Tom Doak to renovate Houston's Memorial Park

[Jeff_Brauer]

Had no idea Cobb routed Harbor Town.  But, not atypical to have a more or less architect do a routing with the land planner and then go elsewhere for a bigger name (or one in the making, like Pete in this case)

[Jim Nugent]

From what i've heard, Jack taking any credit for Harbour Town is an exagerration at best.  Jack did go on to do some good stuff later, but it was long after his PGA Tour days were over... which was the point I was trying to make.

My impression is that Jack helped Dye, by giving him feedback on the course from the perspective of the world's best player.  Isn't that almost precisely what Koepka (#1 in the world rankings) can do for Tom? 

[Tom_Doak]

My impression is that Jack helped Dye, by giving him feedback on the course from the perspective of the world's best player.  Isn't that almost precisely what Koepka (#1 in the world rankings) can do for Tom?

Yes.  I don't think I'm going to have him hit a bucket of 9-iron shots and draw a circle around the good ones, which legend has it is how the 15th green at Harbour Town was designed.  But we will talk a lot about his ideas (and what would or wouldn't work on a municipal course), and he will tell me whether my wilder ideas are worth exploring or not.  (Many of those involve tempting the great player to take a risk - but if they just won't take the bait, they're worthless.)

[Matthew Rose]

Wasn't that funky bunker complex on #3 at The Golf Club the result of Jack telling Pete that he thought the hole was "boring"?

[David Wuthrich]

Here is the latest news on the project:


Astros owner Jim Crane’s plan to renovate the Memorial Park golf course to host the PGA Tour’s Houston Open was delayed Tuesday as several council members questioned whether the city should receive a larger share of an annual tournament fee for other city park projects.
[/size]Council member Mike Laster used his authority to delay a vote on the proposal, which would have allowed renovation work on the Memorial Park course to begin as early as next week. Councilman Dwight Boykins joined Laster in tagging the item.
[/size]Giles Kibbe, the Astros’ general counsel and president of the Astros Golf Foundation, said the delay jeopardizes plans to host the Houston Open at Memorial Park in 2020.
[/size]“It’s extremely disappointing,” Kibbe said. “We’ve been waiting to get this going. We were hoping to get started in December.
[/size]“Hopefully we get a good vote next week, and we can move fast … buyt every day matters.”
[/size]Laster’s primary concern, he said, is the distribution of a $1 million Houston Open event fee that will be paid to the city between the city parks department and the Memorial Park Conservancy.
[/size]Under the plan negotiated by the city and supported by Mayor Sylvester Turner, $750,000 of the annual tournament event fee to the city will go to the city parks fund, and $250,000 will go to the Memorial Park Conservancy for park maintenance.
[/size]Laster offered two amendments, one of which would give the full million to the city’s parks department golf found and one of which would give the full million to the parks department general fund.
[/size]The plan negotiated by city staff members, the Memorial Park Conservancy and the Astros Golf Foundation, which was established by Crane to administer the Houston Open, would provide a $13.5 million infusion by Crane to upgrade the Memorial Park course to PGA Tour standards.
[/size]Turner said he was disappointed in the delay, saying that any delay in construction jeopardizes efforts to complete the Memorial Park renovation by later this year.
[/size]“Do not interfere in a business decision when the project needs to get started,” Turner said. “It needs to get started sooner rather than later.”
[/size]Laster, however, said a week’s delay will enable the city to increase funding for other city parks that lack the support provided to Memorial Park and the Memorial Park Conservancy.
[/size]“If we are going to get any money for our respective different district parks, we have to get it now,” Laster said. “$750,000 out of a million dollars is a good deal. A million out of a million would be even better.”
[/size]“The fact is that the Memorial Park Conservancy doesn’t need the money,” Laster added, saying he would ask the conservancy to give up its share of the tournament fee for the benefit of other city parks.

[Tom_Doak]

Yep - politics as usual.


Hopefully they get over it in the next week.  We have a deadline to finish (to be able to host the event in October 2020, the course has to be open 12 months before).  And we don’t control the weather!

[David Wuthrich]

Agree, politics can sometimes get in the way of progress and a good thing.


I am trying to get more information on the political side of things now!


