Phil Mickelson Design Announced


Phil Mickelson's first course design, Whisper Rock in Scottsdale opened to much acclaim in 2001. Last August, Mickelson opened Phil Mickelson Design. He has signed contracts, conducted site visits and begun extensive design plans for two new upscale private course projects, and is in final negotiations with two other properties.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the creative experience at Whisper Rock and I'm really excited about continuing my work in course design on a wider scale," said Mickelson. "The properties we're involved with are magnificent golf development settings and the variety of locations and terrains offers a great challenge for our team. We spent a lot of the past six months working on these projects and are excited to finally make this announcement. Phil Mickelson Design is ready to create communities where people can have the time of their lives."

The first project is River Rock, a collaboration involving Legasus Properties and owners Tony Corliss and Ted Morlock. Mickelson will design an 18-hole course in the scenic mountains for the project, which includes five non-contiguous parcels totaling more than 4,000 acres in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Cashiers, N.C. He will also be involved with the residential master plan in and around the private course. Rick Smith is set to design a nine-hole, par-3 course on the property. For more details, visit www.RiverRockNC.com.

Mickelson’s second project is Diamante Cabo, a Mexican development backed by Ken Jowdy. The project stretches acoss more than 1,500 acres of Pacific Ocean beachfront just north of Cabo San Lucas, Baja California. Mickelson will create the exclusive Oasis course, which will be bordered by just 40 residences. The second course, located closer to the Pacific and called the "Dunes," is designed by Davis Love III and is now under construction. For more, visit www.DiamanteLife.com.    

Phil Mickelson Design is also in final negotiations with groups in Hawaii and the Caribbean for other golf properties.

Last year, Mickelson agreed to design 27 holes of golf at Palmwood, an environmentally sensitive, private master-planned community near Palm Springs. Scheduled to get underway in the spring, Palmwood includes residential and commercial spaces, and will use solar energy throughout the project. An 18-hole Dave Pelz Teaching Academy layout is also part of the plan.

Mickelson is working at River Rock with golf course architects Todd Schoeder and Jeff Zimmerman of Design Workshop, a Denver-based company. Architect Gary Stephenson of Dallas, who collaborated on Whisper Rock, will work with Mickelson in Cabo and has also been active in the Palmwood project.

Whisper Rock, built on essentially flat Sonoran desert land, was ranked 67th Best New Modern Course by GolfWeek in 2006. Mickelson will shortly be augmenting his work at Whisper Rock with a very different desert course in California, a mountain course in North Carolina, and ocean-side venues in Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean.