Champions, US Women's Open

[Ryan Hillenbrand]

Hogan vs. Snead, Shell's World of Golf at Champions, 1965:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaSBQGsnrdM

Looks like this one was at Houston Country Club

[David_Tepper]

Ryan -

Oops, my mistake!

But Tom Kite did play Ben Crenshaw at Champions in a 1996 SWWOG episode.

DT

[Tom_Doak]

Perhaps one of the most clutch / strongest finishes by a player to cap off a major championship ever... barring an equally miraculous finish A.L. Kim closed it out in an incredible fashion birdieing the last 3 holes.

Yes, that was an incredible finish ... she stiffed it on 16 and 17, and those weren't wedge shots she had.


There are a lot of incredible players on the LPGA Tour.  It's a shame they don't get more attention.  And kudos to the winner for wearing a mask during play, even though it will probably cost her in recognition and therefore in sponsorships.  I can't imagine traveling from South Korea to play golf in the USA right now.

[Greg Hohman]

Free weekend coverage on Sling didn’t extend to Monday.


+1, Tom, re mask. Typically I had not considered the financial implications.

[Jason Topp]

Many of the greens seemed to slope up to a midpoint and then slope away at the rear. It struck me as a good way for large greens to challenge iron control, putting skill and thought process.   

[Steve Lang]

   ... and probably to divide drainage flow given the large green areas

[mike_beene]

I still can’t get past people being cold in Houston. I was downtown a few years ago and the temperature got to 40 F with rain meaning a bridge could freeze. Pure panic. I can’t imagine the walk in August. Does the club allow riding in the summer? Can you turn a score in if you ride? Champions is growing on me. I like how they keep the CC real estate around the edges and I assume made money on lots across the street.

[Adrian_Stiff]

Best thing about Champions is Jackie Burke. I thought the course was unmemorable, there is a great par 3 over a scruffy ravine, but most holes run in the same or opposite directions and are just hard to really remember. It is not poor, just lacks variety, the green complexes are huge. 67 Ryder Cup and Orville's Open gives it some nice history. The time I played the greens were oversown with rough-stalked meadow grass, dormant Bermuda everywhere else but it did play firm and fast around the greens.

[Steve Lang]

I still can’t get past people being cold in Houston. I was downtown a few years ago and the temperature got to 40 F with rain meaning a bridge could freeze. Pure panic. I can’t imagine the walk in August. Does the club allow riding in the summer? Can you turn a score in if you ride? Champions is growing on me. I like how they keep the CC real estate around the edges and I assume made money on lots across the street.

Mike,
Cold is all relative, being from NW Ohio & Mich its more an issue of when do we trade shorts for long pants (55 degF) and no need to play in less than 40 degF, not like we're starving for good weather...  I got in emergency 9 yesterday, just a little wind chilly, not parka weather like up north.  When I first moved here in 91, a native guy I worked with only owned one coat, a rain slicker 


No one knows how to drive in ice down here, so its is best to stay off the roads and the highway "fly-overs" which turn into "slide-overs" during inclement weather , road crews throw the salt on the roads early to get done with it and retreat, which typically just lets it get washed away before things ice up!


Summertime (July & Aug) is, as we affectionately call it, is like living in a dog's mouth, which is why we camp out in Mich along the 45th parallel...
We've used carts at Champions, so i don't think they're that OCD on what's a recordable score. 


 Best to walk 9 and ride the back in summertime or seek A/C... carts can be used to create your own breeze for evaporative cooling.. don't you have swamp coolers up North there in Dallas?

[mike_beene]

We can’t even grow alligators up here on the tundra!

[Steve Lang]

Best thing about Champions is Jackie Burke. I thought the course was unmemorable, there is a great par 3 over a scruffy ravine, but most holes run in the same or opposite directions and are just hard to really remember. It is not poor, just lacks variety, the green complexes are huge. 67 Ryder Cup and Orville's Open gives it some nice history. The time I played the greens were oversown with rough-stalked meadow grass, dormant Bermuda everywhere else but it did play firm and fast around the greens.

