Course: Plateau Canyons Golf Club
Architect: Jeff Kissel
Begun: September 1996
Completed: March 1997
Revised: September 1999 (renovation for better aesthetics and playability)
         June 2000 (new quotes, land plot, parallel holes on terrain, narrowed fairways, 
                    added new pins)
Released: June 18, 2000

Plateau Canyons Golf Club was initially just an experiment.  I wanted to design an 
extremely hilly course in which the hills (mountains in this case) came into play on 
various holes, causing many blind shots.  I was not a very serious architect at the time
(due to my age then of 15), so it took me a while to finish the course to where it could 
be even playable (but only by me, because many odd shots were required).  Even then, it 
really didn't look that good, so I decided to work on the course when I got up to school 
in the fall of 1999.  What followed that was actually a decent golf course, and my final 
renovation in June 2000 made the course a little tougher in some places, yet more playable 
in others.  It also tied up many loose ends that were somehow overlooked due to my 
negligence.  The name just made sense to me: Plateau Canyons is in a bunch of canyons 
through a large rocky plateau.

The course itself is a par 35-35=70.  It has six par threes, eight par fours, and four 
par fives.  The number of par threes is out of necessity, because the "ring" canyon the 
course was built in was of limited length.  Even still, the course plays 
3,142-3,412=6,557 yards long from the championship tees.  A 6,500 yard par 70 course 
with six par threes plays just about like a 6,900 yard par 72 course with only four, 
so the short yardage is deceptive.  The course features two par fours longer than 
470 yards as well as two par fives longer than 560 yards.  All but one of the par threes
 are longer than 170 yards.  Even still, there are two reachable (488 and 522 yards) 
par fives and a 338 yard par four.  The course also features two 90° doglegs, again out 
of necessity because of the way the canyon was shaped.  And the high points are two 
par threes, #12 and #17.  #12 sits overlooking #11 and a pond on the side of a cliff, 
while #17 plays down a huge drop through a side canyon nicknamed "hole in the wall."

On my first released course, Boulder Beach CC, I took nothing but trees from another 
course (which I didn't know who designed) and did everything else myself, so I didn't 
do any credits.  Plateau Canyons was a little different.  The clubhouse, along with the
150 stakes and the hole maps, were from Brian Silvernail's Saguaro Canyon GC, and the 
background (which was a PERFECT fit for this course!) was from Chris Furgerson's 
Salt River Canyon GC.  Thanks, guys!

After its many revisions, Plateau Canyons has become a course I really like.  I realize
that the palette is the "original" one for the game and I don't exactly know how to 
change this, but I like it that way.  It makes PCGC a true "fantasy" course.  I'll 
always like this course for its uniqueness (I don't think I'll ever do another similar), 
and I hope you do too.  Enjoy!

A copy of this text file is included with the course's zip file.