Historic muni Memorial Park, new host of the Vivint Houston Open, takes all comers

HOUSTON - The sun had set but Anthony Rector was one of several people in line at Houston's Memorial Park. It is one of the largest recreational areas in the country, offering jogging and cycling trails, tennis courts and baseball fields, but on this Tuesday evening, people were waiting to use the large metal machine that dispenses balls for Memorial Park's lighted driving range. All 80 hitting stalls on the range's two-story structure were occupied. Rector learned the game at Memorial Park when he was about 7, taking lessons from his grandfather, Freddie Murrell. A cook and a caddie at local country clubs, Murrell, like many Houstonians, played his golf at Memorial Park. The course hosts some 60,000 rounds per year thanks to its affordability, accessibility and convenient location just a few miles from downtown. "He used to tell me about Jimmy Demaret and all those guys," Rector said. "He used to caddie for a lot of those guys. He gave me some clubs and we cut them down a little bit. He taught me how to navigate the course. Even though I didn't have the power, he wanted to stress that I build a good swing." Memorial Park, the new host course for this week's Vivint Houston Open, is one of just two municipal courses on this season's schedule, along with San Diego's Torrey Pines (Farmers Insurance Open). That Southern California course is known for its scenic clifftop vistas, but Memorial Park showcases the city skyline, a testament to its location in the midst of this metropolis. At 1,500 acres, it's almost double the size of New York City's Central Park. Approximately 4 million Houstonians visit each year. Some of the park's jogging trails ring the course, undoubtedly providing some people their first glimpse of the game. Renovated by architect Tom Doak, the course is hosting a PGA TOUR event for the first time since 1963 and will bring the tournament from the suburbs back to the city center. The $34 million renovation, which was funded by the Astros Golf Foundation, also included the two-story driving range, a First Tee facility and short course, plus a STEM learning facility. It still brings the old regulars. Rector played baseball for coach Ray Knoblauch, father of future MLB All-Star Chuck Knoblauch, at local powerhouse Bellaire High School. Chuck was the team's bat boy. After high school, Rector accepted a baseball scholarship at Fresno State. He stayed in California for four decades but recently returned to Texas to be near his aging mother. On this Tuesday evening at Memorial Park, he was back where he learned the game decades earlier. A lot had changed, but so much has remained the same. As one local put it, the refurbished course remains the "heart and soul" of Houston golf. That much was evident on a recent visit. Players in collared shirts pounded golf balls with well-timed swings, the bags of their college and high school teams sitting just a few feet behind them. Some clipped phones to the driving range's metal railing so they could film their action and analyze it. Others wore tank tops and T-shirts as they took the timid swings of a novice golfer and well-meaning friends offered advice. A man watched two young boys hit balls as a third sat nearby, reading a book. A mother on her laptop squeezed in some work while her child took a group lesson on the putting green. "Most everybody who plays golf in the city of Houston comes through here," said Memorial Park regular Ray Anderson. Indeed, one report named Houston the most diverse city in America, and however you choose to measure diversity, the golfers at Memorial Park represent a wide spectrum. They always have. "That diversity just flows onto the course," said Steve Trautwein, another Memorial Park regular. "You never knew who you were going to be paired with. Lawyers, doctors, professors. You get plumbers, landscapers, grandfathers and grandsons, mothers and daughters. It's a muni. It's accessible. It doesn't have that exclusivity that golf gets a bad name for." Weekday greens fees are just $30, while seniors and juniors play for $15 and $10, respectively. The peak rate is $38. Players used to arrive at 2 a.m. on weekends to put their name on a list for one of the early tee times, which were doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. "If you were here at 2:05, you were the fourth group out. (The tee times) would be gone by 2:30," said Anderson. Who are the players? Everyone and anyone. Demaret, a World Golf Hall of Famer and three-time Masters champion, grew up as one of nine kids in a poor family. He caddied at Memorial Park as a kid. Dave Marr, winner of the 1965 PGA Championship, got his start at Memorial Park, as well. They weren't the only big names to pass through, however. "All of the touring pros, sports writers, gamblers and celebrities seemed to make Memorial their first stop when they hit Houston," Bernie Riviere wrote in the book, "Memories of Memorial." Demaret, Byron Nelson, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby played a fundraiser there during World War II. Major winners Tommy Bolt and Jackie Burke were often at Memorial Park, as well. Even today, NBA Hall of Famer Clyde Drexler can be seen at Memorial Park, as well as Houston Astros players like Alex Bregman and Josh Reddick. The everyday players are the lifeblood of the course, however. Back in the day, it was characters like Red Nose, Pie Face, Judge Peyton, Skippy Green, Runt Young and Spiz Berg, a saxophone player who was missing part of his index finger. Legend has it that a TOUR player, after being beaten soundly by some of the locals, called his partner for the next day's match to give this warning: "I've got a saxophone player, a garbage man and a carpenter playing me and these guys are amateurs in name only." TOUR pros may be playing Memorial Park this week, but the course belongs to the people of Houston.

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