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[RobV]

One of my all-time favorite golf courses here in northern NJ.   Great track, lots of fun and a lot tougher to play in real life than in PG.   Using the new terrain tool, I was so happy that I was able to obtain the lidar for this course.   In fact, I've been going crazy grabbing lidar for many courses, it is addictive!   I do not think I will be able to build all of them as it just takes too long to build and I am getting older..  haha   It is a fun hobby though.   I saw a post that at some point in the future, the developer is going to look to grab data in the UK, which would be tremendous.  I would definitely like to build some courses in the the UK and before I officially "retire" from designing. 

 

In any event, here are some screenshots of Ballyowen GC, located in Hamburg, NJ USA.  

[Buck]

I no longer play, but wanted to say that it looks good!

[RobV]

Buck, on 21 Apr 2025 - 01:37 AM, said:

I no longer play, but wanted to say that it looks good!

Thanks Buck...  No more desire for PG?   What are you playing these days?  

[jt83]

New terrain tool you say?

 

If you want to avoid the raised look of the concrete paths, you can set the spline to sink like a bunker.

[RobV]

jt83, on 22 Apr 2025 - 07:30 AM, said:

New terrain tool you say?

 

If you want to avoid the raised look of the concrete paths, you can set the spline to sink like a bunker.

Hey jt,

Hope all is good.. yes..  basically, some guy took the entire OPCD "manual" terrain process and coded into a very easy to use terrain tool. 

You can read and download the latest version here.  https://ctt.opengolfsim.com/

There is a Youtube tutorial on the site as well.  It only uses US lidar at this time, but the developer said he will expand into the UK down the road.    It doesn't always work though as it relies on USGS site for lidar and many times, it is down.    However, I have been fortunate enough to grab lidar for many courses and then using the simple process of bringing the RAW and overlay into CF.  


In terms of setting the concrete spline to sink like a bunker, can you elaborate a little more?   I had no clue you could do that, I would assume in order to do that, it is in the layers library?    One technique I did use to flatten the concrete was to just put a thin spline of rough around it, so it did flatten.   I know its not ideal, but if there is a better way of doing it, I would definitely do that for this new course.   


Either way, my course design days are slowing down...  I am too busy at work and now that the weather is getting nicer here, I will be spending more time doing things outside instead of sitting in front of the PC.   I still enjoy it and have tons of lidar to choose from, but I probably have maybe 1-3 courses left in me to build.  


Thanks..RV

[jt83]

Ah, for a second I thought someone had updated CF.  Silly me.

 

Spline settings are in the next post.  Credit to Brian Silvernail...I wish I'd come across it back in the day, would've made things easier...

 

I still enjoy playing with courses but the planting/finishing touches have always been the disincentive, along with the death of the game and its community.

[jt83]

[jt83]

Btw I'd suggest applying those settings to a copied concrete layer.

[RobV]

jt83, on 23 Apr 2025 - 05:01 AM, said:

Btw I'd suggest applying those settings to a copied concrete layer.

 

Very cool, thanks a lot for this!   I will mess around with these settings in a 'test course' I use to experiment.   Appreciate it!  

[luckymcd]

Nice job on a new course closest to where I grew up. It looks good and is a fun round on PG (I've never played it in real life because with the shape my game is in it would eat me alive). My only criticism would be the par is set incorrectly on the 6th hole (at least I assume a 195 yard hole from the tips is supposed to be a par 3).

Any possibility you'll do any of the other associated courses? I'd love to play Crystal Springs or Great Gorge. If you're looking for other courses to do (although it doesn't sound like you are) I'd recommend Lehigh Country Club. It's a really fun layout with some extreme, but still fair elevation changes. I know LIDAR is out there for it because I started working on it years ago. I tried to pick up where I left off when I got a new computer, but forgot that CourseForge doesn't work on updated Macs.

