The Houston Open is a professional golf tournament in Texas on the PGA Tour, played in early October. As a part of a restructuring of the schedule, the event moved to the fall in 2019. Because the tour year starts the previous fall, the event will not be a part of the 2019 PGA Tour, but will be one of the first events of the 2020 PGA Tour. It is held at the Golf Club of Houston in unincorpartedHarris County near Humble, northeast of Houston. The purse was $7 million in 2017, with a winner's share of $1.26 million.
History
The event was played at several Houston venues until the 1970s, starting at River Oaks Country Club in 1946 before moving to Memorial Park Golf Course in 1947 and, after a year off, moving again to Pine ForestCountry Club in 1949 and BraeBurn Country Club in 1950. After this period of wandering, the tournament settled in at Memorial Park from 1951 through 1963. It was at Sharpstown Country Club in 1964 and 1965, moved to Champions Golf Club in 1966 for six years, and then to Westwood Country Club in 1972. The tournament ventured outside of the city limits in 1973 and 1974 at Quail Valley Country Club in Missouri City, a southwest suburb. It relocated north to The Woodlands in 1975, at Woodlands Country Club until 1984, then at the TPC at The Woodlands through 2002. It moved to its current location near Humble in 2003; initially played at the Members Course, it changed to the Tournament Course in 2006. The facility was known as Redstone Golf Club until December 2013, and is now the Golf Club of Houston. Previously held weeks later in mid-spring, the Houston Open was played the week before the Masters Tournament from 2007 through 2018, and was the last chance to get into the field at Augusta through a win. The tournament also had up to four additional sponsor exemptions to enable nonmember Masters-qualified professionals from the top 100 of the OWGR to compete in the U.S. in the week prior to the Masters. Shell Oil Company sponsored the event from 1992 through 2017. When the end of Shell's sponsorship was announced, the PGA Tour said it would seek a new sponsor for 2018. The event will move to October in 2019 and be the last held at the Golf Club of Houston, before it moves to Memorial Park Golf Course.
Course layout
Tournament Course
Hole
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Out
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
In
Total
Yards
395
429
392
565
467
460
173
564
238
3683
382
440
335
588
215
609
199
487
487
3,742
7,425
Par
4
4
4
5
4
4
3
5
3
36
4
4
4
5
3
5
3
4
4
36
72
Source:
Winners
^Weather-shortened to 54 holes
Note: Green highlight indicates scoring records. Main sources
Multiple winners
Nine men have won this tournament more than once through 2016.
