With the Florida Swing concluded, and only two weeks before the Masters, the PGA Tour heads west to Memorial Park Golf Course and the Houston Open. One of the country’s best public, municipal courses, Memorial Park is a long par 70 that measures 7,412 yards and can trace its origins back to 1912.
The course features five par 3s and three par 5s. There are only 21 bunkers on the entire course and only four water danger holes. The defense of the course is the unique green complexes that feature plenty of undulations and short-grass runoffs with false fronts. “Nothing is hidden, it’s all out in front of you. But these green complexes can be treacherous if they don’t hit their target,” said course superintendent, Parker Henry. Playing almost an entire stroke over par after its first three editions, Memorial Park emphasizes the importance of a well-rounded game.
Due to the tournament moving from its fall slot (where it has been held since 2020) to the spring for this year’s event, the agronomy is completely different. What was once a wall-to-wall bermudagrass course is now overseeded with Poa trivialis on the greens. But the biggest change is switching from penal 2.5″ Bermuda rough to the much easier and shorter 1.25″ ryegrass rough.
This is important because what was once one of the toughest non-major courses on Tour appears to be much easier off the tee thanks to this switch in turf necessitated by the tournament’s seasonal change. Players can take more aggressive shots coming out of the rough than in years past without having to worry about “fliers” or bad lies from difficult Bermuda rough. Expect the average score this year to be around a full stroke easier than the +0.80 per round from the first three events here.
The Field
Headlining the 144-player field are six of the top-30 ranked players in the world led by No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Houston resident Sahith Theegala, Will Zalatoris and Jason Day. Tony Finau also returns to defend his 2022 title. Scheffler and Clark have been two of the hottest golfers on the planet and have finished 1-2 in each of the last two Signature events. A native Texan, Scheffler has finished ninth and second here in the last two events and also owns the course record with a 62 in 2021.
There is also a decent mid-tier group of golfers in attendance this week including Si Woo Kim, Jake Knapp, Kurt Kitayama, Tom Hoge, Cameron Davis, and Luke List. The first two Houston Open champions at Memorial Park, Carlos Ortiz and Jason Kokrak will be absent this week as each is on the LIV Tour. There is a 36-hole cut on Friday with the top-65 and ties making it through to the weekend to compete for the $9.1 million purse.
Memorial Park Golf Course – History
Memorial Park Golf Course had its official beginning in 1912 when a rudimentary 9-hole course with sand greens was laid out and intended for soldiers who were staying nearby at Camp Logan. In 1935, architect John Bredemus redesigned the course and added a second nine. The course hosted the Houston Open 14 times from 1947-1965 before the event moved to different state courses in both Humble and The Woodlands.
In 2017, after Shell did not renew its deal after 25 years of sponsoring the Houston Open, Astros owner Jim Crane began planning to have the event return to the city of Houston. While Memorial Park underwent a complete restoration in 1994, it was still not suitable enough for PGA Tour standards. So fast forward to 2019 when Crane hired famed course designer Tom Doak to dramatically change the course with the goal of keeping it playable for the average golfer, and yet making it a more demanding challenge for Tour professionals.
Though the routing remained unchanged, the course was transformed in numerous ways. The course has a much more wide-open look thanks to the elimination of underbrush and many of the overhanging trees in certain areas. The ravine that runs through the front nine was incorporated into more holes. Eight of the original greens were moved and certain other holes were altered in different ways. Tour player, Brooks Koepka was brought on as a consultant to Doak’s team. His contributions included getting rid of half of the bunkers, incorporating more short grass around the greens, and creating additional water hazards on the closing stretch of holes.
Along with the aforementioned agronomic changes, there is one major hole change for this year’s event. The green on the 17th hole was moved 30 yards farther back along the water, creating a landing pad to where the old green was, in an effort for the players to attempt to carry the ball over the water. That should create some excitement on the hole by adding pressure down the stretch. Two bunkers were also added to the left of the green.
There have been small tweaks to a couple of par 3s. On the 9th hole, the green surface was brought in closer to the right-hand side of the front along the water to allow for a well-struck shot to remain on the green instead of rolling off into the water. The same was done on the left side of the 15th green.
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Finish Position and Strokes Gained Course History (2020-2022)
This includes the average finish position and Strokes Gained per round since 2020 for each of the categories. Players are sorted by SG: Total. Memorial Park is the sixth-least (out of 44) predictive annual course on Tour.
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Course Features
Memorial Park Golf Course is a long Par 70 that sits at 7,412 yards. Not only is it the fourth-longest course in the annual Tour rotation, but it has also played as the sixth-toughest annual course with golfers averaging 0.80 strokes over par over the past three years. It initially appears like a bomber’s paradise, but the past two years have shown that it is a course that also demands accuracy, touch around the greens, and patience.
The course features overseeded Ryegrass in the fairways and rough with firm “bouncy” greens that typically run at fast speeds between 12-13 on the stimpmeter. With the greens being overseeded with Poa trivialis, it will be interesting to see if they remain as firm in the spring weather. With a lack of penal bunkers and rough along with little water hazard danger, the heavily contoured green complexes along with potential windy conditions are among the course’s most prominent defenses.
Overall, it is a flat parkland course, but Doak did a great job of creating the potential for uneven lies in the fairways and in the short-grass areas around the greens. The exposed ravine that cuts across the front nine also adds a degree of scenery that is unexpected until you witness it first-hand.
