Phil Mickelson has been excluded from further work on the redesign of the North Course at Torrey Pines Golf Club in La Jolla, which is the host site of the Farmers Insurance Open on the PGA Tour and was the site of the 2008 U.S. Open.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Mickelson is out of the running because he said a ruling from the California Fair Political Practices Commission reads in part, “any person or company that worked on preliminary designs may not participate in the design and/or construction resulting from this Request for Proposal and the ensuing contract.”
Mickelson, who grew up in the San Diego area and still lives there, first offered a preliminary plan for the course in February 2012.
The Phil Mickelson Design group expected to submit a formal construction bid to the city of San Diego alongside Landscapes Unlimited, but now the latter reportedly will submit its own bid without Mickelson.
“I’m deeply disappointed with this entire process,” Mickelson said in a release. “We did a lot of good work, we had overwhelming support from the residents of San Diego on this project and now we’re disqualified from bidding on it.”
Mickelson’s design plans included re-contoured fairways and redesigned greens, with an emphasis on introducing more natural grasses, plus an effort to bring the canyon lines on the course more into play.
However, the redesign has been delayed as construction budgets skyrocketed, with Mickelson’s original budget projection more than tripled by more recent construction estimates.
The city hopes to find the construction group that can do the most work within its current budget of $12.6 million.
“My vision was to make Torrey Pines North more environmentally stable, more enjoyable for amateurs of all abilities, more challenging for PGA Tour players and we were planning to do it for less than $6 million,” Mickelson said.
“The city and golf division’s $12.6 million budget is far higher than we expected or intended. It really is unfortunate. San Diegans and visitors deserve a better North Course, but they don’t need or want one that costs as much as this will.”
Redesign work is expected to begin in February after the Farmers Insurance Open.
