
AFTON MOUNTAIN COUNTRY CLUB

                 Location:  Charlottesville, Virginia
                 Type:      Reality based fiction
                 Length:    Out: 3249 - In: 3571
                            Total: 6820
                 Design:    Unknown (based on Birdwood, UVa)

IN THE BEGINNING...

                 Afton Mountain CC started life as a scorecard given to me 
                 out of the bag of my future brother-in-law (thanks, Alan!) 
                 The card was from the University of Virginia golf course,
                 Birdwood. I was particularly taken with the 2nd and 6th
                 holes and thought this might make a great JNSE course. The
                 problem was that I'd never seen the course and had no
                 immediate hope of getting to it...

                 My solution to this problem was to get a copy of the
                 "Charlottesville, West" USGS topographic map and locate the
                 course from there. With map in hand, I was able to digitize
                 the gross contours of the course terrain. Having spent some
                 time in the C-ville area, I was basically familiar with the
                 "look" and was able to come up with a suitable background.

                 The course itself came together rather quickly, but having
                 no "on the ground" knowledge of how the course played, I
                 didn't feel comfortable releasing this as a non-fiction
                 work. Changing the names to protect the innocent seemed the
                 best course of action. {g}

ABOUT THE COURSE

                 Afton Mountain has some fairly significant changes in
                 elevation... this is a bit of a departure for me since most
                 of my courses tend to be coastal in nature, and thus don't
                 vary much vertically. The nature of the course makes for
                 some approach shots that really test the players ability to
                 select the proper club and shot.

                 Another interesting aspect of the course if that the back
                 plays significantly longer than the front. Score as well as
                 you can going out, 'cause it's tough to make up ground
                 coming in to the house!

                 Observant players of my previous courses will note that I've
                 done away with fringe around the green on most holes. I
                 think this adds a level of difficulty to the course that
                 might not otherwise be there. Hopefully, scores on AM will
                 bear this out, but in any event, I think it makes a nice
                 change of pace for my work...

A NOTE TO TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS

                 Afton Mountain CC is not a course that favors dry conditions!
                 I felt that I'd have to compromise the elevation work too
                 much to compensate for JNSE's "less than accurate" portrayal
                 of those conditions. If you run a tournament that features
                 dry conditions, the wrath of your players should be directed
                 at you and not the designer... {g}

TEE ME UP!

                 I hope you enjoy your round(s) at Afton Mountain. It's a fun
                 round of electronic golf. Now that this one's out the door,
                 I can concentrate on Crooked Stick and my fictional links-
                 style work... not necessarily in that order. {g}

                 November 1, 1993

                 Gene Rodriguez III
                 428 Benlea Circle
                 Virginia Beach, Virginia 23454
                 Member: Accolade BBS, 19th Hole BBS,
                         National Videotex Network

PS               If you've ever played or seen the Birdwood course, please
                 don't judge my rendition too harshly... it's hard to be
                 accurate when you're working from a scorecard and a topo
                 map! Let's just call it artistic license and leave it at
                 that... {g}

OBJECT BIBLIOGRAPHY:

                 The object set was taken almost completely from the Burnt
                 Mill Run set. Thanks to Lee Ritze, Scott Chesney and David
                 Dykeman for their respective contributions.

OTHER COURSES BY THE DESIGNER:

                 Bay Bridge Greens     - Fictional Golf by the           
                                         Chesapeake Bay

                 Royal St. Kitts       - A Caribbean island
                                         resort course

                 Nahabino Golf Course  - Located just outside     
                                         Moscow, Russia

                 Furnace Springs
                 Golf and Country Club - Fictional Desert Course,        
                                         Sonoran Desert, Arizona

                 Burnt Mill Run        - Fictional parkland golf
                                         Near Smithfield, VA

Course layout and all original material, (c) 1993, Gene Rodriguez III
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