“It’s really a course of misses,” said Tour veteran Kramer Hickok. “It’s not a course of how well you’re hitting it. You could hit it great and have a couple misses in the wrong spots and make easy doubles.” Scottie Scheffler chimed in on the course’s difficulty by saying, “It’s a place where you can score, it’s just really difficult to. It’s a challenging golf course. I really appreciate that. I feel I get a little tired of playing the golf courses where you’ve got to shoot 20-something under to win.”
Hole Preview
Along with a good mix of doglegs and straight holes, Memorial Park features a variety of holes with varying distances. Lengthy holes, however, are a common theme. Three of the five par 3s are over 200 yards with eight par 4s playing over 440 yards. The course shows its teeth with five of those playing over 490 yards and averaging a bogey or worse rate of 28.9%. Even the par 5s are challenging which includes the 576-yard 16th hole which only has a Birdie or Better rate of 22%.
The best holes at Memorial Park are the closing stretch of #15-18 which are full of risk and reward. Known as the loudest hole in Texas, the 15th is a short par 3 that plays anywhere from 115 to 155 yards. It has a difficult green to land on with little room for a safe miss. With a false front on the right side, a creek short and left, and a very narrow green, bogey or worse is very possible.
The aforementioned par 5 16th hole has plenty of risk if choosing to go for the green in two shots. The green is protected by water on three sides and there is very little room behind for a bailout. The 17th is a short par 4 that requires two precise shots to hit the green which sits behind another water hazard. Finally, the closing 18th is a monster 488-yard par 4 that is a slight dogleg right with plenty of strategic options off the tee. The green slopes from left to back right creating a difficult approach from a longer distance.
Strokes Gained Analysis
Off the Tee
As one of the longest courses on Tour along with a lack of hazards and bunkers off the tee, golfers are able to use driver without hesitation on almost every par 4 and par 5 hole. Distance is a definite advantage and ranks as the 10th highest on Tour at 291 yards. Longer drives means players have less lengthy approach shots into firm greens.
Accuracy matters much less this year because golfers who miss fairways will not have to deal with the unpredictable bermuda rough. Instead, they will see resort-length rough at only 1.25″.
Approach
Every single approach stat at Memorial Park is more difficult than the Tour average. It’s the 8th toughest GIR course from both the fairway and the rough. It’s the 6th toughest in Proximity to the Hole at 39.6 feet and the toughest course on Tour in Proximity from the Rough at over 53 feet. Regarding the challenge these greens present, 2020 winner Carlos Ortiz said, “Once you push it with these greens, they’re pretty undulated and they all fall off, so if you start pushing it, it’s easy to hit it to the side and you’re going to have a hard time putting it again on the green.”
The biggest challenge is getting your second shot to settle on the correct quadrant of these large greens. The firm undulations that slope off near the edges make it very difficult to get makeable birdie putts if you hit the wrong sector of the green. In some cases, missing the green on the correct side might be better than hitting the green but having to putt from 40 feet across multiple breaks and slopes. 2021’s winner, Jason Kokrak emphasized this by saying, “There are some pins out here that are pretty nasty if you do miss, so I’ve been playing away from the pin on occasion, which I don’t normally do.”
In 2022, 34% of approaches came from 200+ yards which is well above average. Joel Dahmen spoke to this difficult combination of hitting tough greens from distance, “With the way the greens are, you have to be so precise on the greens, and it’s tough to be precise from 200 yards.”
Around the Green and Putting
in 2022, 27% of strokes gained at Memorial Park came from around the greens. That was the highest rate on Tour and speaks to the importance of having a quality short game to contend here. In total, 25 of the top 27 players on the leaderboard gained strokes around the greens with 19 of them gaining at least one stroke on the field. Most of the greens fall off around the edges to short-grass runoff areas which can make life quite difficult for even the best players when missing the putting surface.
Not only that but the greens are also sloped and very fast. Instead of the deeper rough that most courses have, Doak and Koepka wanted tight, sloping uphill lies that would test players’ ability to demonstrate touch with their chipping. And with so many players missing greens, a poor short game will be very difficult to hide.
Said course superintendent Parker Henry on the agronomy changes this year, “We are tighter around the greens. Hopefully, it will create some different shots around the greens in areas we’ve struggled in the past. The players may not have had a great lie even if they may have been in the short grass.”
In typical Doak fashion, the greens are filled with sloping contours and roll firm and fast. Once on the greens, the data shows putting averages are very close to the Tour average. Because they do run a bit faster than normal, and if they are firm, they will test a player’s ability to avoid three-putts and bogeys.
Most Important Stats For Success at Memorial Park
*In order of importance
- SG: APP
- Scrambling (Short Grass)
- Bogey Avoidance
- Driving Distance
- Good Drive %
- Birdie or Better %
- SG: Putting (Poa Trivialis/Overall)
- Proximity 200+ yards
- 3-Putt AVD
- SG: Total on Difficult Scoring courses
Key Rabbit Hole Filters
- Course Region: Texas
- Comp Courses: GC of Houston, Renaissance Club, Congaree, Quail Hollow, Augusta National, TPC Scottsdale, Riviera, Southern Hills, Bay Hill
- Scoring Conditions: Difficult
- Course Length: Very Long
- Field Strength: Weak
- Greens Surface: Poa Trivialis
- Green Size: Large
- Rough Length: Short
- OTT Club: Driver Heavy
- Gain APP: Difficult
- Gain ARG: Difficult
- Scrambling Short Grass: Difficult
- 3-Putt AVD: Difficult
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