Houston Open 2021
Stats, Trends & Things You Don't Need To Know
Course: Memorial Park
Par 70 - 7,412 Yards
Bermudagrass Greens
The Beauty of a Muni
Memorial Park is a municipal golf course in Houston. That means you or me or anyone can go out and play where the pros do and best of all — it won’t break the bank. The Weekend Rate is a whopping … $38!! It’s even better if you’re a senior ($15) or a junior ($10).
Greenskeeper’s Revenge
It may be public and cheap but it’s not going to roll over for these players on tournament week. Last year, the course played 1.025 strokes over par, making it the 8th hardest course on TOUR and the fourth most difficult non-major venue, behind Torrey Pines, Quail Hollow and PGA National. In total, 19 of 51 courses played over par last season. Here are the best players (in this field) on those 19 courses.
7,400 Yards of Pain
What makes Memorial Park such a beast? The length. At 7,432 yards, it was the second longest Par-70 on TOUR last season, behind only Winged Foot (7,477). The average Par-70 on TOUR is 7,184 yards, so here are the golfers who play the best on above-average length Par-70s (min 25 rounds):
Brooks Koepka +1.71 (83 rounds)
Matthew Wolff +1.57 (28 rounds)
Russell Henley +1.08 (68 rounds)
Sebastian Munoz +1.07 (38 rounds)
Aaron Wise +0.99 (26 rounds)
The Worst?
Max Homa -1.06 (43 rounds)
Andrew Landry -0.77 (32 rounds)
Sung Kang -0.72 (68 rounds)
Graeme McDowell -0.60 (44 rounds)
Cameron Smith -0.49 (60 rounds)
Find a Fairway
Easier said than done at Memorial Park. Competitors only hit 54.6% of fairways last season, the 10th lowest rate on TOUR. Fun Nugget: Competitors only hit 39.7% of fairways at Winged Foot, a full 8% lower than the next lowest rate. Here are the players who hit the green the most, when not in the fairway:
Adam Schenk 60.61%
Emiliano Grillo 60.38%
Roger Sloan 59.59%
Joseph Bramlett 59.06%
Stewart Cink 57.82%
Carlos Ortiz & Emiliano Grillo, WD
Carlos Ortiz has withdrawn from the Houston Open. A few minutes later, so did Emiliano Grillo. Prior to their WD's, I projected Ortiz for 15.1% ownership while Grillo at 6.7%. There will be ramifications in the $9,000 range and those ownership projections will be updated on RickRunGood.com.
Live Chat w/ Breaking News
The Live Chat is Wednesday at 3pm ET and I’m looking to share some (medium sized) important news. We will also spend the hour answering all your Houston Open questions. Here’s the Link.
Talk soon,
Rick