A short drive from the Yunnan capital of Kunming, the Aqua course at the Shining Star Development opened in 2013 and was a design collaboration between champion golfer Phil Mickelson, his former coach Rick Smith and locally based American designer Joe Obringer. The project was eagerly anticipated by many in the Chinese golf industry, but is extremely disappointing and likely to harm Mickelson's chances of future work in the region.

We understand that problems with the golf construction process stem from a lack of direction and quality control measures in design that were sorely lacking. Obringer apparently walked away from the project when it became apparent things were turning into a mess, with Smith and Mickelson’s on site associates altering aspects of design without proper consultation or reasoning.

The result is about as vanilla and uninspiring as golf gets, granted the site given the design team was itself very flat and dreary, and difficult to make great. The decision to route holes through 1980s style mogul mounding was perhaps the first mistake here, as it cheapens the course and underwhelms from both the tee and within the fairways. The bunkering is a real mixed bag, with some modern resort shapes and a number of larger, rugged traps built in an attempt to mimic the popular naturalistic style. Some the shapes are really beginner standard and dead flat with small protruding lips, making them easy for good players to escape. It’s only a handful of bunkers later in the round that stand out as fitting landforms or appearing even remotely natural.

The use of water is problematic too, with some crazy features such as a split fairway par four at the 14^th where water runs right underneath a skinny green that is extremely penal on those unable to spin a golf ball like Mickelson. The next is a short par three across water to an unreasonably tiny, and flat, putting surface. The 17^th is also poor, with water cutting with a where the water runs under the green, which is crazy skinny and very penal on those unable to spin a ball like Phil Mickelson. The mid-length 17^th is also poorly conceived, with water cutting right across the fairway and forcing a layup from the tee.

Other problem spots include the bending holes that are bunkered on the outside of the dogleg, and where trees have had to be planted to prevent golfers taking the more direct routes or aiming shots at cart paths. The short par four 6^th is another interesting hole, which might have worked were it not for an excessively shaped back left section that flings balls beyond the green and straight behind a rock wall that must then be chipped over.

Aside from the design itself, the shaping here at Aqua was the most basic imaginable and the vegetation planting makes as little sense as some of the hole concepts. The feeling of playing in a flat field through artificial mounding is one that we doubt connoisseurs will enjoy. Unquestionably the best thing about the Aqua experience is the caddies, and their cutesy plaid, plus-four outfits. The 18^th hole is the other highlight, as it isn’t awful and ends the suffering. Not sure what the Shining Star developer expected for the millions he paid Mickelson's design company, but it had to be more than was delivered. Aside from the Mickelson name, there is nothing to get excited about here at all.