When It's Time To Fold A Project: Torrey North Edition

It won't be a huge shock if Phil Mickelson walks away from the planned renovation of Torrey Pines North now that it appears contractors will have the chance to decide what they can and can't do for $14.2 million, reports Tod Leonard of the San Diego Union-Tribune/Los Angeles Times.

Even more disturbing, one of the most vital and least costly elements of the project: removing 20 acres of turf and any irrigation that might service them, may be left on the cutting room floor:

Kevin Oliver, the city’s lead engineer on the project, cited the “base” priorities for the renovation as: replacing the irrigation system, adding a water pump station for the South Course, building new cart paths, replacing all 18 greens, moving and rebuilding all bunkers, and leveling tee boxes while adding a new set of forward tees.

While those elements are part of the vision that pro golfer and native San Diegan Phil Mickelson and his design team presented in 2012, they do not include other parts of Mickelson’s plans – namely, the re-contouring of some fairways, the change in location of several greens and tee boxes, and the removal of 20 acres of turf to change the aesthetic and give the North a more coastal-desert feel.