Fresh features meet tradition at Memorial Park, hosting LPGA's Chevron

Located in the key stretch of closing holes when challengers for the title are likely to be running on adrenaline, the 15th will ask for calm calculations, sure-handed distance-control and a mastery of spin.

"Yeah, 15 is a really dangerous hole,” Doak told Golfweek in 2020, shortly after he renovated the course in 2019 and during the first rendition of the PGA Tour’s Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park. “That's one of the ones. Brooks (Koepka, who helped Doak renovate the course) said when we started we'd be heroes if we just make par 3s short and not make them all 210 yards, because that's what they usually do for Tour courses these days. Especially that one, it's the shortest one and it's the nastiest one."

That’s saying something on a course full of difficult par 3s. Despite is demure length, No. 15 ranked as the sixth hardest hole in the recently completed Texas Children’s Houston Open at Memorial Park, won by Gary Woodland on March 29. The best male players in the world racked up only 49 birdies against 300 pars, 64 bogeys and five double-bogeys. The men often opted for a safe shot away from the flag, particularly in the third round when the pin was up front and players kept sending their shots deep on purpose, toward the wider section of the green at the back. Expect much the same approach in the Chevron Championship.

The second hole at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.

Doak is among golf’s most-sought-after course designers, and his strategic demands – especially on and around his greens – sets him apart. That was a huge part of his 2019 renovation of Memorial Park, which sits on mostly flat land and where much of the interest had to be created by the architect.

Beyond the terrain, Doak had an unusual challenge at Memorial Park: How to challenge the best men and women players in the world, all while allowing the paying public to enjoy the course to the tune of some 60,000 rounds a year. Doak’s approach was to forget about defending par for the tour players, instead providing plenty of opportunities for dramatic lead changes. No. 15 fits that bill perfectly.

The work came about as a partnership between the City of Houston, Chevron and the Astros Golf Foundation. The Foundation was led by Houston Astros owner Jim Crane with two goals: Save the Houston Open, which had lost its previous sponsor, and to provide access to educational and golf programs for young Houstonians. The $18.5 million project put Memorial Park back on golf’s map.

This will be the first year for the Chevron Championship to be played at Memorial Park. The move follows three years of the event being played at the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course at the Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, north of Houston. Prior to that, the major championship had spent 51 years at the Dinah Shore Tournament Course at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California. Chevron took over as title sponsor in 2023.

Famous as the first major championship for men or women each year, the event was perhaps even better known for its winners leaping into Poppie’s Pond – a tradition started by Amy Alcott in 1988 and picked up again in 1994 by Donna Andrews. The tradition moved with the tournament to The Woodlands, but the pond wasn’t the same. Netting was installed to protect against alligators, and the water wasn’t as clear as it had been in the desert out west.

The winner’s leap presented a problem with the event’s move to Memorial Park, where Doak’s 18th hole featured no water. That will be solved for this year’s tournament and beyond. This year’s championship will feature a concrete-lined pool for the winner’s leap, and Doak has agreed to build a pond along the right side of the 18th hole shortly after the tournament ends that can be used for future victory laps.

Glenn Weckerlin, executive director of the Chevron Championship and Chevron's global director of brand and partner line management, said event organizers didn't want to skip a year of the winner’s plunge, hence the pool this year. It will be 15 feet by 10 feet across, with a depth of about 4½ feet.

The 17th hole at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.

"Augusta (National) has a green jacket, and we have a bathrobe," Weckerlin said. "What were we going to do for the champion if we didn't give her a bathrobe? It's just the thing."

Construction of the new pond will begin in May, changing the character of the 18th hole as well as presenting an option for the tradition to continue. The 18th green also will be modified, easing the steepness of the putting surface’s front edge.

It’s all part of the evolution of a course that began as a nine-holer in 1912, its sand greens to be used by convalescent soldiers at what was then Camp Logan. John Bredemus redesigned it as 18 holes that opened in 1936, and plenty of work was done to Memorial Park over the decades, including a 1995 renovation. Even with a history of hosting dozens of PGA Tour events and other championships, Doak and Koepka’s remake has taken things up a notch. Memorial Park should provide a thrilling scene for the best women’s players in the world this week.

“Chevron’s partnership continues to set a standard for what it means to invest in women’s golf – not just as a championship, but as a platform to inspire and grow the game,” LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler said when the move to Memorial Park was announced. “Moving the Chevron Championship to Memorial Park Golf Course strengthens that vision. It brings the event closer to the heart of Houston, connecting more fans and communities to our athletes, and helping ensure this major – a tradition that began in 1972 – continues to shine as one of the game’s most meaningful stages.”

Crane, who has provided so much support for Memorial Park, was thrilled to have the Chevron Championship move into the heart of Houston.

“The Astros Golf Foundation is proud to work alongside Chevron and the LPGA to amplify this major tournament and help more Houstonians experience world-class events in the heart of the city,” Crane said. “This event will highlight the incredible talent of the LPGA, and advance the growth and reach of women’s golf – a mission we are proud to support.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Chevron Championship moves to Houston's Memorial Park