“Excuse me miss, can you take these and can I have a few more please.”

The flight attendant comes over looking somewhat appalled, grabs the empty mini-bottles of Belvedere, and reaches in her cart for more.

“It’s kind of a long flight, guys,” she kindly says to Duffer Dan and I. “Perhaps you should wait until after we take off before you drink anymore?”

Hey, what can I say? We’re excited to be heading stateside for the next course excursion. Plus, with a 12-hour flight ahead of us, what the #$%^ else are we going to do?

We had our own Euro Trip visiting Laurel Park and Alpine Run, but our next course takes us to the Pacific coast and more specifically Cape Arago, Oregon. Water, tress, waterfalls, streams, canyon walls and more – Timber Bay is 18-holes built for the golfer that wants to see a bit of everything.

With Golden Tee 2011 test games now out, I’m not the only golfer teeing it up on the beautiful Timber Bay.

Just look at this guy taking advantage of our new YouTube feature where players can upload any shot. This includes putts that take sharp left turns off hills that you shouldn’t be on in the first place.

Or this guy, who is celebrating 2011 by slamming into the closest pin as hard as he possibly can.

Let’s get this show on the road. With 6 or so mini-bottles consumed, I think we’re ready for takeoff. Here’s a bit more on Timber Bay and what you can expect to see come launch time.

Decisions, Decisions…

More so than any other course in 2011, Timber Bay gives you options. How you play off the tee will depend greatly on a variety of things – most noticeably, your tee box and the wind for that given setup.

Unlike a lot of situations, however, you won’t just have to select a 3 or a 5-wood, you’ll be scanning the course left and right, deciding which way to play.

Some holes have multiple fairways (like the shot above) that will provide different shots with obstacles that can be avoided easier with different routes. A few of the long par-5s can be tackled by taking multiple ways, and you’ll have to adjust on the fly when you’re given certain sets of conditions. The same can be said about a few of the drivable par-4s that will also push your creativity to the outer limits.

This will take a few times through to grasp which way best serves your game, but having choices is something most virtual golfers will absolutely love.

Hello, Design-a-Hole

Chris Woody’s creation, The Lighthouse, can be found on Timber Bay and more specifically hole 6. Although the actual lighthouse doesn’t really come into play, the hole looks, feels, and plays fantastic.

The alleys to the green are tight enough where trouble can be had if you aren’t careful, and this isn’t a slam-dunk eagle by any means. Even if you get through one of the openings to drive the green, you’re still not close to being home.

The green can be tough to stick in certain situations, particularly with an out wind. Certain pin placements will call for a much finer shot to secure eagle, and there’s no doubt this hole will serve as important early on in round. I really like what I see so far on our latest player-created design.

Two Thumbs up. Well done, Chris.

Hole 16… ‘Nough Said

We’ve featured a handful of holes already in our blog endeavors, but hole 16 on Timber Bay might be the most fascinating of them all. At times, this hole setup as a casual thumb shot into or against the wind and you’re outta there with birdie. At other times, well, not so much.

You can see from the picture above that the green is separated into three distinct areas. Depending on where the pin is located, you’ll likely have to aim for one of these areas if you’re looking at a manageable birdie putt.

On top of this, there are multiple tee boxes in front of and on the side of this green. This makes for some very different and sometimes challenging shots that can result in disaster if you aren’t careful. Setups and results will vary greatly on this hole, but mark it down as one to look for.

That’s all for now, GTers! Next week we pack up the jet, rack up miles and fly back across the big blue sea once again. YOU WILL NOT WANT TO MISS IT.

In the meantime, enjoy a few more scenes from Timber Bay and get ready for GT 2011.

Cheers,

-ak

“Quick, pack up the bus and let’s get the #$%^ outta here!”

Duffer Dan and I sprint through an open field and jump into the GT bus parked directly under the Eiffel Tower. In the distance, French policeman are in pursuit yelling obscenities while sporting some of the finest hats ever made.

Pedal hits floor – and we are officially out of Laurel Park. Barely…

Well, that was fun! With course one in the books the GT bus is headed to location number two. Surprisingly enough, we’re only going to have to endure a 7-hour drive to get there.

Our next course, Alpine Run, is tucked away in the shadows of the Swiss Alps with the ginormous Matterhorn looming in the background. With mountains comes snow and elevation – more on that in a bit, but they also gives us perhaps the most glorious background we’ve ever had in Golden Tee.

