Memorial Park about more than golf
For many of us, the return to Memorial Park for the Houston Open isn’t a return at all.
The last time the event was played there, pure-putting Kiwi Bob Charles became the first player to win a PGA event playing lefthanded.
That was 1963, two weeks after a kid named Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer to win the Masters, months before the assassination of John F. Kennedy and a year before the Beatles invaded the United States.
For those who weren’t around then, the idea of the best golfers in the world on display at the beautiful classic course has long been imagined.
That will happen in three months, when the PGA Tour stops here a week before a delayed trip to Augusta National.
Whether fans will be allowed onto the recently renovated course is another matter.
The Astros Golf Foundation would love to show off its work on the course to fans, but as is the case with all large gatherings in the Year of COVID, the decision is out of its hands.
“We built this facility to be a great attraction for more than just one year,” said Giles Kibbe, president of the Astros Golf Foundation. “We can wait. We’ll work with City of Houston and local health officials, and we will follow their recommendation.”
None of the remaining four official tour events — the last of which is the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta in the first week of September — will allow fans onto the course.
The Houston Open, which was pushed back from its original October date, will be played in November. There remains
hope that at least some fans will be allowed onto the course.
After reopening in November 2019, the golf course was closed for roughly three months after the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. The course, which sees the highest volume of play in town, benefited greatly from the break after being rebuilt in some six months’ shorter time than such an undertaking typically takes.
Kibbe said the decision of whether fans will be allowed at the tournament, even on a limitedcapacity basis, will not slow the plans developed from the foundation’s $34 million commitment to Memorial Park. While redesigning the municipal course and saving the golf tournament are the highlights, there is more to it.
This week, work began on a $4 million renovation of the Memorial Park Tennis Center. While the adjustment to the tennis courts was needed to build a PGA Tour-quality driving range, the upgrade should pay dividends to the city’s tennis lovers.
Originally built in 1956, the tennis courts will be rebuilt in two stages, keeping them open for play during construction, with the opening phase — 10 new courts — expected to be completed in December. The project includes a refurbished tennis shop.
Kibbe said the changes are not only better for the tennis-playing community but tennis fans as well.
“Originally, this was not going to happen for seven to 10 years, but we fasttracked it,” Kibbe said. “These will be great surfaces, better courts and a facility that can hold large tournaments. It’s a tremendous facelift.”
Visitors to the golf course already can see significant changes, with new multilevel hitting bays on the driving range and a 17,000-square-foot building just off the clubhouse. The $9 million structure will serve as a PGA players’ clubhouse and lounge during the Houston Open and an educational center the rest of the year.
Kibbe pointed out that one of Astros owner Jim Crane’s first initiatives was to work with local corporations to fund the renovation of Little League fields around the city. The STEM program at Memorial Park will be part of the First Tee program, with some after-school classroom instruction tied into the science of golf. The foundation even will provide transportation to the facility.
“We wanted that to be in use for more than one week a year,” Kibbe said. “The Chevron Center for Education and Golf will be operational the other 51 weeks. That’s continuing with the foundation’s main focus of providing underprivileged kids sports and educational opportunities.
“This is a long-term commitment that we’re dedicated to.”