Even though fans will not be allowed to attend the 2020 Vivint Houston Open in full force, there’s still plenty of excitement surrounding this year’s event.
Much of that has to do with a new venue — historic Memorial Park Golf Course, the site of a PGA Tour tournament for the first time since 1963 — and the tournament being played at an opportune time, the week before the Masters.
Add a strong field that includes No. 1-ranked Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia, defending champion Lanto Griffin and Brooks Koepka, the player consultant on architect Tom Doak’s redesign of Memorial Park, the ingredients are in place for a memorable tournament, which starts Thursday.
“With the Astros foundation being behind it, I feel this tournament is set for success,” said Jhonattan Vegas, who is playing this week on a sponsor exemption. “As a Houstonian it feels good being part of this event.”
For the first time since the pandemic hit, fans are allowed at a PGA Tour event played in the United States. A limited number of 2,500 each day will walk the grounds at Memorial Park.
“We wish we could have 30,000 people out here and we unfortunately can’t, that’s what we’re dealing with,” tournament director Colby Callaway said. “But what we’ll do is we’ll create a really fun base.
More Information
What: Vivint Houston Open
Where: Memorial Park
When: Thursday-Sunday
Fans: 2,500 allowed per day and must wear masks at all times. Event is sold out.
TV: Golf Channel.
The Field
Ryan Armour
Keegan Bradley
Scott Brown
Sam Burns
Greg Chalmers
Kevin Chappell
K.J. Choi
Stewart Cink
Wyndham Clark
Corey Conners
Austin Cook
Cameron Davis
Jason Day
Graham DeLaet
Luke Donald
Jason Dufner
Tyler Duncan
Tony Finau
Dylan Frittelli
Sergio Garcia
Brice Garnett
Brian Gay
Lucas Glover
Talor Gooch
Will Gordon
Branden Grace
Lanto Griffin
Emilian Grillo
James Hahn
Justin Harding
Brian Harman
Padraig Harrington
Scott Harrington
Tyrrell Hatton
Russell Henley
Harry Higgs
Bo Hoag
Charley Hoffman
Kyle Hogan
Tom Hoge
Max Homa
Beau Hossler
Viktor Hovland
Mark Hubbard
MacKenzie Hughes
John Huh
Sungjae Im
Dustin Johnson
Zach Johnson
Matt Jones
Sung Kang
Mihael Kim
Si Woo Kim
Chris Kirk
Patton Kizzire
Russell Knox
Satoshi Kodaira
Brooks Koepka
Kelly Kraft
Martin Laird
Andrew Landry
Nate Lashley
Danny Lee
Kyoung-Hoon Lee
Tom Lewis
Luke List
Adam Long
Jamie Lovemark
Shane Lowry
Hunter Mahan
Hideki Matsuyama
Denny McCarthy
Graeme McDowell
Maverick McNealy
Troy Merritt
Phil Mickelson
Keith Mitchell
Francesco Molinari
Grayson Murray
Matthew NeSmith
Alex Noren
Henrik Norlander
Sean O'Hair
Carlos Ortiz
C.T. Pan
Pat Perez
Scott Piercy
D.A. Points
J.T, Poston
Ted Potter, Jr.
Ian Poulter
Andrew Putnam
Doc Redman
Patrick Rodgers
Sam Ryder
Rory Sabbatini
Scottie Scheffler
Adam Schenk
Charl Schwartzel
Adam Scott
Robby Shelton
Brandt Snedeker
Jordan Spieth
Kevin Stadler
Scott Stallings
Henrik Stenson
Sepp Straka
Kevin Streelman
Brian Stuard
Houston Swafford
Vaughn Taylor
Michael Thompson
Martin Trainer
Cameron Tringale
Kevin Tway
Dawie van der Walt
Bo Van Pelt
Erik van Rooyen
Harold Varner III
Jhonattan Vegas
Kristoffer Ventura
Camilo Villegas
Jimmy Walker
Lee Westwood
Danny Willett
Ben Willman
Aaron Wise
Xinjun Zhang
The alternates
Fabian Gómez
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Bronson Burgoon
Chase Seiffert
Nick Watney
Kyle Stanley
Matt Wallace
Chesson Hadley
Peter Malnati
Rob Oppenheim
Hank Lebioda
Joseph Bramlett
Cameron Percy
Robert Streb
Tim Wilkinson
“The people that have the opportunity to come out will walk away saying, ‘Wow, what a great golf course, great routing.’ It’s so much more user friendly and hopefully, word of mouth will spread and we’ll create that grass-roots campaign with those fans and really start something special inside the loop and inside the city limits.”
Added Astros Golf Foundation president Giles Kibbe: “Last year at the Golf Club of Houston we had decent crowds for that location. We were certainly expecting to double that number if not triple it at Memorial Park, but the pandemic changed that. But getting 2,500 fans out here is cool in itself.”
Having taken over operations of the Houston Open in 2019, the Astros Golf Foundation spent $34 million in the redesign of Memorial Park Golf Course and on additional building like the Chevron Center for Education and Golf, which for the Open will serve as the player clubhouse.
“This city has always recognized that the best thing for the Houston Open, the best thing for the city is to have the Houston Open at Memorial Park,” Kibbe said. “It’s an iconic park, it’s the flagship park for the city, right in the center of town. So it’s great for Houstonians and it’s a big golf course.
“This has always been thought of as the ideal spot for the Houston Open. We just needed to make some changes out here to step things up a bit and be able to host a PGA Tour event. The golf course needed to undergo some changes and we had to have a player clubhouse.”
Both the Houston Open and Memorial Park needed a facelift. In addition to a totally different Memorial Park Golf Course brought about by Doak and Renaissance Golf Design, a driving range expansion for the pros was recently completed. The Chevron education center, which will be utilized all but one week of the year, brings a program of science, technology, engineering and math to underserved children. A First Tee program will be moved to Memorial Park.
For the PGA Tour players, in playing Memorial they will also experience the city of Houston itself. Golf Club of Houston, which had been the venue of the Houston Open since 2003, is located in Humble.
“These guys, they’re traveling (regularly) and they want to be in places that they like,” Kibbe said. “And having them stay in the Galleria area, staying in Houston makes life a lot better for them.”
Vegas, who makes The Woodlands home, has been selling the benefits of Memorial Park and the city of Houston to his fellow competitors.
“Nearly everyone I have spoken to, they have asked me about the course,” Vegas said. “I tell them it’s a championship course, a new golf course that has some growing up to do, but it’s going to be a phenomenal venue. You combine that with right in the middle of the city where guys and their families are going to have a great time, you’re going to have guys coming back.”
The course itself was designed by Doak to be enjoyed by the recreational golfer as well as PGA Tour players. For the professionals, Doak laid the course out with a potential of significant swings in scoring. The property itself is relatively flat with natural ravines.
Though there’s only 19 bunkers, the par-70 course will be challenging. Accuracy is a must with the thick rough, tight grass slopes and contours. And it’s unlikely all four days of play will see calm weather. The difficulty of the course also will be weather dependent.
“If the weather changes look out, it will be fun times,” Callaway said. “When the wind changes, any course gets tough because of the way they mark their yardage books. This course will play interesting into a north or north-east wind.”
A number of people associated with the tournament said a player will need to be a good putter to win on this course.
“We’re all anxious to see what the players shoot,” Kibbe said. “It’s a little different golf course than what they’re used to playing so we’re anxious to see how they respond to it.”
From a new golf course at a different location to playing a week before the Masters, the 2020 Houston Open has a lot to offer. Getting Memorial Park, a public golf course which routinely plays to 60,000-plus rounds a year, ready for a professional golf tournament makes this a unique situation for golfers and fans alike.
“Everything about the Houston Open this year is exciting,” Vegas said. “We have a new super iconic golf course. A course pretty much everyone in the city has played and has been a part of. It’s kind of neat to have a PGA Tour there. It’s good for the city of Houston. For people that watch it on TV, they can relate to a course they’ve played.”
Memorial Park reopened for public play last November. The overhaul also enhanced storm water management. The Bermuda grass has grown in and the course has been closed the past couple of weeks with limited play in October, allowing for divots and ball marks to be repaired.
“We’re ready for the tournament,” said Jason Harsh, superintendent of the City of Houston Department of Parks and Recreation. “It’s really shaping up. It’s going to be a treat for the players to play and the convenience of having it at Memorial Park is going to be a hit for the players.
“From a design perspective, this could be one of the best stops on the tour. Having a Tom Doak design, having first-class amenities, the Astros and Mr. (Jim) Crane giving the city an awesome golf course.”
Memorial Park will play to around 7,300 yards for the tournament. Depending on the PGA set-up, the course can be shortened or lengthened. Usually averaging around 10.5 on the stimpmeter for public play, the speed of the greens will run 12 to 12.5 this week.
“The tour just wants the highest quality playing conditions that we can achieve with our facility,” Harsh said. “They like the golf course to play firm and fast.”
In 2016 Memorial Park was added to the Texas registry of historic golf courses as part of the Texas Golf Hall of Fame. Located in the heart of Houston, it originally opened in 1936 and designed by John Bredemus. The Houston Open was last played here in 1963 when New Zealander Bob Charles became the first lefthander to win a PGA Tour event.
“There’s so much excitement, and so much curiosity about this course and how it’s going to play for these guys,” Callaway said. “It’s our muni, we love it as Houstonians. It’s going to be great seeing the greats play on it.”
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November 01, 2020 at 02:00AM
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Memorial Park ready for its return to PGA Tour - Houston Chronicle
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