Among the many stories coming out of the PGA Championship that ended Sunday at the Atlanta Athletic Club was a brickbat flung by one of the prominent touring pros: “Modern architecture is killing the game.”

That’s what Phil Mickelson, winner of four major championships, said. Not for the first time, Mickelson was being critical of course-designer Rees Jones, who has designed championship layouts around the world. It was Jones who renovated AAC in 2006 for this year’s major championship, and, of course, for AAC members, as well. Which is where Mickelson took aim.

“The course is great for the PGA Championship, but it’s not great for the membership,” he said.

I bring this up only because the course being designed for City Park’s post-Katrina golf comeback is in the hands of Rees Jones, Inc., a layout City Park officials said will offer “a high-end golf experience and will be challenging for every type of golfer.”

My main question: How challenging will it be for the public golfer, the average Joe?

Robert Lupo, president of the City Park Improvement Association board, said the new course will play from 5,150 yards to 7,240 yards, depending on the choice of tee box. There might be as many as five tee locations per hole.

“This will not be some elite course only a few can play,” Lupo said.

If you listen to Mickelson’s critique of some of Rees Jones’ past “makeovers,” as it relates to the average public golfer, you’re left with the feeling City Park could be treading in dangerous water.

Growing up, Mickelson was no fan of Jones’ redo of the Torrey Pines course in San Diego, a configuration Mickelson had to live with, but disliked.

When Mickelson got a look at the “renovated” AAC the pros would play last week at 7,467 yards — the longest major ever for a par 70 — he wasn’t thinking of himself, he was thinking of the club members who would be playing it 50 weeks a year.

He brought up a number of things, particularly the four par-3s, three of them more than 200 yards, all but one with water in play.

“You have water in front and a bunker behind, and you give the player no avenue to run a shot up,” he said. “The average guy just can’t play it.”

Mickelson suggested “modern architecture, in such cases, is the reason participation in this sport is going down.” He claimed the number of member rounds at the AAC had declined by 25 percent.

The general chairman of the AAC responded by saying, “Phil is not a member, so I don’t know where he got his information,” pointing out “the pace of rounds by guests has picked up.”

He maintained the AAC was “fortunate” to have Jones create a challenge for golfers shooting for a $7.5 million purse and also leave behind an “enjoyable venue” for regulars and their $2 Nassaus.

The second part, as to “enjoyable venue” for regulars, hasn’t yet been addressed by AAC members.

Keep this firmly in mind when it comes to Jones’ renovations: If you mention to Mickelson you can move the tees up to trim a 7,000-yard course by 2,000 yards, he’ll tell you, while you can shorten distance, you cannot remove bunkers, lagoons, the daunting slope on the greens, items that help shape the challenge for the elite.

Which, he feels, is leaving today’s average golfer with courses too intimidating to play on a regular basis.

When it comes to City Park, my feeling has always been to build two affordable public courses and not get caught up in the grandeur of building a “championship” course, with all sorts of bells and whistles, at the expense of the average golfers who, over decades, have been the park’s major source of revenue.

What you’re talking about here is big money, a $24.5 million development on a site once occupied by the East and West courses.

You hear City Park CEO Bob Becker say, “We have a chance to build a world-class golf complex,” and it sounds grand. On the other hand, when I hear consultants are estimating, once the entire complex is operational, it will mean an annual net revenue of $900,000, I’m hoping it’s accurate. Still, I’m wondering what those consultants might be smoking.

Let’s say this.

Jones has a $24.5 million challenge to come up with a golf course that will stand the test of time, not for a one-week “championship,” but for 50 weeks a year, over years and years and years, when the touring pros are in another town and your clients are folks trying to break 100.

When it comes to the public golfer, will Rees Jones prove Phil Mickelson wrong?

City Park hopes so.