Super Win for H-Town

Houston wins Super Bowl on its own merits: Super Bowl LI belonged back in rising city all along

It's a Super Day for Houston. The NFL just awarded the city Super Bowl LI in 2017, adding more punch to the notion that Houston is the city of the future.

It's certainly become the city of mammoth sporting events.

Houston beat out Miami as the host of Super Bowl LI after San Francisco was awarded Super Bowl L in 2016. The decision was made in a vote in a high-end Boston hotel, but as is typical with the NFL these days, it played out as a TV show on the NFL Network. Complete with "pregame analysis" and reporters embedded in each bid city's war room.

It'd be easy to say Miami lost this Super Bowl more than Houston won it. The Dolphins stadium situation —the Florida Legislature refused to even hear the bill that would have put a $350 million referendum for stadium improvements on the ballot — essentially crippled the South Florida bid.

Now, there's talk that Miami could become the next San Diego, a longtime Super Bowl regular that now has no chance to get the game again.

"Houston has been virtually reborn since we hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004."

It's easy to say this is all about Miami's failings, but it's also wrong. Even if Miami had its stadium act together, Houston still would have won. It's simply more deserving of the Super stage.

Houston is a city on the rise, still somehow underrated in most of America even as it skyrockets forward. Don't let the focus on Miami distract from the overall truth: The NFL is coming back to Houston for its big game because it should be in Houston.

Houston's not the consolation choice. It's the right choice.

"I think Houston just had a better package overall," Houston bid chairman Ric Campo said on the NFL Network moments after the Bayou City win was revealed.

Houston getting the game was expected, but that didn't make the celebration any more subdued in the Houston bid room. And now thoughts are already moving forward to the game and Houston's chance to make a major impact.

"We're going to put on a party no one has seen in a long time," Campo said.

Houston is fast becoming a mecca for major sports event. It hosted the Final Four in 2011 and gets college basketball's showcase again in 2016 (the year before Super Bowl LI). The NBA All-Star Game called Houston home for the second time in only eight years last February. Minute Maid Park hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2004 and figures to get another crack soon. And of course, the Super Bowl was here in 2004.

Mayor Annise Parker likes to say that Houston knows how to throw a party.

This Super Bowl bid — like the successful Final Four pitches before it — used Discovery Green and the ability to stage big-name concerts in the park and host a massive NFL Experience in the George R. Brown Convention Center as a huge selling point. The big game will be played at Reliant Stadium — with its new massive scoreboards. But in many ways, Super Bowl week will center around Discovery Green.

Of course, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair was smart enough to dangle some other special perks in front of his fellow billionaire owners. McNair promoted a private, dedicated runway at Ellington Field for the NFL's owners jets during the week of Super Bowl 51.

Even more importantly, he advanced the idea of turning the Super Bowl from a one-week-only event into a 10-day celebration. If you haven't noticed, the NFL likes things bigger. Push that envelope and you're likely to walk away from the table smiling.

"It's a happy moment for us," McNair said in a live TV interview.

Campo presented Houston's bid to the owners, going third after both Miami and San Francisco presented. Campo's presentation included three different videos — including an introductory pitch from former Secretary of State James Baker III.

Campo touted Houston's diversity as the perfect stage to launch the next 50 years of Super Bowls. He also cited its recent recognition in Forbes magazine and the New York Times for being "the coolest city" in America and one of the Top 10 cities in the world to visit respectively.

"Houston has been virtually reborn since we hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004," Campo said in part of the presentation broadcast by the NFL.

". . . Houston is an international business city. We're pretty hip as well."

And Super deserving.

The Miami Dolphins' stadium

Miami Dolphins Dolphin stadium football stadium

Photo by AdamFirst Wikipedia

The Miami Dolphins' stadium

unspecified

who's your caddy

3 Houston golf courses score best in the state title by Texas Monthly

texasmonthly.com

undefined

Anyone who swings a Callaway or TaylorMade in Houston knows our fair city usually boasts 12 months for great golfing. No surprise, then, that three of the best golf courses in the Lone Star State are located in the Houston area, according to a new 2023 guide by Texas Monthly.

Texas owns the fifth-most public golf courses in the country, with about 600 tracks spread out throughout the state. With that in mind, the Texas Monthly team traveled thousands of miles to collect their data about the most unique, reasonably-priced, and accessible golf courses in Texas.

The three Houston courses all fit this criteria, while offering some of the best experiences for players of any skill level.

The first golf course on the lists is BlackHorse in Cypress, a 36-hole complex distinctly designed by Jim Hardy and Peter Jacobsen as an appreciation of East Texas' wetlands. The combined space between the South and North Courses add up to nearly 14,500 yards, with the South Course taking the shorter length but compensating with a more challenging design.

Out of the total three dozen holes, Texas Monthly explains the sixteenth and seventeenth holes are the most memorable.

"The former, a short par 4, dares big hitters to drive over a beautiful marsh, and the following par 3 is effectively an island — a wooden bridge just above the waterline takes you from tee box to green," said senior editor Josh Alvarez. "The spectacular wetland landscape and resident waterfowl provide consolation for any splashed shots."

Next on the list is the oldest 18-hole course in Houston – Gus Wortham – which the Monthly says was just "an afterthought" to the city. It was only after locals expressed disagreement over turning the course into a botanical garden that the Houston City Council decided to revamp the course into what it is today.

"Thanks to some TLC over the past six years, Wortham boasts a freshly rebuilt clubhouse, an all-grass driving range, resplendent fairways, and attractive, constantly beguiling greens," the guide said.

What sets this course apart, according to the Monthly, is how it hasn't lost its edginess through the years, even with the city's reinvestment.

Last, but certainly never the least, Memorial Park has had time in the spotlight before when it earned a title as one of the best municipal courses by Golf.com. So it comes as no surprise that the famed course would be included in Texas Monthly's guide – going so far as to say Bayou City golfers should be counting themselves lucky ("if not downright spoiled") for such a well-maintained, conveniently located, and affordable course.

Since Memorial Park's renovation and reopening in 2019, the course has become only one of two municipally-owned courses on the PGA Tour, in addition to being a formidable host for the Houston Open.

"Those who fear the sand will rejoice at seeing fewer than twenty bunkers during the round, but in exchange players must carefully navigate grass hollows, deep ravines, and thick Bermuda grass that clutches balls when they miss the fairway," Alvarez said. "Make use of the double-decker driving range to get your iron distances dialed in, because the greens can be unkind."

And don't forget to grab a Bill's Burger from Becks Prime after the round is over.

The remaining 15 courses in Texas Monthly's "A Guide to Texas' Best Public Golf Courses" can be found on texasmonthly.com.

golf reports Texas Monthly houston cypress sports memorial park