I got my paws on Alpine for a handful of rounds and took very copious notes on some of the defining aspects of the course  I also did the following…

WARNING: BRAGGING, BOASTING, AND AVERAGE SHOT MAKING BELOW

Enough of that (feeling pretty good about self) – here is Alpine Run!

Let it Snow… Again

Snow returns to Golden Tee for only the second time, and for the first time since Summit Lakes in GT 2008! Crowd pauses, looks around, slowly works itself into a muted applause.

For those that have played on the surface before, you’ll likely recall that snow was the ultimate superglue when your ball even brushed up against it. These same features make its way into 2011, and snow is once again going to stop your ball dead in its tracks if you happen to even graze it with your shot. Unlike mud, however, snow can be conquered post entry and you can still get plenty of distance when you are forced to hit from it.

The snow on Alpine is also very strategically placed and while the course isn’t covered in it, the crafty GT crew certainly knew what they were doing when they dropped it in throughout the course.

Lots o’ Elevation – It is the Alps, folks

Because Alpine Run is tucked outside the Swiss Alps, you’d imagine that there would be a decent amount of elevation seen throughout the course. You can argue that this certainly is the case, but the elevation is different from most mountain/hilly courses we’ve played over the years.

Like the snow mentioned above, the elevation on the course is selective and comes into play when shots matter most. While none of these situations come close to some of the elevation we saw on Black Hills, (you can exhale now), there is enough of it to note before you take certain shots.

I found that if I focused on where not to be, aka down the backside of a hill that slopes into a giant pond, I avoided the dreaded blowup hole. While many of us want to play for a holeout at all times, enticing but dangerous pin placements will be more of a factor on Alpine than any other hole in 2011.

Hole 18 can be a Monster

The finishing hole is supposed to provide a challenge, damn it, and hole 18 on Alpine does just that.

The closing hole is a drivable par-4, it is lengthy, has a bit of drop off in elevation, there’s water, usually a lot of wind, and the green can make this one heck of a shot to stick. While all these factors contribute to the difficulty of the hole, the green really is where this hole separates itself in terms of difficulty. Certain pin placements will be very difficult to get at and spinning your ball properly is a must if you wish to bag an eagle.

Rounds will be decided on this challenging but fair design and you’ll likely think about laying up on occasion if the situation calls for it. With that said, this hole can be very managble with the right wind/pins. You’ll have to drastically adjust your strategy from round to round, but what else is new?

Great finishing hole where the game will be won or lost…

That’s all for this edition, folks! Check back soon for our third course, which I guarantee will fascinate you beyond your wildest imagination. Here are a few more shots of Alpine Run to tide you over before launch!

-AK

STOP IT RIGHT THERE. Take all thoughts, instincts, predispositions, and any other ghastly things you might have to say about the French and toss them out the window. We’ve packed up the Golden Tee Course Bus, crossed the big blue, and are pitching our tents just under the Eiffel Tower.

That’s right. Golden Tee is putting on their finest ensemble, eating cheese that smells like feet, and taking over Bois de Boulogne. Say that ten times fast after your 17^th glass of merlot.

I, marketing man by day and GT wannabe guru by night, have finally logged some quality 2011 hours and have some interesting thoughts about each course.

No need to spin the trackball. We’re starting at the far-left of the course selection screen to get things under way. Although I don’t want to spoil your experience of testing out the new courses by unveiling all the secrets, here are just a few of things to expect on Laurel Park – the first course in Golden Tee 2011.

La Fountaine Blue

Holy water. No, not Holy Water – I mean, “Wow, that’s A LOT of water.”

Almost every single hole on Laurel has water and tons of it. And this water isn’t just for show either. Your tee shots and approaches are going to be impacted by water in almost every scenario.

This water in a lot of instances also happens to be perfectly placed, particularly on some of the well-crafted drivable par-4s. There will be some decision making when it comes to crunch time, and certain tee boxes and wind combos will drastically impact if and when you go for the gusto.

Although certain courses have their share of “distinct” hazards, there’s no doubt that Laurel will be taking thousands of virtual balls come fall.

Say Concrete in French. SAY IT

A new surface has made its way into Laurel and it’s going to play a major role – perhaps for better and worse. This new concrete/cobblestone sidewalk surrounds greens, fairways, hazards, and serves as a pathway throughout much of the course.

This concrete path is like a cart path on steroids and the bounce you get will certainly impact where your ball ends up. In one instance, the path actually propelled my ball onto the green and three feet away from the cup. In another, I went over the green by a yard or so and the path sent my ball soaring into the water. (See: hazard above)

It’s hard to say how this will impact your round this early on, but it’s safe to say that it’ll impact it one way or another. I look forward to seeing if players use this launching pad to their advantage or if it becomes a beast of burden. We shall see…

Holes 16, 17, 18 are Fantastique

This is where the magic happens, or more often than not, when the round comes crumblin’ down.

