Can Memorial Park Save the Chevron Championship?

It’s no secret the Chevron Championship struggled in its three-year stint at the Club at Carlton Woods outside of Houston. What the first women’s major of the season lacked in both juice and prestige, it made up for in poor fan turnout, stubbed chips, egregious backboarding, and even a near drowning from Mao Saigo’s celebratory leap last year into a murky pond off the 18th green.

One of the highlights of LPGA commissioner Craig Kessler’s first year on the job was announcing Memorial Park, a Houston muni and host of the PGA Tour’s Texas Children’s Houston Open, as the Chevron’s new home beginning this week. Players, media, and fans praised the relocation across town, but the question remains: Can Memorial Park save the Chevron Championship?

Before diving into the answer, it’s important to look at how we ended up here. Dating back to 1983, the LPGA’s season-opening major historically took place the week before the Masters at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California, under an eclectic mix of title sponsors. The announcement of the inaugural Augusta National Women's Amateur in 2019, scheduled for that same weekend, left the championship founded by actress Dinah Shore in 1972 scrambling for its place on the golf calendar. Unable to compete with the allure of Augusta National and left without a sponsor and a dwindling purse, the Chevron Corporation stepped in to revive the championship in 2021 and was left no choice but to find a new date and venue.

Memorial Park jumped into the golf limelight in recent years thanks to a large-scale renovation by Tom Doak, courtesy of Jim Crane and the Houston Astros Foundation. Doak, with a little help from Brooks Koepka, brought the struggling municipal course back to life with bold green complexes, updated bunker placement, and a re-established barranca system throughout the front nine. All of Tom’s design work restored key strategic elements to the golf course for both tour players and everyday golfers. With its headquarters in Houston, keeping the championship in Space City was important to Chevron, and Memorial Park was the perfect solution on paper. The LPGA could piggyback on a PGA Tour setup and build out with better access to fans at a trending municipal course in the heart of the city.

LPGA fans were apoplectic when the move from Mission Hills was first announced back in 2021, and the blandness of the Club at Carlton Woods proved them right. While I’ll always appreciate the championship’s history in the Coachella Valley, Memorial Park is far superior to Mission Hills as a major championship venue. But is that enough?

One thing is certain: Clinging to the wistfulness of Amy Alcott's jump into Poppie’s Pond in 1988 at Mission Hills won’t bring the Chevron back to prominence. The four-foot-deep water feature installed near the 18th green at Memorial Park this week is a gimmick, a poor attempt at upholding a tradition that should've been left in California. Because traditions aren't formed overnight. They take years of moments and meaning and memory to stick. Leaving behind what's familiar isn't the end; it's the first step towards creating something new and fresh.

Time will only tell if Memorial Park can carry the Chevron Championship into a bright new era for the LPGA and women’s golf. The kiddie pool on the 18th hole aside, I like its potential.