From the Bayou to Houston, this week’s putting story is shaped by two very different tests: a tighter, target-style look at TPC Louisiana and a broader, more architectural challenge at Memorial Park.
The PGA TOUR heads to TPC Louisiana for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, a venue that has hosted the event since 2005. Over on the LPGA side, The Chevron Championship begins a new chapter at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston, which becomes the major’s new home in 2026. Same week. Very different assignments with the putter.
PGA TOUR: TPC Louisiana for The Zurich Classic
TPC Louisiana gives us a setup that is more exacting than flashy. TPC’s official site notes the Pete Dye design sits in Avondale, just outside New Orleans, on more than 250 acres of wetlands along the Mississippi River Delta. The most recent published tournament setup for the Zurich listed Poa trivialis overseeded greens, a 7,425-yard par 72, average green size of 5,225 square feet, 106 bunkers and water in play on eight holes. Last year’s setup also had those greens rolling at 12 on the Stimpmeter.
That matters because TPC Louisiana is not just a “make some putts” place. It is an “earn the right putts first” place. The greens are not massive. They are smaller targets by TOUR standards, and when you pair that with all the visual noise created by Dye bunkering and water, approach control becomes the first putting stat of the week. In a team event, that gets amplified. One player can attack, the other can play a little safer, but if teams are not consistently leaving themselves uphill looks inside that 10-to-20-foot window, they can get lapped in a hurry. That is an inference from the setup more than a hard stat, but it is the cleanest read of this golf course.
The overseeded Poa trivialis surface should reward teams who stay patient and trust the roll. These are the kinds of greens where speed control can quietly separate the field. In best-ball rounds, the pressure is on to cash birdie chances. In alternate shot, the pressure shifts toward avoiding the three-putt or the nervy cleanup miss after a cautious first putt. When I think about TPC Louisiana this week, I do not think “wild greens.” I think “hit your number, start it on line and let your partner’s good ball-striking turn into birdie stress for the other side.”
LPGA: Memorial Park for The Chevron Championship
Memorial Park is the more intriguing greens story of the two, in part because this is Chevron’s first year there and in part because the course asks players to think their way around the putting surfaces. The LPGA’s tournament page lists The Chevron Championship at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston from April 23-26, and the event’s official site announced the move to Memorial Park back in January. Memorial Park’s own site also reinforces the course’s big-stage role as home of the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
Because there was no public Chevron-specific agronomy sheet available this week from the GCSAA, the best recent indicator comes from Memorial Park’s Houston Open setup from a few weeks back on the PGA TOUR. The events tournament fact sheet listed Poa trivialis overseeded greens cut at .110 inches and an average green size of 7,000 square feet.
Memorial Park is not a place where the greens alone do all the talking. The surrounds help write the script. Tom Doak’s 2019 renovation reshaped the course, and architecture coverage has emphasized its large greens and tight runoff areas. Golf Digest also described the greens as huge in relation to the scale of the course. That is a very different putting challenge than what the LPGA field saw a week ago in Los Angeles. Bigger greens do not automatically mean easier greens. In many cases, they mean longer first putts, more demanding pace control and far more places to finish on the wrong tier.
So for Chevron week, I would be watching two things above everything else. First, who is leaving approach shots pin-high instead of simply “on the green.” Second, who is handling the first putt from distance without turning four feet into six. Memorial Park looks like the kind of major venue where players can hit greens all day and still feel like they are one poor speed decision away from giving shots back. The best putters this week may not be the ones pouring in everything from 20 feet. They may be the ones who never let the course turn one mistake into two. That is partly inference, but it is the kind of inference Memorial Park’s recent setup and architecture invite.
The PrimePutt take
If you like birdie-making and cleaner looks, TPC Louisiana is your week. If you like green-reading, touch and the kind of pressure that starts before the putter even comes out of the bag, Memorial Park is the more compelling greens test. One asks teams to capitalize. The other asks major champions to survive the wrong leave. Both should give us plenty to talk about by Sunday evening.
