I've been a little under the weather and I couldn't tell if it was a cold brought on by (A) contracting a germ or (B) hearing a San Diego city official gleefully talk of spending $1 million on cart parths at Balboa in the course of the Mickelson North Course public meeting.
I'm going with B, even though the feeling was coming on long before what was a pretty typical meeting with the requisite audience members turning questions into speeches.
Tod Leonard has the highlights of Phil Mickelson's Torrey Pines North Course plan unveiling that ended up not including a plan unveiling until he could gather some public input:
“I do believe,” Mickelson said, “that modern-day architecture is the single-most reason why play and participation in golf has decline. It’s just too hard. It’s not fun.”
Among Mickelson’s ideas for the North: fairways and greenside areas that will feed shots toward the hole, not repel it away; chipping areas that will challenge better players but allow higher handicappers to putt from off the green; greenside bunkers placed to the sides and not the front of greens; at least one driveable par-4 on each nine; shorter holes for women and juniors.
Mickelson said the greens need to be altered because they are more severely sloped than those at Augusta National. He said Torrey North’s pins often sit on slopes that are angled at 3 to 4 degrees, whereas Augusta’s pin positions are at 1 to 2 ½ degrees.
I wasn't sure about that one when he said it and I'm still a bit miffed, but Phil left no doubt about his passion for improving the course and that certainly won over the crowd.
The video accompanying Leonard's story: