Hole-by-hole: Memorial Park Golf Course, host of The Houston Open

The PGA Tour is back inside the loop. Memorial Park, a municipal golf course near downtown Houston, was awarded the Houston Open starting in 2020. The event moved from well north of town in Humble at the 36-hole, semi-private Golf Club of Houston to just inside I-610. Prior to the move, the golf course underwent a $15 million transformation that was completed in late-2019, quite incredibly within a year's time. The Astros Golf Foundation raised the money for the project and commissioned architect Tom Doak and player consultant Brooks Koepka to totally redesign the existing 18 holes.

The result is a 7,292-yard design with five par 5s, including a risk-reward 16th hole that runs along perhaps the most drastic change from the previous design by John Bredemus. A large collection pond was installed for both drainage purposes and for strategic elements on the 16th and 17th holes that hug it. Irrigation canals were also dug out or deepened and add a new aesthetic to this classic layout within the 1,500-acre urban greenspace.

Doak's greens are often times elevated with collection areas and runoffs. There are only 19 bunkers, down from 54, and three of them border the 18th green.

For resident golfers, Memorial Park is one of the best under-$50 golf experiences in the country. Non-residents pay closer to $150 to play. The result is that tee times can be very hard to come by and often times booked within minutes of becoming available.

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