GC user, Gary Prince, has something he’d like to add to the APBA Wish List : an 18-hole course using satellite images. I “wish” I’d thought of that first! How cool would that be?
Gary created this awesome APBA-like rendering of hole #1 at TPC Sawgrass using GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program):
For purposes of comparison, here’s what a cropped image of the same hole looks like from APBA (The Stadium Course).
I can’t help but wonder why APBA decided to change certain features, such as replacing some of the area covered by water and trees with deep rough. Maybe Gary is working with a satellite image taken in summer and APBA depicts the hole in winter? Although we’re talking Jacksonville, FL, so I doubt there’s a tremendous difference between seasons in terms of tree growth and the presence of water.
In the APBA image, the trees also appear to be closer to the centerline (CL) in places. This may be an adjustment APBA needs to make, so that they come into play more. Similarly, the water along the bottom of the image may have been replaced with deep rough, since it’s highly unlikely to ever be a factor–given its very large distance from the CL. (Is brown ink cheaper than blue?)
In any case, if APBA were to go the satellite-image route, they would still need to find a way of depicting certain kinds of terrain, such as deep rough and grass bunkers as shown here on the right side of the fairway.
It would be fascinating to know more about what goes into the design of APBA courses. I can’t imagine that it’s strictly an attempt to to re-create the course as realistically as possible. There has to be some effort made to incorporate APBA gameplay variables, while still trying to preserve the look-and-feel of the actual course as much as possible.
Kudos to Gary! He’s done a terrific job of showing us all what’s possible. If you’ve got “APBA Wish List” items, send me an email or post them in the Comments below. Would love to hear from you.
After I made the first post, I went to the site to look, and it appears to me that those courses are not longer available.
Just an FYI, ASG Golf’s designer George Gerney produced a few courses using satellite imagery a few years ago. Although they looked great, most users did not like them, including me. I think the main reason was the difficulty in determining lies and balls in trees. Without the smoother ‘drawn’ lines, it does make it more difficult, in my opinion. These courses are still for sale, as far I as know.
The satellite images are nice but what stands out is what a great job APBA did recreating the course so well. The twists and turns of the hole look basically exact. There’s some differences but many more similarities.