Heard Giles Kibbe speak (general counsel for Jim Crane). Some highlights about the Houston Open and Memorial Park redevelopment:

• October Tournament is set. They are excited about creating a more social environment (think along the lines of the Waste Management Open, but admittedly not that robust). Tailgates, beer garden, concerts, etc. are being added to make it a more festive event. That said, they know it's OU-Texas, A&M-Alabama, and potentially 'Stros-Yankees ALCS weekend, which will provide headwinds for attendance.
• When they lost their April weekend, the PGA Tour gave them two options: July 4th weekend, or 2nd weekend in October. Easy to see why they made the choice they did.
• Houston Open has first rights on the first spring weekend that opens up in the future. This may be decades away though.
• Memorial Park re-opens on November 4th. Houston residents green fee will be ~$40. Out of town guests will be much higher.
• Driving range will continue to be the main revenue generator for the park.
• Beck's Prime will stay on site. The existing clubhouse facility will be renovated, but likely not expanded or materially modified.
• They are building a 17,000 sf STEM Education Center on site. Will be situated near a new 4-hole First Tee short course, which I believe he said was near the old maintenance shed. Education Center will convert to a 152-player locker-room and player dining facility for Tournament Week. Very versatile facility.
• Total redevelopment cost (golf course, existing clubhouse, driving range, new education center) is ~$32MM (can't remember exact number but that's close).
• Parking was an initial concern, and when the spoke to PGA Tour about parking, PGA Tour laughed and said parking is an issue at every tournament. Golf Club of Houston actually has one of best parking setups on tour. Memorial Park has 1,500+ parking spaces, but vast majority of fans will be shuttled in from parking sites located all over the city. Not an issue.
• They chose Tom Doak over all of the other big-name architects (Fazio, Hanse, Jones, etc.) because Tom has never designed a course where a PGA Tournament is held. When Tom was young, he said he never wanted to design a PGA course. It's now something he regretted so when Astros Golf Foundation reached out to Tom he was all over it.
• 18 bunkers on the course; multiple holes with no bunkers
• Par 71, 7,200 yards with 5 par 3's. Effectively plays like a 7,400 yd Par 72. Brooks Koepka was big on fewer bunkers and more difficult green surrounds. He said a PGA player hits it in a bunker and it's not a penalty, so why have them and the associated maintenance requirement.
• Because of timing they had to keep the same fairway grass. Didn't have time to fully kill old grass and reseed.
• Brooks wanted to play in this years event, but has prior engagements in Asia on the Monday after the tournament and can't get there in time.
• Brooks, Dustin Johnson, and Rickie Fowler have all committed to play in the tournament in 2020.

All very interesting, thanks for sharing. Both dates are crap, which will weaken the field. I'm excited to play the course. Doak designed a "muni" in Denver called CommonGround and it's fun as hell.

How much is it gonna take to get on Memorial that first weekend??

I wonder how much non Houston residents are going to pay. Anymore than 60 dollars and I'm out. I don't like the sound of "much more".

Parking is already terrible to just play there or go to the range. Is there going to be any improvements for day to day parking?

Forum Troll said:

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I wonder how much non Houston residents are going to pay. Anymore than 60 dollars and I'm out. I don't like the sound of "much more".

Parking is already terrible to just play there or go to the range. Is there going to be any improvements for day to day parking?

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I'm not suggesting that they can get away with charging Torrey Pines rates, but take a look at their Resident vs. Non-Resident fees.

Gig-Em2003 said:

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• Brooks Koepka was big on fewer bunkers and more difficult green surrounds.

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If you Twitter, the Houston Open account is posting regular videos of the new holes. The greens definitely look more challenging. Last video posted was of new #2 hole, looks really good and hard.

Ezra Brooks said:

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Forum Troll said:

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I wonder how much non Houston residents are going to pay. Anymore than 60 dollars and I'm out. I don't like the sound of "much more".

Parking is already terrible to just play there or go to the range. Is there going to be any improvements for day to day parking?

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I'm not suggesting that they can get away with charging Torrey Pines rates, but take a look at their Resident vs. Non-Resident fees.

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Lol if they charge 3.5 times for non-residents like Torrey then they may as well just say Houston residents only. Guess we'll see.

Someone asked where the teeth of the golf course would be and Giles said the green surrounds. He said most greens didn't have a lot of movement. We actually watched this video and he commented that the 2nd green might be the most dramatic on the course.

Forum Troll said:

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I wonder how much non Houston residents are going to pay. Anymore than 60 dollars and I'm out. I don't like the sound of "much more".

Parking is already terrible to just play there or go to the range. Is there going to be any improvements for day to day parking?