Without giving too much away, I hereby proclaim these three holes Adam Kramer approved. The round finishes up with a par-3, par-4, and a par-5 although we won’t list them in any particular order. You’ll have to be creative to succeed here and the possibility to pick up strokes is ripe for the taking. Where there’s a chance to gain strokes, however, there’s also usually plenty of room to lose them as well. (shaking head, reaching into golf bag for more golf balls).

These three holes feature a little bit of everything and this all culminates with the sure-to-be-talked-about 18^th. Oh, the 18^th hole is something that players new and old are going to love, and I dumped plenty of balls in the water just giving it a little test drive. Bring. On. The. YouTubes.

‘Nough said.

I just touched the surface on what you can expect on Laurel Park. The rest you’ll find out soon enough. Thanks for playing along with my reindeer games and be sure to tune in for the other four courses. For now, here are a few more screens to bridge the gap between now and launch day.

-AK signing off

I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me if I can “hook them up” with the virtual paper bag hat. I even had one guy offer box seats at a Cubs game if I were to somehow get him the gorilla headwear before his buddies got it.

Come on now. I have morals. I tried to get him it but he never called back.

The point of all of this is that, for many, the clothing they wear is almost as important as what clubs they use. The fact that you can dress your golfer up like a giant disgrace, or play it cool if you so desire, is part of the fun in Golden Tee. This is your virtual freedom and millions of you take full advantage of it.

The process, however, of getting all these wacky clothing items into Golden Tee year after year is a much more complex process than you might think. We have artists at IT that are given this task and it requires months of time and thought. Have you ever thought about where that giant beekeeper headgear actually comes from? Well, I have. And if you haven’t by now than maybe the thought has just crossed your mind. Either that or you are LONG GONE from this blog.

I sat down and chatted with IT artist Mike Sanchez who was given Golden Tee clothing duties for the first time in GT 2011 just to find out much more about a process many of us really know nothing about. Here’s what Mike had to say about the design process, the clothing in GT 2011, and what promo codes you can expect to see in the coming months.

AK: Mike, thanks for taking this moment to fill in the GT public a bit more about the process of getting all the wacky clothing we all know and love into the game. So you are “the guy” when it comes to designing and implementing clothing into the game?

MS: No problem, Adam. Glad to do it. Well, in some ways I guess you could say I am the guy for 2011, but this is an enormous team effort.  The process begins when Brian (Jandula) and Jim (Zielinski) come to our team first with a list of ideas that they’d like to see in the next game. After that they pretty much give us the freedom to research and add some things we’d like to see in the next installment.

AK: For GT 2011, were there any particular ways you’ve decided to go that might be different from past years?

MS: I personally wanted to add in some shirts that kind of match the times. There are some designer tees in there along with some various clothing items that fit what people are wearing. With that being said, there still is a giant focus on adding in plenty of the crazy items people have grown to love over the years. That stuff is fun to make but also can require a lot more work on our end. Still, it’s well worth it.

AK: How long on average would you say it takes you to make a standard virtual shirt?

MS: On a good day, and we certainly have or fair share that don’t work out how we want, creating and getting a shirt ready for Golden Tee can take anywhere from a half-day to an entire day. Hats can take a lot more work, because the geometry usually has to be built into the game if it’s different from anything we’ve done before.

AK: Wow. Well, I’ll appreciate you guys much more when I wear my ridiculous gear now that I know what goes into the process. Speaking of the process, can you give us some more details of some of the ridiculous additions in 2011? What are a few of your favorites?

MS: We’ve added a mummy costume into the game this year which I have no doubt will be an absolute hit. On top of that there is some new hunting-type gear, a bunch of fun random items, and my personal favorite, a shirt with a pocket watch. I guess I’ll leave the rest of it up to the players to earn once the game comes out. We don’t want to spoil all the fun.

AK: The request I get on the Golden Tee Facebook Page more than any other is the clamoring for new giveaway clothing items. We did a handful of items a little while back, including some holiday gear. Please tell me we will be able to get some new items in Golden Tee 2011?

MS: Yes, giveaway clothing items are back in 2011. We’ve created more Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s stuff plus we’ve added Easter, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day also into the mix. This on top of the virtual Salute shirt that is being featured now for those that donate to the PCC.

AK: Mike, thank you so much for the time. Can’t wait for 2011!