Manchester and Mickelson going in on a golf project. Wonder what this will entail. (Credit to SDDT)
http://www.sddt.com/Hospitality/arti...s#.VAwW3t7n_IU
Manchester, Mickelson to unveil Fairbanks Ranch plans
By THOR KAMBAN BIBERMAN
Friday, September 5, 2014
A closed-door meeting has been set for 4 p.m. Tuesday at Fairbanks Ranch Country Club to hear U-T San Diego and Grand Del Mar owner Douglas Manchester and golfer Phil Mickelson discuss plans for the property that served as the site of the 1984 Olympic equestrian events.
The partnership known as the Manchester & Mickelson Group (MMG) will present the plan to the country club's members/owners, who are expected to vote on the proposal this month. MMG is reportedly conducting due diligence work in preparation for buying the 373-acre property.
"Please reassure the members we will all end up with one of the best golf and family country clubs in San Diego," said Steve Loy, Mickelson's business partner, in a statement.
Mike Kendall, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club board president, also sought to reassure membership about the new venture.
"We are excited to have two such prominent community leaders and successful club owners/partners to make the ongoing investment in facilities, programming and execution necessary for FRCC to maintain its position as one of the premier country clubs in San Diego on a long-term, sustainable basis," Kendall wrote last week.
The former Spanish land grant opened as Fairbanks Ranch Country Club at the 1984 Olympics. The ranch got its name when silent film star Douglas Fairbanks and his wife, Mary Pickford, bought what was 3,000 acres in the 1920s.
Long after the property had been sold piecemeal, residential and commercial developer Raymond Watt reconstituted some of the land from eight separate entities. He cobbled together funding from local businessmen who became founding members of the country club.
Ted Robinson Jr. was hired to develop the golf course, which began construction in 1980. Watt developed more than 300 homes around the course.