[RobV]

luckymcd, on 07 May 2025 - 12:57 AM, said:

Nice job on a new course closest to where I grew up. It looks good and is a fun round on PG (I've never played it in real life because with the shape my game is in it would eat me alive). My only criticism would be the par is set incorrectly on the 6th hole (at least I assume a 195 yard hole from the tips is supposed to be a par 3).

Any possibility you'll do any of the other associated courses? I'd love to play Crystal Springs or Great Gorge. If you're looking for other courses to do (although it doesn't sound like you are) I'd recommend Lehigh Country Club. It's a really fun layout with some extreme, but still fair elevation changes. I know LIDAR is out there for it because I started working on it years ago. I tried to pick up where I left off when I got a new computer, but forgot that CourseForge doesn't work on updated Macs.

Hello luckymcd!   Thanks for the feedback, appreciate it..  holy smokes, you are correct... Hole 6 should indeed be a par 3..  I'm not sure what happened there, but I will correct it asap.    I will have the corrected version uploaded to PGLS as well.   Thanks much for that! 

 

I really do like the courses around the North NJ area... Wild Turkey, Great Gorge, Black Bear are all nice courses... unfortunately I do not have the lidar for these courses.    Someone built a really cool terrain tool app that I was able to grab lidar for many courses, so I have a ton at the moment... unfortunately, it is no longer working for some reason and waiting for the guy to fix the issues.  I was planning on grabbing the lidar for these courses as I have played them many times over the years.   Either way, I do have a ton at the moment.   If you want to upload Lehigh RAW and overlay somewhere, I would build that course.   I am not sure when, but after checking out some images online, looks really nice!

 

Thanks again!

[RobV]

Updated version... thanks!

 

https://mega.nz/file...RSt5ALbmDC9sFmI

[tanman05851]

That was tons of fun! Highly recommend.Of course I'm in a good mood because I put the bot away on the 18th when his second shot trickled off the green and into the sandtrap.He never recovered from that fatal error haha.
From a course design viewpoint the only thing I noticed was my caddie wanted me to chip from a teebox. Strangely enough the bot's caddie was smarter.I should have written down what hole. Oh well a good excuse to play it again.

[RobV]

tanman05851, on 17 May 2025 - 9:12 PM, said:

That was tons of fun! Highly recommend.Of course I'm in a good mood because I put the bot away on the 18th when his second shot trickled off the green and into the sandtrap.He never recovered from that fatal error haha.
From a course design viewpoint the only thing I noticed was my caddie wanted me to chip from a teebox. Strangely enough the bot's caddie was smarter.I should have written down what hole. Oh well a good excuse to play it again.

Thanks tanman... appreciate it!   I've never encountered the chip off the tee box before, but if you play again and can let me know what hole it was, I will look into it.   Either way, thanks for playing and thanks for the kind words.  

[tanman05851]

Played it again with no issues this time. I think I saw this bug once on a different course. Must be the stars have to align themselves just right. Normally it's the bots that do strange things and even they don't also repeat their aberration.

[RobV]

tanman05851, on 21 May 2025 - 8:20 PM, said:

Played it again with no issues this time. I think I saw this bug once on a different course. Must be the stars have to align themselves just right. Normally it's the bots that do strange things and even they don't also repeat their aberration.

Ok great.. I think my brother and I encountered this once while playing against the bots.  We play with the bots a lot, its our preferred way of playing most of the time.   And sometimes I get frustrated with them as they never club up or club down to the proper distance... whatever the case, thanks for the feedback! 

[tanman05851]

I can tell when a course designer has not bothered to "bot proof" their course. Black Swan is a prime example.This happens 98 percent of the time(skip the first 50 seconds if you want)
https://youtu.be/iFi...2M1hPUSkhCUGOYZ

[tanman05851]

I didn't know bots could get frustrated!
https://youtu.be/0co...RjsWpQ_22dFcssE

[RobV]

That is hilarious... yeah, another one of those features in PG where they had something good going, but never finished.   They left us with a decent core game, but definitely unfinished in so many aspects.    Aggressive bots can definitely give you a challenge, but the course has to have no water, minimal amount of trees and a wide open course..  like a links course.