The cut line was 3 under par!!! No name dude out of Dallas shoots a course record 64!! This just doesnt look good IMO. I dont know about you, but Im not a big fan of seeing a guy shoot 38 under par for the tourney to win. Make the fairways tighter or something. I did hear that they are going to build another 18 specifically for the tournament (hopefully by next year). Let's hope its a bit more CHALLENGING than the cake of a course they are playing on now.
Drew -- you and I must be watching a different tournament. The players and commentators have had nothing but unanimous praise for Redstone during the past two days of broadcasting. Although it isn't a particularly "tricky" course, it is one of the longest on the PGA tour and does seem to provide plenty of challenge for players. Bear in mind, the conditions early yesterday were absolutely perfect for great golf -- giving early players an easier time. As the wind picked up in the afternoon, players weren't doing as well. BTW, Hank Kuehne, isn't exactly a no-name. He was the 1998 U.S. Amateur champion and recently made a very good showing at the BellSouth Classic. He had some injury and personal problems in the past couple years that prevented hime from playing well but he seems to be making a comeback now. He's one long-hitting bomber -- I think we'll see more of him this year. Not to mention, Kuehne's currently sitting stop the leaderboard with Couples and Calcavecchia -- two well-respected players. I think there will be tweaking between now and next year (as would be expected with any first-time course). But, I think Redstone has been well-liked by the players and is a great reflection on the city of Houston for all the golf fans watching in other parts of the country.
Where is Redstone? I actually worked at the SHO for 4 years since the HGA gave my school lots of charity money. We mostly cleaned holes and carried leader boards. For the TPC, I got to drive a golf cart around the course to stock the ice chests at the holes with drinks and fruit for the players. Fun job.
Redstone is the former El Dorado course...it's at Wilson Road and Beltway 8 just off 59 North. The course is sweet. I was out there today and just loved it. The houses aren't as close to the course as they are at the TPC. The course is in the top 4 in length on the tour. Tiger will be here within the next 2 years to play it. I stake my reputation on it. That's something the TPC at Woodlands could never say.
Has anybody been played Champions GC? If you guys have, what do you guys think of it? Steve Elkington lives near that GC.
I played it about 5 or 6 years ago. Very nice of course. The greens are freakin' HUGE. We'll get one last look this fall when the Tour Championship comes through their one last time. From now on it'll be played in Atlanta thanks to Coca-Cola.
I thought it was a tradition to alternate between cities? Damnit, we'll never see Tiger in Houston again.
Redstone is an awesome course and this year's Shell Houston Open was one of the best ones ever. Props to Fred Couples! What a win!
I followed Phil Mickelson around on Friday and was very close to him and the other golfers the whole day. I could hear what the players and the caddies were discussing. I could listen how they were determining club selection. I even heard Phil talking to Bones about the Dallas NBA series. No secret that Phil is a big time gambler... I have spent a lot of time with several Rockets, Oilers, and other Pro Golfers, and from what I witnessed Phil is probably the most well adjusted superstar I have ever been around. He was very polite to the galleries even when he could have freaked out about people being in his way. There was a shot off of 16 that squirted left on him into some very high rough. By the time Bones got over there the officials had already been looking for the ball for 2 minutes. Bones had to tell the officials to move the gallery back against the ropes so that he could set the bag down and look. One official tried but there were too many people. Next thing you know there were 20 or 30 FANS in the rough stomping around looking for Phil's ball. Bones was like "I know you wanna help Phil but you guys have to get out of here". Never found it, so Phil had to drop. Needless to say he hit a beauty between some trees on the green to have a shot at saving par. Classic Phil, get a little wild off the tee and hit a brilliant shot to recover. He hit another amazing shot on 11 that was 277 yards from the hole and in some high rough. It missed the green to the right a little, but the fatc that he was able to make solid contact in all that junk was awesome. Phil also stayed 35 minutes after his round to sign autographs. Very cool. No other golfer stayed anywhere near that long. I was a fan before, now an even bigger fan. I'll be following Phil around next time he comes to Houston.
It was a great tournament to watch -- poor Fred was so emotional after winning (his first since 1998) that when they tried to interview him on the 18th, he burst into tears and ran out. Unfortunately, the Agassi/Roddick final match at Westside was happening at the same time -- and I still don't have my split-screen, picture-in-picture widescreen television.
Isn't it just fitting that Freddie makes his remergence known in the town where he played college golf . Seriously, I didn't see much of the tournament with the NFL Draft on this weekend, but I saw he was in the hunt, and his emotional interview after winning. The Shell Houston Open won by University of Houston grad Fred Couples has a nice ring to it I say.
