HOUSTON — With the sun setting behind him, Roger Sloan lined up a birdie putt on the 15th green during Thursday’s opening round of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Houston Open, hoping to get one back after dropping a shot on the previous hole.
Sloan wasn’t born in Texas, but as the trite saying goes, “he got here as fast as he could.” The Canadian product has called Houston home for more than a decade, and although he’s certainly not a major local celebrity, you’d expect fans on hand at this week’s PGA Tour stop to be rooting for him.
That didn’t slow the buzz from the neighboring grandstands, however, even though Sloan probably could have used complete silence as he lined up the 37-footer. It was a putt that could have helped the former UTEP star as he looked to make just his third cut in a half-dozen starts this season.
But as he crouched to the ball, lubed up patrons continued conversations and laughter at a considerable volume. Sloan missed and made par. He went on to miss the cut in what was essentially a home game.
Welcome to golf after the pandemic break, where fans are eager to make up for lost time and PGA Tour venues are more than happy to oblige with stadium-style surroundings, especially on tight par 3s. While the 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale was once an anomaly, courses recently added to the Tour schedule are working mightily to create similar experiences.
For example, the 17th hole at TPC Craig Ranch — the new venue for the AT&T Byron Nelson outside Dallas — built an enclosure that allows patrons to drink, eat, play blackjack and watch Tour action, all in one spot.
And while Memorial Park, which housed the Houston Open from 1947 to 1963, had just a trickle of fans last year, a new setup on No. 15 follows in the suit of loud, stadium-style surroundings.
Doak, who redesigned the course with PGA Tour consultant Brooks Koepka, loved this par-3 so much that he believes it could make the difference in determining the outcome of one of the tournaments.
“Yeah, 15 is a really dangerous hole. That’s one of the ones. Brooks said when we started we’d be heroes if we just make par 3s short and not make them all 210 yards, because that’s what they usually do for Tour courses these days,” Doak said at last year’s course debut. “Especially that one, it’s the shortest one and it’s the nastiest one.”
Crowds were not massive on Thursday or Friday, but they were substantial on both days and will likely become louder this weekend.
And while you’d think Tour players might bristle over the loud buzz created in these stadium-style holes, they don’t let on that the boisterous patrons are a distraction.
“It’s good. I think I hit a pitching wedge in there (Thursday) to a back pin, so
it’s not the hardest hole in the world if you hit a good shot, but obviously, it punishes bad shots. I think what this whole golf course does is it rewards good shots and punishes bad shots,” Marc Leishman said. “It’s great having the fans out here. We had a lot of last year where there wasn’t fans and I definitely missed having that atmosphere. I enjoy playing under those conditions, so I hope the crowds are big and loud and we can make some
birdies for them.”
The 15th hole at Houston’s Memorial Park includes an elevated green with enclosed stadium-style seating. (Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
Russell Henley called the hole “cool,” but admitted it’s a scary proposition for those who miss ever so slightly — something a slight distraction might assist with.
“I think you’ve got to be careful with that hole. If it gets into the wind and you play the back tee, I feel like it can be borderline questionable of, you know, fair in my opinion, depending on where you put the pin location,” Henley said. “I just think that’s just a tough hole. You know, it is a short par 3. Like I birdied it (Thursday), but you can be not very far off and be looking, trying to make a 4. It’s a tough hole.”
Undoubtedly, the strategy of creating a party-like atmosphere helps to draw in fans, even if it may detract from the product on the course. The more, the merrier, some have insisted, in the emerging era of raucous galleries.
“I think those last four holes are all kind of unique challenges. You have a short par 3, sometimes 16 is reachable with water, 17’s kind of a birdie hole and 18’s a tough one,” Jason Dufner said. “So I think what they’ve done with those last four holes trying to bring as many fans as they can into that area of the golf course, I think will be really nice on the weekend.
“I think they’ll have big crowds. A lot of things can happen on 15. You can see guys make a double or a triple.”