The GOLFERS of Houston are ready for you to get started.  I heard from folks that you had a nice visit last week so hopefully you can get started ASAP.

[Matthew Petersen]

Brilliant politics.


$750k is a great deal, but I'd really love to get $1m, so to that end I'll jeopardize the tournament and potentially end up with no money.

[Jeff_Brauer]

I have had too many city renovations get delayed by politics.  What they don't understand is a week on the front end (or month, as it may end up being) often delays re-opening a year.

[Steve Lang]

   If its any consolation, the last 3 months or so have been the wettest fall I've seen in 27 years, so hopefully things will be dryer in 2019... and you know a lot of work gets done at night, to beat the heat Jun-Sept 

[Tim_Weiman]

Wow! Just when I was thinking about leaving Houston, I learn this news.


Maybe I should stay!

[Tom_Doak]

Wow! Just when I was thinking about leaving Houston, I learn this news.


Maybe I should stay!

Tim:


You should at least come out and see what we're doing before you go.


Send me an email and I will let you know when I get back down there.

[Lou_Duran]

Are the plans available to the public?

[Tom_Doak]

Are the plans available to the public?

I had assumed the general plan would be posted on some city web site prior to the City Council meeting on January 2nd, but I don't know for sure.

[Steve Lang]

   1 of 32 items on the City Council Agenda... on Jan2


https://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=15754&MeetingID=334




TD,


Are you going to set up an information board (physical or electronic) to post progress?? 


How about perimeter security??[size=78%] [/size]

[David Wuthrich]

Tom,


Congrats on the vote and can't wait for you to start work tomorrow.


I played one last round on the course today and golfers were excited about the changes.



Look forward to visiting with you at MP during the work!


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[font=&amp]Houston City Council members unanimously voted Wednesday to approve plans for the renovation of the Memorial Park golf course, which will allow the PGA Tour’s Houston Open event to be held at the course as early as 2020.[/font]

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[font=&amp]The vote, which occurred after a week’s delay[/size][/font], will enable work to begin within days on the $13.5 million renovation plan, to be funded by the Astros Golf Foundation. Renovations need to be completed and the course open for play by Nov. 1 for the Houston Open to be played at Memorial Park in 2020.

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[font=&amp]The foundation will pay an annual tournament fee of $1 million for the PGA Tour event’s use of the city-owned course, with $750,000 going to the city and $250,000 to the Memorial Park Conservancy. Mayor Sylvester Turner said he would recommend that the city’s share of the annual fee will be used for city parks.[/font]

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[font=&amp]ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: Jim Crane vows to return Houston Open from minors to majors[/size][/font]

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[font=&amp]"As one of the council members said, it's a win win win win," Astros owner Jim Crane said. "Everybody wins – the (Memorial Park) conservancy, the park, the city. We'll be able to raise a lot of funds through the golf tournament that will go to charity, and there will be revenue that comes into the city being here."[/font]

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[font=&amp]Giles Kibbe, the Astros' general counsel and president of the Astros Golf Foundation, said the Memorial Park course will be closed to the public as of Wednesday afternoon's final group of players and that workers will begin renovation work at 8 a.m. Thursday.[/font]

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[font=&amp]The weeklong delay was prompted by City Councilmember Mike Laster's hope that the city could receive the entire $1 million fee. Turner, however, said that would not be possible because the park conservancy's share was part of a negotiated settlement on the issue.[/font]

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[font=&amp]At a Tuesday public comment meeting, multiple people - including a golf course architect as well as former U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson - raised questions about the project.[/font]

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[font=&amp]Baxter Spann of the golf course architecture firm Finger Dye Spann, which oversaw a 1996 renovation of Memorial Park, questioned the feasibility of the timeline for the project, which he said was being conducted with "extreme haste" and in a “clandestine" manner.[/font]

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[font=&amp]“I'm not against renovating (the course)," Spann said. "… What I am against is the process that I see unfolding to facilitate this project.”[/font]

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[font=&amp]Magidson, who said he plays the course five times a week, pleaded with the council to ensure that the course remains in top condition for local golfers before and after the Houston Open is played there.[/font]

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[font=&amp]"You are the overseers, you are the caretakers, you are the people who are going to protect the crown jewel of the City of Houston," Magidson said. "....I'm asking you to oversee if in a way that it will continue to be the crown jewel."[/font]

