Tough to get a sense of the course on TV because it’s so flat. Except around some of the greens.
Agreed! The course seems pancake flat except for around the edges of the fairways and greens. The fairways seem generous enough. However, if you miss them balls tend to fall off and go down into ditches. I can't recall seeing so many players with awkward lies playing out of the rough, making approach shots even harder keep on the hard, undulating greens there. I guess it's about all you can do without introducing a ton of bunkers or hazards to help the course defend itself.
Mike,
As a resident of Houston, I played the old Memorial Park. That course was pancake flat, but after walking the course today I wouldn’t suggest the new version is. There is now quite a bit of movement in the fairways and some of the areas now exposed due to tree removal also present a more varied topography.
Most of us on this site have heard television distorts and obscures topography. Augusta is a well known example. I am not saying Memorial is Augusta, but the same principle applies. If seeing it on television makes Memorial appear pancake, that is simply due to the limitations of the television camera, IMO.
Memorial does now have a number of raised greens. I don’t recall much of that before, if any, beyond minimal amounts. I didn’t count; but many of the greens today are raised and are obviously so (rather than being a natural green on a hill which didn’t exist at Memorial).
So, while the raised greens do look like an architect built them rather than being natural (similar in that sense to Tillinghast at, say, Winged Foot), IMO, the fairways very naturally tie into the surroundings. The tree removal also creates a much larger sense of scale, a feature that really stood out for me.
Building a course that average local players could enjoy while also being capable of holding a professional tournament was the charge for Tom Doak and his team. It certainly appears to me Tom and his guys succeeded.