Houston Open to allow fans on site, but they must be masked
The PGA Tour keeps creeping back toward some level of normalcy and next month, that will include fans – albeit a limited number of them. Houston Open tournament officials have announced that they will allow a limited number of fans on the course for all four rounds of the Nov. 5-8 event at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 21, tournament officials will put 2,000 daily tickets up for sale on the tournament’s web site, HoustonOpenGolf.com. The daily ticket cost is $79 for Thursday’s opening round and $109 a day for Friday through Sunday.
Food and beverage is covered cleverly through ticket purchases, too. Each ticket will include food and beverage from designated on-course venues (alcohol is not included). The tickets will be color coded to correspond with the grab-and-go food and beverage pickup locations.
Tickets will not be sold on-site, nor will there be a will-call area for tickets to be dropped off.
Safety precautions will still be in play at Memorial Park, with all fans, volunteers and essential personnel expected to wear masks at all times while on property, except when eating or drinking.
Some Tour stops already have allowed a very limited number of sponsor fans. A limited number of fans also will be in attendance at the Bermuda Championship the week before the Houston stop.
“We are very happy that we will have fans at Memorial Park for this year’s Houston Open. We greatly appreciate the efforts of the City of Houston, Dr. David Persse (Chief Medical Officer for the City of Houston), and PGA TOUR for working with us in developing a thorough Health and Safety Plan that has enabled this to occur,” said Giles Kibbe, President of the Astros Golf Foundation. “The health and safety for all on property at Memorial Park and the City of Houston is our highest priority as we welcome members of the community to the newly-renovated venue and to watch the best players in the world compete.”
The Houston Open originally was scheduled for Nov. 12-15, but was bumped up a week when the Masters was rescheduled for those dates. The event returns to Memorial Park Golf Course for the first time since 1963.
Because of its week-before-the-Masters date, the Houston Open will draw some of the world’s top players. So far, current World No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler have committed.
