Does anyone know if they put the whole field up at the Houstonian?

Course might be better in spring as well

Will atleast be interesting to see how it plays early in the year

Makes sense from location stand point but a lot of guys prefer houses

I was talking with the concierge at the Post Oak and I think some players stay there also.

The Milkman said:

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AustinCountyAg said:

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I can see some pro's loving and hate the Houston Open as a designated event. Easy course they could destroy, but at the same time it's a pretty boring, ugly course for the most part compared to most of the other tour stops. I cant see Rory, and or JT thinking "man, so excited that we are FORCED to play Memorial Park this week".

Then again, what do I know. Just by judging previous events at Memorial the field is below par.

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The pros priorities for courses are not interesting designs or pretty views. They prioritize whatever they view as "fair" or predictable conditions, and how well they are treated by the tournament. Which is as petty as meals, activities for families, etc.

Of course, its different if its a historic course like Riv.

Previous fields at Memorial were mostly driven by its spot on the schedule being a fall event. Will get an entirely different caliber of player in the spring, regardless of being designated or not

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I am well aware of that. I should have worded it differently in my previous post.

I was speaking more towards how its currently set up, as in pretty much bomb it off the tee without having to work the ball a ton, and not overseeded like AGNC. IF they decide to overseed, which I'd bet the will now that could help in terms of setting it up more like AGNC, however off the tee it will still require minimal movement of shots.

I know I've seen other players before mention they liked of they used to set up GCOH in prep for the masters because they overseeded the course how Augusta does as well as off the tee there where some holes that required similar shaping of shots that they like playing in prep for the Masters.

I do agree that with it being in spring it will help with drawing bigger names with it being designated or not.

The course doesn't take a lot of movement off the tee but it does require some creativeness around the greens.

Its really only defense is the undulations, collection areas, false fronts, etc around the greens. I think it is similar to ANGC in that it makes you think about your landing spot on and around the greens.

David_Puddy said:

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Can wait to see Sam Bennett out there next year

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Sam wins and plays The Masters again.

I'm most impressed that someone on here has a buddy that plays/caddies on the PGA Tour. Does he carry his own bag?

Will be very interesting to see how Memorial plays with winter rye grass and how horrible the post-tourney transition will be back to Bermuda.

He sometimes caddies and sometimes plays

Would be interesting to see a tournament without caddies though

jonj101 said:

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David_Puddy said:

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I've played out there twice this week teeting off at 3:30 and 3:45 and paying $35 each round with a cart. Crazy that you can play a course that hosts a PGA even for that cheap. I agree with others in that there just isn't much to the course and it's kinda boring, other than a handful of the sloped greens out there.

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Look at you stirring the pot.

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Haha definitely wasn't trying to do that. It's by far the best value in Houston for $35 and there isn't a close 2nd. It just sucks if you get put behind some slow players and there are quite a few walkers out there who are sometimes unaware of their pace of play

Pace of play is an issue at Memorial for one because it's cart path only most of the time so when you mix that with walkers it gets backed up easily.

Also in the spring/summer when they grow the rough up it's so easy to lose balls a foot off the fairway you get so many people looking for balls. Throw in the guys who look for 5+ mins and it slows way down.

David_Puddy said:

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jonj101 said:

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David_Puddy said:

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I've played out there twice this week teeting off at 3:30 and 3:45 and paying $35 each round with a cart. Crazy that you can play a course that hosts a PGA even for that cheap. I agree with others in that there just isn't much to the course and it's kinda boring, other than a handful of the sloped greens out there.

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Look at you stirring the pot.

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Haha definitely wasn't trying to do that. It's by far the best value in Houston for $35 and there isn't a close 2nd. It just sucks if you get put behind some slow players and there are quite a few walkers out there who are sometimes unaware of their pace of play

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(Waiting for Mr. Bond)

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Mr.Bond said:

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Ditto… …

Did I offend some of you guys? I love playing Memorial......it's less than 5 minutes from my house

David_Puddy said:

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Did I offend some of you guys? I love playing Memorial......it's less than 5 minutes from my house

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You didn't. The *******s running MP are still on my mount Rushmore of dewshbags though

Bond is still pissy he doesn't get the benefits of city assets without paying city taxes

We had a thread on here a while back discussing how those of us who live outside the city limits and played Memorial prior to the renovation now have to have to pay significantly more to play the course.

Some believe its warranted, and some of us think its ridiculous. I mistakenly thought you were trying to stoke up some entertainment on the subject.

David_Puddy said:

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Did I offend some of you guys? I love playing Memorial......it's less than 5 minutes from my house

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And all this time I thought you just cared about dudes brushing teeth at work during lunch dumps.

terradactylexpress said:

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Bond is still pissy he doesn't get the benefits of city assets without paying city taxes

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Wrong again. I'm pissed because the disparity between the two is egregious. But keep on keeping on

I don't disagree at all that the course is nowhere near worth $100+ to play. But even with that outrageous rate it still near impossible to get on

I think nonresidents pay something like $150-175. For that I'd better be getting top course in the state type conditions. Memorial isn't even the best muni in Houston.

And I think it's still hard to get on because of the resident play. Can't imagine there are that many nonresidents lining up to pay that price.

And FWIW I'm not calling Memorial a goat track. It's a nice course and for the resident $40 rate it's the best deal in the state, but that non resident rate is straight up robbery. Realistically, it's a $80-90 course MAYBE $125 on a weekend.

100% agree

Yeah, spot on. I can see the green complexes being worth it one time but it's a lot of walking for $145

I will say, guest fees at country clubs in Houston are getting dangerously high. Granted, they're likely higher as a barrier to keep members from flooding the tee sheets with guests but it is something I've noticed since 2020.

My club - a mid tier invited/ClubCorp course is now $95 during the week and on weekends

That's my point I've been trying to make.

We played it every Friday with no issues

Then you either were prebooking several weeks in advance paying the extra money or you had some workaround on the system

terradactylexpress said:

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Then you either were prebooking several weeks in advance paying the extra money or you had some workaround on the system

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Nope. 6 am every Tuesday or Monday. Can't remember it's been so long since I've played it now

Ag_07 said:

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I think nonresidents pay something like $150-175. For that I'd better be getting top course in the state type conditions. Memorial isn't even the best muni in Houston.

And I think it's still hard to get on because of the resident play. Can't imagine there are that many nonresidents lining up to pay that price.

And FWIW I'm not calling Memorial a goat track. It's a nice course and for the resident $40 rate it's the best deal in the state, but that non resident rate is straight up robbery. Realistically, it's a $80-90 course MAYBE $125 on a weekend.

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$150-175 is insane!

B$Weigem said:

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Yeah, spot on. I can see the green complexes being worth it one time but it's a lot of walking for $145

I will say, guest fees at country clubs in Houston are getting dangerously high. Granted, they're likely higher as a barrier to keep members from flooding the tee sheets with guests but it is something I've noticed since 2020.

My club - a mid tier invited/ClubCorp course is now $95 during the week and on weekends

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Yeah, my guest fee playing with a good buddy of mine at Carlton Woods went from $135 to 250 (if paying on my own) or $200 if put on a member account. I paid a guest fee of $140 at Westwood a couple of weeks ago to play on a Wednesday at 4