Agree on JB Jr!  His current wife Robin is very nice too, met her once on the range at a business type 4 person scramble tourney, she had "that sound" of compression on hits, and yes her team won that day.  Will be interesting to see how she drives Champions forward in the future decades, the history & stories from the first 6 decades can only sustain things so long.  The PGA & USGA have certainly helped pump some $ into the place.

[David Wuthrich]

Yes, we allow carts at Champions!!  ha ha  Although a lot of golfers do walk year around.

[JLahrman]

I still can’t get past people being cold in Houston. I was downtown a few years ago and the temperature got to 40 F with rain meaning a bridge could freeze. Pure panic. I can’t imagine the walk in August. Does the club allow riding in the summer? Can you turn a score in if you ride? Champions is growing on me. I like how they keep the CC real estate around the edges and I assume made money on lots across the street.

Mike, as a midwestern native now living in Austin, I originally shared your alarm. The first winter I was here I couldn't believe the conditions that would lead to "snow" days for schools. One thing to keep in mind is that the top industry in Texas is building highway overpasses. Because of Texas's affinity for building frontage roads alongside highways, it's basically impossible to have the simple cloverleaf exchanges that are common in much of the country. When two Texas highways intersect, it is typical to have 43 different ramps stacked six high, with the top ramps maybe 80 feet off the ground. And these ramps do get slippery at relatively high temperatures. You would never build these exchanges in a cold weather climate. So that does excuse the cautious driving to a certain extent.


Do an image search for "Texas Overpasses" if you want to see some examples...

[Jeff Shelman]

I have been to Champions several times and once since the 2018 work.


Cypress Creek is certainly a stout test, but I think it is more interesting than some people give it credit for. While there are some straight or basically straight holes at the end of the round (14, 15, 17, 18), much of the rest of the round is filled with holes that move right or left.


You are frequently asked to figure out lines off of the tee - how close to the turn do you want to hit it, how much of the hazard do you want to bite off, etc. At the same time, I think there is some interest around the greens. They are big, but there are sides that can be the better miss, etc.


And I can’t enough good stuff about the club. People have always been very nice, it’s a laid back place and doesn’t feel stuff and the locker room is amazing.


On my last visit, one of the guys in our group made an ace on No. 12. Elkington was playing four or five groups behind us and came into the locker room, sat down by the older gent who made the ace and couldn’t have been nicer to him. I thought that was super cool.

[mike_beene]

Anybody have an opinion on Jackrabbit? Do members like it as much? I had never seen it until the limited TV coverage. I assume the real estate frontage is much greater on that side.

[David Wuthrich]

Anybody have an opinion on Jackrabbit? Do members like it as much? I had never seen it until the limited TV coverage. I assume the real estate frontage is much greater on that side.

Mike, most members and their guests prefer to play Cypress.  Jack is a little tighter with houses close on most holes.  Not as open as Cypress.  I would say the play is 60/40 Cypress because carts are on the paths alot at Cypress and usually not on Jack and we have some members who just want to ride no matter what.

[Rob Marshall]

Anybody have an opinion on Jackrabbit? Do members like it as much? I had never seen it until the limited TV coverage. I assume the real estate frontage is much greater on that side.

Mike, most members and their guests prefer to play Cypress.  Jack is a little tighter with houses close on most holes.  Not as open as Cypress.  I would say the play is 60/40 Cypress because carts are on the paths alot at Cypress and usually not on Jack and we have some members who just want to ride no matter what.

David, it’s been many years since I was there. Does Elk still live on the course?

[David Wuthrich]

His house is not on the course, but close!  Great guy in the locker room!!!!

[Rob Marshall]

Thanks David. When my buddy was a member Jackie's daughter was barely walking. Has to be 30 years ago when I was there. Great locker room. My buddy loved it there but he moved to the UK.