Nuzzo!!!!!
You, Don, and Al are the MEN! If there is a better first-time effort anywhere, anytime, I want to go see it.
I think Mansfield Natl. was built for $4.8MM turn-key (land is owned by the city and leased for a nominal amount, as I understand- I was off the project long before construction began). The land was the remnant of a larger tract that the city bought from the federal government and used the better, non-flood prone parts for athletic fields. The developers were primarily motivated by turning surrounding cheap cotton land bought by the acre into commercial and residential lots sold by the square foot. They greatly succeeded, and though the quality of the course was not a major consideration, John Colligan did a great job with what he had to work with. The course does well over 50,000 rounds annually and some golfers believe it is superior to the nearby private 36-hole country club. As I recall, it took a year from ground breaking to opening, and it has been a homerun ever since.
You can tell the group if you want what you spent on WP in comparison, and how long it took to build. I am also sure that you had but a small fraction of the red tape and politics that the folks in Mansfield endured.
As to quality, WP is easily a top 20 Texas course in my view; Mansfield National does not scratch the top 100. But in terms of customer satisfaction, at least quantitatively, I think MN has you by a bunch.
Jim Franklin,
If Sherwood would starve the rough (water and fertilizer) so it doesn't defeat the canyon effect, it might be a top 50 in my book. It has great variety, nice topograpy, good green complexes and plenty of challenge.
Philippe,
Funny that you would mention CPC in your response to my comments as it is my favorite course and a good example of what I was alluding to with regards to the importance of the surroundings. CPC has a few holes that are rather ordinary (e.g. 3, 10) and if the course was on the east side of the mountains, it may compete with Pasatiempo, Valley, and Meadow to crack the top 100. Naturally, all of this is subjective and we all have our preferences as well as our ideas of what is gca. I think that Sand Hills is a superior course architecturally than CPC, but it doesn't have the same impact on me because of the surroundings.