It’s time to step out of Florida after a month of action touring some of the state's crown jewels and head across the Gulf of Mexico, to a venue deep in the heart of Texas.
Following the WGC-CA Championship and coming the week before the illustrious Masters, the Shell Houston Open is the classic sandwich tournament in a brief stop in the Lonestar state.
As I'm sure you could guess from the name of the tournament (I know it was a real brain-buster), the tournament will be played in Houston on this in-between week. The venue? That would be Redstone Golf Club.
Located in one of the nation's fastest growing cities, Redstone Golf Club's Tournament Course is a unique PGA Tour stop in that it's just one of 11 regular stops on the Tour slate that is a public course, no strings attached.
Measuring an incredibly long 7,550 yards from the deepest tees, Redstone is a very new course that was designed by legendary designer Rees Jones with the help of David Toms as a consultant. The two produced a layout that has a much more modern feel to it, adapting to the changing facets of the game, which helps to explain the long layout.
Nestled among a wooded oasis, Redstone's Tournament course has numerous bunkers dispersed along its 18 holes. Many of those lie right in the landing areas off the tee, so provided you are playing at the appropriate tee box for your length, you need to be accurate with your big dog, unless you particularly enjoy hitting out of fairway bunkers.
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| The Tournament Course at Redstone does not feature any housing bordering it. (Getty Images) |
Staying in the area near Redstone in the Houston suburb of Humble we find another challenging course worthy of some exploration.
A course with a very unusual name, the Tour 18 Golf Course is just that, a tour of some of golf’s greatest 18 holes. This replica course is made of 18 holes that mirror the most famous holes around, including all three holes that make up Amen Corner at Augusta National. You will have a hard time finding a tougher stretch of holes than the three of Amen Corner followed by the island-green 17th at TPC Sawgrass.
To top off your round you will face the tough task that the PGA Tour pros just ended with this past week -- the 18th at Doral. You know, that hole that eats up anything left and leaves a daunting approach to the green. This replica hole is a perfect end to an enchanting and most assuredly unique round.
The holes here are simulated and replicated very carefully and it has been recognized by Golf Magazine. Tour 18 was rated as the fifth best replica course in the nation for 2001. This course just may leave you humbled in Humble.
The other thing so beautiful about this course is the price. Just imagine how much you would have to spend to play all the courses where the holes of Tour 18 come from; most all of us would find ourselves in debt. Rates at Tour 18 run in the $40-$80 range, depending, of course, on when you tee it up. Reserve your tee time via their website and you may find yourself a few budget prices, at www.tour18golf.com.
Our last stop on the Houston tour is a course run by Arnold Palmer Golf Management. Bear Creek Golf World -- Masters Course was one of the first public courses in the greater Houston area to not be municipally run, lending to the fact this course is kept in very fair condition.
You will also face a fair challenge at the Masters Course as it plays to a rating of 74 (par 72) and a slope of 133. Adding to the difficulty is the course’s design, which features incredibly narrow fairways and rather long distances -- 7,131 yards to be exact. The course does stay pretty straight, though, as it doesn’t possess many doglegs to challenge.
Green fees at Bear Creek -- Masters should fit in just fine with any golfer’s budget, running from $42 during the week to just under $60 on the weekends.
