Daryl,
I'm only familiar with the Jack Nicklaus Golf Course design game that allowed you to design & then play your own course. It was a lot of fun, you could view your design from any angle that you wanted, and at 3 varying heights. The game allowed you to plant a wide variety of trees & shrubs and ornamental grasses where desired (height & canopy could be adjusted), greatly adding to the visual appeal & virtual reality of the design.
The only real downside was that the holes were isolated, therefore parallel holes could not use the same hazards, and that no views to other parts of the course existed.
By being able to play the course, I quickly realized that I always over-contoured the greens - subtle worked best, while much bolder contours had to be carefully considered to ensure playability.
Adding to the enjoyment was the golfing feature, which unlike a lot of other games was quite a challenge. Further, being able to watch the ball land and react to the green & fairway contours was exciting.
I'm sure a more modern version of the game exists now, but older versions pop-up of eBay fairly regularily, and quite cheaply. It's a lot of fun to play around with!!
TK