OPERATIONS Memorial Park - Sustainable Municipal Golf Course and Site of the 2020 Houston Open By Steve Wright, M.A., M.S. T he city of Houston's Memorial Park Golf Course is undergoing an $18 million facelift to transform the municipal course into a state-of-the-art facility and future home of the PGA Tournament's Houston Open. While the catalyst for this change is a desire to return the tournament to Memorial Park, the new design will produce a model for creating sustainable golf courses across the country. Finding the Right Designer Considerations of the historic PHOTO COURTESY OF HOUSTON PARKS AND RECREATION Aerial view of the irrigation lake that will help provide water for Houston's Memorial Park Golf Course, which is undergoing a transformation to become the future home of the PGA Tournament's Houston Open. Giles Kibbe, president of Astros Golf Foundation - the charity hosting the tournament - explains why Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and his team entered into a public-private partnership to renovate the course. " Houstonians have al- ways talked about trying to move the Houston Open back to Memorial Park. To make that happen, there needed to be a significant upgrade in the facilities, but the money wasn't there to make it happen. When we agreed to run the tournament, we felt like Jim and the Astros had a voice that could get the community behind this project and raise the funds to finally make it happen. " 76 Parks & Recreation | J U LY 2 0 1 9 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G