Redstone's Tournament Course passes muster with players

April 19, 2006 By Melanie Hauser PGATOUR.com Contributor

HUMBLE, Texas -- So far, so good.

No complaints. No wishing they could walk across the parking lot and play the old course.

And did we mention that they're all talking about the 18th hole?

Change is never easy and the Shell Houston Open did just that. Again. Two years after moving to Redstone Golf Club, the tournament has moved again. Only this time to the new Rees Jones -- yes, the U.S. Open doctor himself -- course on property.

It's a smidge shorter than the old course, has wider fairways, no housing developments and ...did we mention the 18th hole?

It's a full 488 yards -- it looks even longer off the tee -- with water all the way down the left hand side and a nasty little back left pin placement that is sure to be an attention grabber come Sunday afternoon.

"The 18th is awesome," said Charles Howell III. "It's like the 18th at The PLAYERS. This actually is longer and may be tougher.

"You could probably sell a (par) 4 there on Sunday afternoon."

Yes, the 72nd hole is intimidating. But unlike the 18th at TPC Sawgrass, this hole will give players trouble on the second shot, not off the tee. Especially if someone is tempted to go for a sucker pin this week.

But, said J.J. Henry, "These are the best players in the world. If there is water on the left side, odds are they are not going to hit it in the water."

There's water on half of the holes here, prompting Darren Clarke to say, "We might need a few floating golf balls this week."

They'll need a few other things, too. Like accuracy off the tee, because the fairway bunkers are still a bit crusty, and a good putting stroke.

Clarke called the course "Big." As in 7,457 yards. Which plays right into the hands of long hitters like two-time defending champ Vijay Singh.

"Given time, I think it grows on you," Singh said. "Today I felt better on the golf course than yesterday. The other golf course is a much harder driving course. This is an easier driving course-wider fairways."

And, even with a sudden heat snap -- it's been in the 90s the past few days -- the course is in excellent shape.

"I think the condition is perfect," said Aaron Baddeley, who won the Verizon Heritage Sunday. "The fairways are generous and the greens are really little greens inside of the greens because of the slopes."

Added Joe Ogilvie, "They're bigger versions of Torrey Pines, because Rees did that course too."

Right now the new greens are running firm and fast - something that will help draw players next year when the tournament moves to the week before the Masters. But they're also Texas-sized greens.

Vijay Singh is the defending champion of the Shell Houston Open. (Grayson/WireImage)

"The greens could have been smaller," Singh said. "They have huge greens. You can hit greens and two-putt from zillions of miles away. You can only miss the greens if they tuck the pins and you go for the pin and miss it. Under the gun, you can play for the middle of the green."

David Toms, who consulted on the project, said he wishes he could put a questionnaire in everyone's locker to get feedback on the course.

"It didn't have to be positive," he said. "I would like to know what each and every player thinks. .. It's one of the first golf courses I was really involved in, and I don't want it to be the last. I'd like to learn, and I could learn at lot from them."

Most players have applauded the mixture of long and short holes.

"It's really playable," Cameron Beckman said. "There's nothing goofy out there. It's all in front of you."

The only thing lacking, Justin Leonard said, is rough.

Which, honestly, wasn't missed by amateurs teeing it up in Wednesday's pro-am. And, to keep things light, they moved the tees up to allow the amateurs a better chance to score.

Future Hall of Fame pitcher Roger Clemens, a Houstonian, teed it up with Ryan Palmer and shot 3-over-par on his own ball. And, yes, he would have taken a 6-over if they'd moved the tees back.

"The golf course is in great shape," he said. "If the wind doesn't blow, pretty low scores. "

Clemens, who is weighing his options for one last season with the defending National League champion Houston Astros or another team, had another hazard to worry about -- teams looking to talk to him and spectators talking baseball.

"I was on the third hole before my Blackberry blew up," he said.

But he loved talking baseball with the fans, who suggested him finishing up with everyone from the Astros to the Rangers to the Red Sox to the Yankees.

Toms, meanwhile, was talking course. Like Ogilvie and several others, Toms' eyes fit this course well.

"In a perfect world, I would like 12-under par to win the golf tournament," he said. "I've always said that if you can do that, you've challenged the players. They're not shooting 20-under par, but they're not playing the U.S. Open, either."

As for the 18th? "It's more intimidating visually than it plays," Toms said. "There's more room off the tee than you think."

Still, it will likely be advantage to the bombers off the tee -- players like Bubba Watson, Camilo Villegas and Singh, who is trying to win his third straight SHO. And, by the way, has a sense of humor when it comes to the changes.

"I've got good feelings over here," he said. "They keep changing golf courses on me. I don't now what we're going to do next year. Are we going to play the same golf course?"