' replacement project files released to date, the clark-auge riviera file (a free download) is probably the one that stands out the most. not only because it models a supremely unique and durable major tournament venue, but that it is such a vast improvement over an LS file that still would be fun to play today. chuck did so much to finally get this course and its architectural elements in exact real world alignment, that the model has a real immersion feel to it. i almost feel like i'm on the course. at 56 MB, this file is a pure bargain.

this is no aspersion whatsoever on the other replacement files, all of which, without exception, are first class efforts. however, as an architectural connoiseur, the clark-auge riviera file just blew me away. the tour finally used chuck clark's wonderful 2004 model of pebble beach last week, and by pure coincidence his riviera comes up on the utr this week (i've had this scheduled for many weeks, providing the tour didn't use it first). my guess is that when the at&t and the nissan pga tour dates arrive early next year, these will be the files that we will be playing those weeks.

while i have been tardy with this post, the event itself was programmed to come up promptly at midnight sunday, and a good number of players found the event right away. good luck in the event, and a prosperous and healthy new year for all my fellow players and their's. lw

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