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[font=&amp]Turner and others responded that the project, despite the temporary shutdown, would be a boon for golfers in the long run.[/font]

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[font=&amp]"When it comes back, it would be even nicer than it is today and the fees will remain the same," Turner said.[/font]

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[font=&amp]DALE ROBERTSON: Jim Crane delivers plan to keep Houston Open alive[/size][/font]

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[font=&amp]Turner, who supported the idea of bringing the PGA Tour within the Houston city limits, said the council vote "signifies that we were voting not just for Houston's present, but we were voting for Houston's future."[/font]

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[font=&amp]"We want Houston to be in the top tier of conversation across the board, and in order for that to happen, you have to have things occurring within your city that people will focus on around the country," Turner said.[/font]

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[font=&amp]Other golfers said the renovations could make the course more difficult for amateurs and recreational golfers. Joseph Kratoville described Memorial Park as an "anti-country club" and said he prefers playing it because he gets to meet regular Houstonians.[/font]

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[font=&amp]Susan Chadwick, president and executive director of Save Buffalo Bayou, which described itself as a watchdog group regarding development along the bayou, submitted a letter to the City Council in support of Laster’s efforts to capture the entire $1 million annual tournament fee for the city parks department.[/font]

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[font=&amp]She also questioned whether the city should seek a higher fee for the use of Memorial Park for the PGA Tour event.[/font]

[Tom_Doak]

David:


Thanks for your good wishes, although the formatting of that post is pretty hard to read.


I will be in Houston next week for a press conference to discuss the design in more detail and have another walk around.  There were some objections to the rushed process of approval -- and I didn't especially appreciate the cable-news framing of it -- but at least the people on this board know that I'm not going to make the course unplayable for amateurs and recreational golfers.


[The decision not to post plans of the golf course prior to the vote was just politics - plus we have been working hard to complete final plans.  Brooks Koepka wasn't available to come walk around with us on site until December 26-27, and I didn't want to put a plan out there without walking through it all with him first.]


In the meantime, I'd like to thank Mike Nuzzo, who has been working on the plans and attending meetings almost daily for the last three months, while I've been all over . . . Mike lives only a few miles from Memorial Park, so it wouldn't have made any sense to me not to include him in the project in some capacity.  [I'm a big believer in sourcing local.]  Mike will be our on-site associate for the project, so that my associates can concentrate on shaping, while they are doing the same sort of preliminary work discussed above for the other new projects we expect to start later this year.


Also, I'd like to congratulate Don Mahaffey, who is going to be the contractor for the job and work with my crew, and who is also local.  We recommended Don strongly for the job, and luckily the Astros Foundation could make that decision without all the hassle of a public bid process, otherwise there was no way we would get the project done in the time frame we are given.  I've worked with Don a couple of times previously, and I know he brings a lot of brain power to the project, in addition to a few talented construction guys.


We will need all the help we can get to meet the deadline of re-opening the course before November 1.  That's been the goal since I first met Jim Crane back in July ... he has signed on to sponsor the tournament for five years, and the difference between playing up north of town just this year versus two years is important to his vision for the event.  We have thought a lot about how to make the course special not just for golfers but for spectators and that's one of the parts of this I'm excited to see come to fruition.  [The things I learned from Pete Dye and Deane Beman in 1981-83 will not go to waste after all.]


The only thing we don't control is the weather:  it rains a lot in Houston, and it's not a sandy site, so we will inevitably lose some construction days to weather.  So we can't just maintain a steady pace, like a marathon runner:  we will have to sprint when the weather is favorable.  Luckily I've got the three best sprinter / shapers in the world on my team.  If Eric, Brian and Brian can't get the course shaped on time, I guarantee you nobody else would have done it.


I'm sure there are questions about details of the design, but I'd prefer to save those for the press conference, and address them here afterward.

[Tom_Doak]

Oh, and I should have said it earlier:


The only way this project is happening is because Jim Crane has gone out and raised millions of dollars in private and corporate donations, to renovate a city-owned facility.  The city is paying nothing, other than losing revenue from the course for the next 9.5 months.  The city did do a renovation twenty years ago, but it's hard to imagine them [or any other city] spending that sort of money in today's political and economic environment. 


