Memorial Park Renovation by Tom Doak (Future Home of Houston Open)

[HJJ003]

Finally snagged a tee time! I tee off Wednesday at 1pm with sunny skies and 70 degree weather forecasted (Fall in Houston lol). I will plan on taking pictures and giving a write up on my thoughts on the course!

[HJJ003]

Well... I finally played here last Wednesday! Been wanting to post about it, just been busy. Overall I was pleased with the renovation and the opportunity to play it. Here is a brief hole by hole rundown: 

1. Same basic tee shot as before. Good opening hole with a fairly difficult green. Par 5.
2. Holy moly what a golf hole! Best hole in Houston by far, and certainly on the course. Short Par 3 over a beautiful deep ravine. Tough green too.

3. Tough Par 5, that really wasn’t very interesting to me. Bunker of death 25 yards short of the green is vicious. Tee shot heavily favors draw

4. Toughest hole on the course for the good player I think. Long tee shot leaves mid iron until a green with a lot of undulations that feed into the ravines. Par 4.
5. Beauty of a golf hole with the ravine down the left side and a off set bunker that collects errant long drives. Par 4
6. Decent Par 4 with a really fun approach shot. Most players will have short iron or wedge in, but don’t miss left!

7. Redan Par 3. Really pretty hole, and plenty challenging. 
8. Long par 5 they are calling “The Monster”. Very basic hole that serves as a routing hole. Also don’t miss left on approach. 
9. Another great challenge Par 3 with a heck of a green complex. The Par 3s really make this course. 
10. Much more interesting par 4 than I originally thought. Good start to the back. 
11. A long challenging par 3, with a green that has a decent amount of movement. I didn’t play this hole very well lol. 
12. Long straightforward Par 4 with tough green.

13. Driveable Par 4 with no bunkers. It’s a par and half type of hole with the “half” in the golfers favor. 
14. Short Par 5. Nothing really interesting about it. A stream runs in front of the tee box and around the left side of the hole but mostly out of play. 
15. Short Par 3, with plenty of movement in green. When the banks around the Green are shaved it will be a “Do or die” hole

16. The “lynchpin” if the back nine. Plenty of room but slicers will fear the water right. The peninsula green is a nice touch And provides drama to every level of golfer. 
17. Short Par 4. Almost drivable, but most players shouldn’t. Too much risk with the water on both sides. 
18. Pretty basic closing hole with a well protected green. The cleared the trees behind the green to get a good view of the clubhouse from the tee. I liked that. 
 

Overall, it’s good course that needs a lot of maturing especially in the Peripheral areas. I give it a 6 on the Doak scale once everything grows in. I do fear that the pros may light it up like they do trinity forest in Dallas, but we will see. Some tough greens out there for sure.  

I hope to play It again this spring!

[HJJ003]

The course is holding up well pretty well against the Tour so far this week. Have played out here 4 or 5 times now, and it is really cool to see the best players in the world take on your favorite local track. So far the players have been very complementary of the challenge the course is brining to them. They seem to appreciate the undulating green complexes and the run off areas. Doak did a great job here with creating a layout that is playable for me, and decently tough for the very good players. Greens have a lot to do with that. Maybe that will mean next time I am paired with randoms out there they won’t talk about how this course is going to get lit up by the pros and they will probably shoot like 30 under par....I hear that a lot more than you would think.