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I've been quoted on this board multiple times that this is a mistake. No reason a guy from spring, Pearland or humble etc should be grossly punished by paying a much higher green fee. This isn't Torrey Pines or any other major destination golf course but I know someone on here will disagree "Houston has plenty of people who can fill the tee sheet" I think you'd be surprised what percentage of the golfers aren't Houston residents


If I had to guess, I'd say they're charging non residents around 90

If I had to bet the "local" price will go beyond Houston city limits. I would think those in Harris, Fort Bend Co, etc would be eligible. But that's just a guess.

Gig-Em2003 said:

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If I had to bet the "local" price will go beyond Houston city limits. I would think those in Harris, Fort Bend Co, etc would be eligible. But that's just a guess.

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If they include surrounding counties then that's ok with me. But reading it, it sounds like Houston city limit residents only

He was vague. I took it to mean Houston metro area. But he didn't clarify.

There are a good amount of Houston golfers who have to drive 30+ minutes out of town every weekend to play because memorial was impossible to get a tee time on. Hopefully Gus and memorial being in good shape helps out, I'd be ok with just getting priority lottery spots to COH golfers and then the greater Houston area paying the same rate

Gig-Em2003 said:

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He was vague. I took it to mean Houston metro area. But he didn't clarify.

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I hope you're right, I just don't interpret it as that

terradactylexpress said:

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I'd be ok with just getting priority lottery spots to COH golfers and then the greater Houston area paying the same rate

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I'd be ok with this

713 area code or nothing. No 281's and def not 832's.

I can't wait to play it. I am really excited for Memorial Park. Played there probably 50 times.

Mr.Bond said:

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Gig-Em2003 said:

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If I had to bet the "local" price will go beyond Houston city limits. I would think those in Harris, Fort Bend Co, etc would be eligible. But that's just a guess.

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If they include surrounding counties then that's ok with me. But reading it, it sounds like Houston city limit residents only

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I think The Wilderness has a Lake Jackson Resident --> Brazoria County Resident --> All others rate structure. Maybe something tiered like that would be ok.

Ezra Brooks said:

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Mr.Bond said:

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Gig-Em2003 said:

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If I had to bet the "local" price will go beyond Houston city limits. I would think those in Harris, Fort Bend Co, etc would be eligible. But that's just a guess.

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If they include surrounding counties then that's ok with me. But reading it, it sounds like Houston city limit residents only

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I think The Wilderness has a Lake Jackson Resident --> Brazoria County Resident --> All others rate structure. Maybe something tiered like that would be ok.

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Moody Gardens does too

They do, I'm a Galveston County resident and it's like 4 dollars cheaper than a non County resident

How do they check for residency? Driver's license? Could I just have a family member make me a tee time?

Sure and you will get the out of town rate until you show an ID. But you allllmost outsmarted the system.

bodaciousbood14 said:

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How do they check for residency? Driver's license? Could I just have a family member make me a tee time?

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Usually thats how places with residency rates do it yes.

Any update on the new range? I've stayed away the last few months,... have they started on the double decker...when will it be good to go?

Structure looked complete when i drove by there last week. I'd assume the range will open when the course does.

I still use the range during lunch sometimes. Yes, the structure has started but not finished. I was told it would be open in October by the guys working there but not given an exact date.

So far I do like the direction the ads have been describing the tournament is taking. In a recent email it noted a number of food trucks that would be spread throughout the course, as well as concerts and other events that will be associated with the event.

I think we play bama the same day of the tournament, but aside from that Saturday I hope to attend and check it out.

Does anyone know the actual opening date for Memorial Park? The website still says end of October so I'm guessing it hasn't been set yet. I'm assuming they will send an email out and go back to the lottery system for tee times.

November 4th

November 5th there is a charity event $750 per person

November 6th play opens to public with tee times available online maybe a week or less from that date.

No more Walkups as everyone will fill want to play this course because it is new and a PGA tournament course. ON line will be the only way to get on. There will be no more early morning sign up sheets like the old days. First tee time will be the first one with an on- line reservation..

The course will be cart-paths-only for the first 9 months and probably longer.

Course designer Tom Doak cut down over 250 pine trees that were over 100 years old and what gave this course character. You can see from one side of the course to the other. I don't think there are 50 trees left in the middle of the course. Golfers were complaining that Memorial wasn't long enough at 7300 yards and could have been easily expanded to 7600 yards. So what does Doak do, designs it to 7200 yards.

Everyone will be paying parking meter fees to play golf thanks to the money and power grabbing Conversancy. The Converancy also hijacked Crane for 500K a year and pressured City council 2 years ago to have The City pay them 200K a year out of the golf course revenues.

I hope Crane can make his tournament work because he has put a lot of money and effort into its success. I don't see how it can survive in its current October time slot. The highest rated player in this years tournament is number 34 on the money list.