Event to play way out of minors under Crane
Astros owner Jim Crane, who in 2011 assembled a partnership to buy Major League Baseball’s most woebegone team and built it into a World Series champion six years later, officially signed up Tuesday to assume and revitalize Houston’s eight-decade PGA Tour legacy.
As was the case with the Astros, Crane said the Houston Open now faces a challenging road back to center stage as it returns to the PGA Tour schedule in the fall of 2019.
“I told (PGA Tour commissioner) Jay Monahan that we’re kind of going into the minor leagues,” Crane said. “We’re going into the offseason, not the prime time. We want to get back to prime time with this tournament. (Monahan) has got me in Triple-A, and I want to get back to the majors as quick as I can.”
Crane said he has assembled enough commitments from spon-
sors to finalize a five-year agreement for the Astros Foundation to be the host organization for the PGA Tour stop beginning next year.
The tournament — the official title of which has yet to be determined — is expected to be scheduled in October 2019 at the Golf Club of Houston, with eventual plans to move to Memorial Park.
Crane hopes to have 12 equal sponsors contributing to the $7.5 million annual purse and to fund operating expenses, with proceeds going to Astros Foundation charities. He said he has commitments from more than a half-dozen sponsors for that group, including from some companies he described as current Astros sponsors.
He won’t announce the sponsorship roster for several weeks.
Tuesday’s announcement by the PGA Tour and the Astros Foundation brings to an end the official stewardship of the nonprofit Houston Golf Association over the Houston PGA Tour event.
The tournament was played this year without a title sponsor after Shell ended its long-term sponsorship deal after the 2017 tournament.
“We’re not sure if there will be a role for us in the Houston Open moving forward, but it is important for Houston to have a PGA Tour event,” said Steve Timms, HGA president and CEO. “We’re going to keep using golf to do positive things in the community and will adjust our business going forward.”
HGA’s role uncertain
Crane, who bought the Astros as the team was struggling through the worst season in its history, emerged as the savior of the PGA Tour stop in Houston after the HGA was unable to arrange a title sponsor to assume the $8 million to $12 million commitment that Shell provided.
“We attacked it from a different approach and went with a group of people putting in a smaller amount and were able to get enough corralled to cut a five-year deal,” Crane said. “We didn’t want to lose the tournament.”
Crane said several Astros employees will travel this week to PGA Tour headquarters in Florida to begin working on organizing the 2019 event. He will hire a tournament director and permanent staff to run the event.
He has not approached the HGA about being involved in the tournament’s return but added, “I’m sure they can lend a hand here and there.” The local chapter of the First Tee Foundation, which is operated by the HGA, will be among the beneficiaries of the tournament.
The HGA was founded in 1946, the inaugural year of the Houston Open, and has distributed almost $70 million to local charities in its history.
The association will continue operate the renovated Gus Wortham Golf Course, which is schedule to reopen this year, and the nine-hole F.M. Law Park. It also is involved with junior golf events in Houston and last year offered an introduction to golf to more than 350,000 schoolchildren through assorted First Tee programs, Timms said.
Timms said the association will distribute some proceeds from the 2018 tournament to its primary beneficiaries — the Chinquapin Preparatory School, Cenikor Foundation and Project Joy and Hope.
The association reduced its staff last week from 25 to 17 employees, cutting those whose jobs were focused on the Houston Open, Timms said.
The ties that bind
Crane said he will “lean heavily” on his ties with PGA Tour players to ensure a quality field in 2019.
“We’re thrilled to share this great news today regarding the Houston Open,” Monahan said in a PGA Tour statement. “The event has always made a significant charitable impact by virtue of tremendous partners and outstanding community support.”
As the Astros staff works on plans for the 2019 tournament, Crane said he will continue working with the Memorial Park Conservancy to raise money for an upgrade of the Memorial Park Golf Course to PGA Tour standards.
“The conservancy and (Mayor Sylvester Turner) are supportive, but a lot of details have to be worked out,” he said.