My two cents: Mickelson's bid latest in flurry of golf course moves
Phil Mickelson, whose M Club conglomerate owns Oro Valley’s upscale Stone Canyon Club, attempted to add the 36-hole Gallery Golf Club property to his collection this spring.
But the Gallery was instead sold last week to Escalante Golf Inc., which earlier bought the former Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, now named the Golf Club at Dove Mountain.
Both courses, the Gallery and GC at Dove Mountain, staged the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship from 2007-14. The last time the match-play event was held at the Gallery’s south course, in 2008, Tiger Woods won in what became one of the most compelling sports events in Tucson history.
It was one of the five or six top golf events in the world.
But golf at Dove Mountain never did become Tucson’s equivalent of Scottsdale, as a tournament site or a players destination. It costs too much to play there, it is too far from population centers, and the courses are very difficult for an average golfer.
I remember the grand opening of the Gallery’s south course.
Billionaire owner John MacMillan, son of the head of the Cargill food processing giant, greeted each golfer at the No. 1 tee and gave them a dozen golf balls. When he saw that the golf balls were mid-brand Titleists, he told an aide to hurry to the clubhouse and retrieve as many more expensive Pro V1s as possible.
He insisted on only the best.
Now Woods’ career is in limbo. The match play is now played in Texas. And the Gallery Golf Club, originally a private club that has since been available for public play, has been sold.
Never say never.
