Having his 18-hole championship golf-course design in Alaska open. Named Creek Course at Moose Run, the course's frontier-like, surrounding environs near Anchorage required that Nelson carry bear repellent while on-site. Nelson and work crews braved wildlife - including brown and black bears, moose, lynx, fox and wolves - during routing, forest

clearing and construction at Creek Course at Moose Run. Gary Sanford, general manager of Moose Run's 36-hole facility - which includes the Hill Course - says golfers in the 49th state love playing Creek Course and are turning out in droves to tackle the 7,324-yard design, which is Alaska's longest. Three additional set of tees - measuring 6,781, 6,230 and 5,183 yards - accommodate all player levels.

Nelson incorporated a fascinating mix of elements into the architecture of Creek Course, which was built on a former U.S. Army gravel pit. It combines majestic panoramic views on mountain ranges, massive forestry enclosing all holes, five miles of cart paths, and Ship Creek running through the middle of the golf course, with two suspension bridges, dramatic elevation change, and the use of wetlands as features. Nelson was selected over a large group of "name" architects in a national search to determine who would design Creek Course on the prize property. "

Moose Run is a special place. "There the issue is wildlife," Nelson says. The Creek Course is designed to respect their movement corridors - thus the Moose Run name - and they create edges where the animals tend to jump its banks every season. The course is designed to allow the stream to go wherever it wants to go. Same with the soils. Alaska is blessed with millions of acres of wetlands, and the course certainly has its share.