Houston open officially moving to Memorial

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I'll be interested to see what their plan is for parking. There was a pretty big parking lot next to old Redstone out in Humble. Parking can be a problem at Memorial on random weeknights, let alone when thousands of people are trying to get onto the course.

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Enjoy the bus ride from Hobby. Should only be 45 minutes or so. 288 may be finished by 2030

They better make some hellacious improvements to memorial if they want to compete with Redstone.

Has anyone played both? I've played GC of Houston and I loved it. I've been wanting to play Memorial Park since they announced a while back that it was in the works. I'm guessing it's going to be closed down now until the renovations are done?

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and I can't comprehend how they'll be able to host a tournament there

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What do you mean?

I’m familiar with the course and area and have played it multiple times.

That’s why they’re spending 13M to upgrade it. Grandstands fit in much smaller places than you think. A lot of times they’re right up on the collar of greens and tee boxes.

And there are plenty of tournaments that have difficult parking/traffic arrangements. I know Winged Foot for the US Open is one of those with minimal on-site parking. Everyone else is shuttled in through their one narrow driveway on buses.

Houston does a great job busing people in from satellite lots for big events.

Will be cool to see the pros hitting off the same mats and rubber tees that aren’t the right length to warm up as I do.

Doak Embraces Opportunity to Create PGA Tour Course

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Despite not lengthening the course overall, the par-5 first will be become longer as the par-3 second hole moves farther south on the property. The short par-4 sixth will lose the pond and fountain currently in front of the green.

The same holds true for par-3 15th, which also has a pond and a fountain. The par-5 eighth, which currently is only 460 yards, will become significantly longer to become a true par 5. The ninth at Memorial, currently a par 4, will most likely become a par 3 in the new design by Tom Doak. To make room for a longer eighth, the par-4 ninth will be shortened into a par 3. The green on the ninth is very close to the Bush (family) Grove, which cannot be moved or encroached upon.

The par-4 18th hole, which is currently just 350 yards or so, will get another 100 yards or so in length when the tee is moved back toward where the 17th green currently is. In addition to the course, Doak's team is also responsible for designing the new First Tee facility as well as the practice areas at the course. The First Tee headquarters will go where the maintenance facility currently sits.

The maintenance facility will be relocated to another part of the golf course. As for the practice facilities, that work will come later, but included in the proposal is a two-tier lighted driving range that will increase from 54 to 80 stalls.

Before that work is started, however, the ranges, as well as the restaurant at Memorial, Becks Prime, are expected to remain open.

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I’ve played Memorial a ton, including several tournaments and qualifiers, and it has terrific potential. It’s biggest enemy is that it gets so many rounds a year, that sometimes they just can’t keep it in great shape. That should change now with Crane and the Houston Open.

I’m a little disappointed that Tom Doak isn’t being a bit more ambitious with some of the design elements, but I trust that he knows what he’s doing. With this being his first tour design, you know he’s going to work his arse off.

I hope they add back some of the trees around the perimeter of the course. They’ve lost a ton over the last 20 years and where you used to feel like you’re playing in a calm, wooded haven within the city, now you can easily see the running trails and streets.

It was also announced that the green fees will stay the same once it reopens. I just can’t imaging being able to play a PGA Tour stop course for $50-$60 on the weekend.