Phil Mickelson National Golf Course

[artvandelay]

Originally Posted by speedog

I kind of agree with J-D - west of the Bow River, south of Highway #1, north of De Winton and west of the foothills...
........
And I've probably missed some in that area I defined above.

My point still stands.

Anyway, I'm not so sure that this course is going to be anything overly special. It's going to be jammed up against an airport and residential development and looking at the map it appears fairly gimmicky with water all over the place. Massive yardage, but I see this being another Blue Devil. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[speedog]

Originally Posted by B-side

13. Springbank Links is North of Hwy #1

Okay, erase the south Highway #1 statement - just south or west of the Bow River, east of the foothills and North of De Winton, fair enough? Plenty of golfing options it would seem.

[Surrealplaces]

Originally Posted by artvandelay

My point still stands.

Anyway, I'm not so sure that this course is going to be anything overly special. It's going to be jammed up against an airport and residential development and looking at the map it appears fairly gimmicky with water all over the place. Massive yardage, but I see this being another Blue Devil. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I couldn't careless about it, expect that if it can draw a PGA event, or other high profile events, than it's good for the city.

[bt04ku]

Originally Posted by DoubleK

Windmill can't even take care of their current courses. Can't wait to see the awful condition this one ends up in.

They're really stretching their water licenses. It was the main driver behind the purchase (and subsequent sale) of Harvest Hills. Springbank Links already uses some effluent despite the closure. This new one will greatly depend on water runoff from the developments, but if these drought conditions continue for a couple years it will be a real challenge to do a proper grow-in with what they have now (their other courses will have to suffer even more).

[bt04ku]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

I couldn't careless about it, expect that if it can draw a PGA event, or other high profile events, than it's good for the city.

They'll definitely bring a Canadian Open, no doubt about that. Golf Canada has really had a hard time trying to stay away from Glen Abbey and now that a bunch of courses have gotten their little prestige boost, nobody's really jumping at the opportunity again. Plus Golf Canada really wants to get out of Ontario more. They were really getting excited when Blue Devil broke ground, and also very exciting when the Glencoe renovated the Forest, but neither course seems to be entertaining the idea (definitely not Blue Devil, the Glencoe would depend on what the board make-up is).

If these guys build a course this long and say they want the Canadian Open, they'll get it. Golf Canada is operating on a "build it and we will come!" model right now.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by Canucklehead

Ha. Start construction this fall. Right. Mickelson has never been to Calgary, for the record.

These guys don't have any of their services, etc. lined up. One day, but not anytime soon

Doesn't he live in Calgary? I've seen him before.

[Deepstar]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Doesn't he live in Calgary? I've seen him before.

Stephen Ames is about as close to Phil Mickelson living in Calgary as we'll get.

[artvandelay]

Phil was in town hawking memberships for the course last week. ScoreGolf has a good article about about it as well; here are some excerpts:

Mickelson and Windmill managing partner Barry Ehlert believe an RBC Canadian Open at Mickelson National is possible as early as 2021 or 2022. Also mentioned a couple of times by the luminaries was the potential for a Presidents Cup.

“We don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” said Ehlert, who, like Mickelson, is adamant about wanting a national open in the province of Alberta. “We want to get the golf course built then we’ll have to make tweaks and changes and play some kind of test event. It will be a minimum of two to three years after we open.”

This is great news. The Shaw Classic has become one of the largest stops on the Champions Tour and we are starved for a PGA event out here. I have no doubts that it would be successful.

Mickelson National will be the proverbial big ballpark. It is being constructed on 240 acres with 80 million cubic yards of earth being moved to create textures and pitch that will blend seamlessly with the accompanying terrain and Rocky Mountains backdrop. It will come in at just over 7,800 yards and play as a par 72. A provision to stretch the 18 holes out to 8,000 yards to counteract the region’s thinner air for a tour event is likely.

“The site is very bold,” said Smith, “but it’s going to be extremely playable. We’re integrating some very unique things into this design. Each hole has its own character. Every hole is different; every green complex is different. Phil and me are very sensitive to how the common golfer plays, very sensitive to the beginner and how they play, to the senior player, sensitive to the gals who should be hitting the same iron shots the guys are hitting, not just the same yardage but the same shot type. We’re sensitive to that one word —fun. This is going to be fun.”

It's certainly going to be a monster of a course at ~8,000 yards. I'm still not enamoured with the location though. The terrain looks fairly bland and I doubt the surrounding airport and single family housing will make for a very picturesque setting.

It seems nothing has been left to chance. Mickelson and Smith will use Mike Oliphant and Oliphant Design Companies team of world-class shapers for the construction phase of the project. Having just finished up at Cape Breton, N.S.’s Cabot Cliffs, they are now immersed in Mickelson National.

I've heard that Cabot Cliffs is fantastic, so that sounds promising.

[bt04ku]

Originally Posted by artvandelay

It's certainly going to be a monster of a course at ~8,000 yards. I'm still not enamoured with the location though. The terrain looks fairly bland and I doubt the surrounding airport and single family housing will make for a very picturesque setting.



I've heard that Cabot Cliffs is fantastic, so that sounds promising.

Well you can only do so much with the terrain you're given. Cabot is a location the likes of which may never be seen again (certainly not in this country) and hasn't really been seen since the likes of Cypress Point have been built (it is THAT good). Problem is, you can't make that location, it's just there.


For contrast, most architects today are trying to move as little Earth as possible in their designs. While they're talking about 80 million yards of Earth being moved here, that is more than all six of the Bandon Courses and both Cabot courses put together. Outrageously expensive but necessary on a less than ideal site (which is most Alberta courses, even the high end ones). But that's the problem when the land wasn't picked because it would be good for a golf course, but because it is where they had the land to build a golf course.