Revamp adds to challenge
New Memorial Park layout ‘hard course,’ earns players’ respect
Jordan Spieth couldn’t beat par Thursday in the opening round of the Vivint Houston Open, shooting a 3over 73 with a back-nine 40. He was among a large group trying to stay afloat.
Blame the course. Blame the architect. Blame the player consultant whose input factored heavily in the redesign of a new version of a historic Houston city municipal golf course.
“I think every time Jordan hit it in the water, he told me that was my fault. I’m sure every bad shot will be my fault, so I’ll take that,” said Brooks Koepka, a playing partner of Spieth’s on Thursday and the player consultant of the Memorial Park Golf Park redesign of architect Tom Doak and Renaissance Golf Design.
“It’s a fun golf course to play. I really like it. Having a hand in it is special, so you want to play well, but I hit it terrible today.”
Even with knowing the ins and outs of the course, Koepka went head-on with Memorial Park, shooting 2-over 72.
The PGA Tour event is being contested through Sunday in the heart of Houston. At the top of the leaderboard is Brandt Snedeker at 5 under, two shots clear of his nearest pursuers. There were no bogey-free rounds Thursday.
“I’ve been around for a couple of days, and a reaction of a lot of players is, ‘This is a hard golf course.’ I’m surprised they think it’s as hard as it is,” Doak said. “I’m curious to see if it pans out (that way).
“I saw Brooks (Wednesday), and he’s like, ‘Nobody’s shooting 20 under, I promise.’ I would expect somebody by the weekend to shoot a really low number. They don’t know the golf course well yet.”
That only one player bettered 3 under over the par-70, 7,432-yard layout is surprising to Doak.
“Whenit gets to Sunday and you put a big prize out there, they’ll go at it a little harder,” he said.
What makes any golf course difficult to play is wind and firm ground. Memorial Park dodged heavy wind Thursday. No one tore it apart, but the players seemed to like what they saw of the course, which reopened to the public for the first time last November.
Tony Finau enjoyed playing the par 3s, especially No. 15, which was playing only 112 yards with a slight swirling wind. Though short, it’s still potentially nasty. If a playermisses the green left on 15, where the grass is mowed down tight, the ball could trickle down into the water, resulting in a big number.
“I’m a huge fan of No. 15, and it’s probably going to average over par just the way the green is,” said Finau, who carded a 1-under-69. “It’s like a mountain. You either hit it on the
green or it’sgoing tobereally hard to get up and down. Those two par 3s are amazing holes. You don’t have to have a 240-yard hole to make it good.”
Scottie Scheffler went nine holes without a birdie but still shot 3 under.
“The course forces you into being patient, just because you can’t really (afford to) miss many greens,” Scheffler said. “You can get into spots where you start playing ping-pong across these greens.”
As was the case for Sam Ryder, who kept hitting his ball across the green on No. 13 en route to a 10. Ryder was only 79 yards from the hole following a 312-yard tee shot on the 391-yard par 4.
Ryder’s ordeal illustrates how difficult Memorial Park can play. The golfers did the best they could playing their first round of competition on a new venue. It’s not a cookie-cutter course by anymeans.
“It’s a tough golf course,” said Carlos Ortiz, who is in the group at 3 under. “I didn’t really know what to expect, so just pretty much tried to hit it in the fairway and somehow get it on the green.”
Because of howthe spedup greens were constructed at Memorial Park with tight lies around the complexes, hitting off the fairway is crucial, placing an emphasis on driving the ball and putting a premium on ball striking.
“It’s the ability to get the ball near the hole, and the penalty for just missing on the wrong side becomes big because the ball just rolls away,” said Cameron Davis, one of six golfers sharing second at 3 under. “It’s been awhile since I’ve played a course on Tour that’s done that, and it’s great. It reminds me a lot of back in Australia.”
Spieth played the front nine in 2-under 33. His 5 over on the back nine, which included playing holes13-17 in 6 over and putting a ball in the water for double-bogey 6 on No. 17, derailed his round.
“Well, 15, 16 and 17 are where you can make birdies, but you can also get into some trouble,” said Spieth, who is in a share of 73rd place. “Some risk-reward when you’re attacking.”