We hope this will be a model for other cities.  But if more projects like this are going to happen, funding is the key.

[Jim Nugent]

The only way this project is happening is because Jim Crane has gone out and raised millions of dollars in private and corporate donations, to renovate a city-owned facility.  The city is paying nothing, other than losing revenue from the course for the next 9.5 months.   

This is how the Chicago renovation/redesign should work IMO, if at all.  Not just for the course, either, but any infrastructure changes it requires. 

[Don Mahaffey]

We are very excited to be a part of this project. My son, Ryan, a key member of our staff, grew up playing junior golf tournaments at Memorial Park, along with most every junior golfer in the greater Houston area. Memorial may not be highly ranked or well known nationally, but its tightly woven into the fabric of Texas golf and we are humbled to be chosen to help improve the golf course.
One thing that stuck with me from Brooks' visit was a comment he made about his junior golf years and how excited he and his fellow competitors would be when they got to compete on a TOUR course. He thought it very cool that he could be a part of bringing that opportunity to public golfers in Houston.

[Jim Nugent]

I'm real curious to see how Tom & Team strike a balance between the fascinating greens options/contours Tom is famous for, and the ultra-fast green speeds the Tour seems to favor. 

Also real interested to hear more of what the tour players told Tom on what they like about courses, what challenges them, and what drives them up the wall. 

Could a Tour course ever have a Menlo Park type green? 

[Peter Pallotta]

Happy for all involved: a very fine & unique team has been smartly put together so as to best realize a fine & unique project
Best wishes for much learning (the fun kind, not the headache producing kind) and some great work
P   

[Steve Lang]

    Congrats Tom,


Great crew you've got there.  What day and time is your press conference likely to be?  Would like to be there...


FYI

2018 Rainfall data for Hobby Airport (~ 75 inches of rain in 2018 vs ~55 normal)

Description No of days No Rain Fall 249 0 to <= 0.1 inch 44 0.1 to <= 0.2 inch 10 0.2 to <= 0.3 inch 10 0.3 to <= 0.4 inch 10 0.4 to <= 0.5 inch 4 0.5 to <= 0.6 inch 0 Greater than = 0.5 inch 36 Two consecutive days  of 0.5 inch 9

ps  A very common public complaint in regards to play at the current Golf Club of Houston Tournament course hosting the PGA Event, is the overseeding transition periods, I don't think that'll fly at Memorial...

[Tom_Doak]

I'm real curious to see how Tom & Team strike a balance between the fascinating greens options/contours Tom is famous for, and the ultra-fast green speeds the Tour seems to favor. 

Also real interested to hear more of what the tour players told Tom on what they like about courses, what challenges them, and what drives them up the wall. 

Could a Tour course ever have a Menlo Park type green?

Jim:  I don't think we will have greens nearly as difficult as what I have built on my own sometimes.  This is a renovation, and I've got a lot of Memorial Park locals to answer to.  Besides, my experience from Waialae is that if you build even a halfway sloping hole location, the Tour won't use it, and then they'll tell you they don't have enough hole locations.


As I said on the other thread, I don't intend to speak for all of the players I've talked to.  If they want to give their opinions on design publicly, they can do that anytime, but I'll keep what they've told me in confidence otherwise.


And what is a "Menlo Park" green?  Do you mean a Sitwell Park green?  I've already done something like that at Barnbougle, but I don't think that would go over well on Tour.  Somebody would have an "impossible putt", they would bemoan the silly design, and the Tour staff would pressure the sponsor to change it pronto.  And the sponsor wouldn't want to risk having the best players not show up, so they would make the change.


I used to think the only Tour event that could be played on severe greens was the U.S. Open, at places like Winged Foot and Oakland Hills and Southern Hills, because it was only once every ten years and the members would tell the USGA to mind their own business.  But apparently they have all been convinced to neuter their greens over the past couple of years.

[David Wuthrich]

Sorry for the messed up post!  That is what happens when an Aggie tries technology! 


Adding Mike and Don to the team is awesome.  Both great guys and if I was doing a course, I would want them on my team.


Praying for a dry spring and summer, so you can get your work done!


See you at the Kickoff.