Houston Open - Where to stay, where to play?

[Phireside]

Headed to the Houston Open in November. Will have time for 2 rounds. Looking for suggestions. 

 

Also looking for suggestions on where to stay. I'll stay at a Hyatt property. Currently looking at Galleria, Woodlands, Katy/Energy Corridor. 

 

Woodlands is furthest away from the course, but looks to be the best bang for buck and not too far from the airport. How is the drive from there to the course. Google shows 30 min.

Edited September 19, 2021 by Phireside

[ND2005]

What are you looking for in terms of evenings/nightlife ?

 
The Woodlands is a massive suburb. Chain food is the king. Nothing happening at night. I would say the drive will take longer than 30 minutes. 
 
Galleria area is a huge mega mall with shops everywhere. Closer to some decent restaurant options. 
 
katy: why? 
 

personally I would just stay somewhere downtown, it’s easy to get to the course from there and more access to good food and drink. Or more ideally I would do an Air BNB in the heights (there aren’t any decent hotels in the heights).

 
there’s plenty of threads here about the Houston public course options

[CougarRed]

Some of the better public courses are about an hour from downtown (High Meadow Ranch NW of town, Wilderness South of town, Eagle Pointe East of town).

 

Closer in, you have Gus Wortham, Golf Club of Houston and Cypresswood Tradition.

 

If it were me and Hyatt was the choice, I'd stay the Galleria Hyatt Regency, play Gus Wortham and Cypresswood Tradition, Uber 10 mins to the Houston Open and dine at the River Oaks District (Steak 48, Le Colonial, Toulouse, MAD etc.).  Note: need to reserve those restaurants at least a week in advance.

 

[Phireside]

@CougarRed Thanks for the info. Staying at the Galleria is an option but will increase the budget a fair bit. Since I'll be travelling solo, going out for dinner/drinks is not high on the list. Despite the distance from the tournament, staying the Woodlands is still making most sense for me I think. 

 

Gus Wortham and HMR are looking like the two courses I'm going to try and play while in town.

[ND2005]

56 minutes ago, Phireside said:

@CougarRed Thanks for the info. Staying at the Galleria is an option but will increase the budget a fair bit. Since I'll be travelling solo, going out for dinner/drinks is not high on the list. Despite the distance from the tournament, staying the Woodlands is still making most sense for me I think. 

 

Gus Wortham and HMR are looking like the two courses I'm going to try and play while in town.

If you’re going to stay in the woodlands I would do HMR and Cypresswood Tradition.

 

 Despite what the Houston fanboys say, Gus Wortham really isn’t worth a trip. 

[Lefty_89]

My vote would be for GC of Houston - excellent practice center and course is almost always in great shape.

 

Also, I assume you're flying into Bush and not Hobby since you mentioned The Woodlands? That will be a decent hike to Memorial Park. I work in Humble and live near The Heights, that drive is around 25-30 mins for me each day.

 

You could stay around the Galleria, Montrose, or the furthest I'd recommend (solely based on price) would be Energy Corridor (between Beltway and Highway 6). Would be a straight shot on I-10. 

Edited September 20, 2021 by Lefty_89

[dugue4]

HMR is an amazing course and luckily only 10 minutes away. If I could only do something about this work-thing. It takes up too much time…

 

Hole 8 is very tough, FYI. 

[EDT501]

Woodlands would not be where I’d pick to stay… Surely one of the Hyatt properties in downtown or the galleria is in the same general price range, much, much more convenient to Memorial Park and things to do besides the tournament. If you want food recommendations, happy to oblige - Houston is AWESOME for its affordable yet bad***/diverse food. Please, please don’t do Steak48 though - hot garbage.
 

Cypresswood Traditions and Gus would be my two choices for places to play while in town. Golf Club of Houston is always in great shape and I still play it periodically, but I find it pretty bland (just a generic new, nicer course, not bad) and definitely not worth the full price of admission.

On 9/19/2021 at 7:50 PM, ND2005 said:

Despite what the Houston fanboys say, Gus Wortham really isn’t worth a trip. 

[ND2005]

4 hours ago, EDT501 said:

Woodlands would not be where I’d pick to stay… Surely one of the Hyatt properties in downtown or the galleria is in the same general price range, much, much more convenient to Memorial Park and things to do besides the tournament. If you want food recommendations, happy to oblige - Houston is AWESOME for its affordable yet bad***/diverse food. Please, please don’t do Steak48 though - hot garbage.
 

Cypresswood Traditions and Gus would be my two choices for places to play while in town. Golf Club of Houston is always in great shape and I still play it periodically, but I find it pretty bland (just a generic new, nicer course, not bad) and definitely not worth the full price of admission.

It’s a muni. With an average routing/layout, above average conditions, and poor pace of play. 

The fact that it is so popular in Houston speaks to the lack of good public courses in the area

[EDT501]

We’ll have to agree to disagree on all points - except conditions, which we agree are good. 

[Phireside]

I have a booking for GC of Houston. There was a discount to tee off at 11am so I booked it. I'll still try to book Gus when they open up reservations. 

 

I moved my reservation to the Hyatt Regency West. Looks like there is a decent amount of conveniences in the area. Anyone know of a BBQ joint nearby?

[ND2005]

8 hours ago, Phireside said:

I have a booking for GC of Houston. There was a discount to tee off at 11am so I booked it. I'll still try to book Gus when they open up reservations. 

 

I moved my reservation to the Hyatt Regency West. Looks like there is a decent amount of conveniences in the area. Anyone know of a BBQ joint nearby?

You seem determined to stay away from every location that’s been recommended 😭

[Lefty_89]

I played at Gus this past Saturday, completely different feel out there now with the nice clubhouse. Amazing what paving the parking lot can do for a place. Conditions were incredible - greens rival Memorial.

 

I will say that we were cruising on the front and then hit a wall on the back. Think the back took 2.5 hours.

 

18 is such a great hole.

[CCTxGolf]

Yeah you gonna regret not just staying in the galleria. 
 

actually the med center would work for you too. It’s right Between gus and memorial and can just take 59 north to GCoH.

 

I vote med center. 

[Lefty_89]

West side of town isn't terrible, aside from the hike to/from Bush. Should be a 15 minute drive to MP from the hotel. 

 

@Phireside the best area over there is probably City Centre - different restaurants and bars to choose from.

[snagy2000]

On 10/20/2021 at 9:42 PM, Phireside said:

I have a booking for GC of Houston. There was a discount to tee off at 11am so I booked it. I'll still try to book Gus when they open up reservations. 

 

I moved my reservation to the Hyatt Regency West. Looks like there is a decent amount of conveniences in the area. Anyone know of a BBQ joint nearby?

Roegels BBQ on South Voss (https://roegelsbarbecue.com/)