life at the 15th hole

Steak 48 spoils Houston Open VIPs with food, cocktails, and improv rap tributes

Over four days 138 players will compete for their share of a $9.1 million purse at the Texas Children's Houston Open.

Photo courtesy of Texas Children's Houston Open/Instagram

With the popularity of Netflix's Full Swing series, many have turned their attention to the Texas Children's Houston Open, which tees off Thursday through Sunday in Houston.

This PGA tournament is a warmup for many pro golfers who follow it up by playing in the famed Masters Tournament at Augusta National. Over four days, 138 players will compete for their share of a $9.1 million purse at Memorial Park Golf Course, which has recently seen a $34 million renovation spearheaded by Jim Crane and the Astros Golf Foundation.

Ahead of the serious tournament play, many players participate in the Texas Children's Houston Open Cadence Bank Pro-Am, where amateur golfers get to play a round with a professional. This VIP ticket comes with a hefty price tag of $10,000, which is donated to the Astros Foundation and several other beneficiaries, including the City of Houston, Memorial Park Conservancy, and Texas Children's Hospital.

Orbit tees off at the Cadence Bank Pro-Am. Photo courtesy of Texas Children's Houston Open/Instagram

The Pro-Am is a way for golf pros to prepare for the tournament, spend time on the course, and schmooze with sponsors. For amateurs, it is the chance to feel like a VIP, play in tournament conditions, and be treated to the perks professionals see regularly.

Tournament sponsors rolled out the red carpet for Pro-Am participants with several tents offering open bars and food ranging from barbecue and hamburgers to seafood. Players also had the opportunity to pick up tournament swag from select apparel and sports equipment companies. Personalized head covers, embroidered Astros gear, and other golf ware were all up for grabs.

Steak 48, a sponsor of the Pro-Am for the past three years, was one of the most sought-after spots during the day-long event. Set up on Memorial Golf Course's signature 15th hole, a par 3 with a sloping green and water views, players were treated to a fully stocked bar, tasty bites, and live music.

After teeing off, golfers snagged mini versions of Steak 48's crowd-pleasing bites, including New York strip with hash browns, lobster rolls, meatball grilled cheese, and vanilla and caramel cakes.

Meatball grilled cheese, anyone?Photo by Katherine Ross

Taking the opportunity for a more personalized approach to community giving, Steak 48 also partnered with golf star Wyndham Clark for a celebrity dinner at its locaiton in River Oaks District earlier in the week.

"Houston is a fantastic city, and it did not get that way by accident. There are so many philanthropic people and foundations that do amazing work to make it the special place that it is. The Astros Foundation and the Texas Children's Houston Open certainly fall into that category," Steak 48 founder and CEO Jeff Mastro tells CultureMap. "We are so fortunate for the opportunities and success that we have been provided here, and in turn, understand the responsibility and privilege that we have to give back to a community that has been — and continues to be — so supportive of us."

The 15th hole was also the only place on the course with customized live music to accompany each player. Kelley James of Tee Box Freestyle hopped on the mic and improvised a rap as each player had their turn on the tee box. Half jokes and half well-researched anecdotes about the players, James made sure each golfer got noticed.

Ben Griffin, a professional golfer out of North Carolina, said between great views, delicious food, and James' music, the 15th hole was one of his favorites during the Pro-Am. "It is fun and different from what anyone expects on a golf course. It's a nice twist and definitely adds some flavor."

Many players participate in the Texas Children's Houston Open Cadence Bank Pro-Am. Photo by Katherine Ross

Although much of the attention at the Pro-Am centered around big names like Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris, and Houston's own Sahith Theegala, VIPs of a different kind also took center stage. A handful of patients from Texas Children's Hospital who have golf dreams of their own had their chance to learn from the best, including Wyndham Clark, who spent time with the teens and gave them pointers on their golf game.

Aside from the luxury treatment, large winnings, and celebrity sightings, the Houston-based tournament is all about seeing the Texas Children's Hospital patients starry-eyed and smiling on the course with some of the best golfers in the world.

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The Texas Children's Houston Open takes place March 28-31. For tickets and more information, visit the tournament's website.

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pet protection

What Texas pet owners need to know about the dangerous New World screwworm

Photo by Helena Jankovičová Kováčová/Pexels

Make sure these guys are up on their flea and tick meds.

Two New World screwworm cases in dogs are among more than 30 confirmed instances in Texas and New Mexico, prompting warnings Wednesday, July 8 from veterinarians and humane societies that pet owners need to remain vigilant to protect their animals.

The parasite reappeared in cattle in the U.S. in June, more than 50 years after it had been largely eradicated from the country. The pest is actually the larvae of the New World screwworm fly. It eats live flesh and fluids rather than dead material, as the larvae of most fly species do.

Here is what to know about the parasite, the threat it poses to pets and how to protect them:

Screwworm fly larvae can infest any mammal
The fly's migration north from Panama starting in 2024, and through Mexico in 2025, has agriculture officials warning that it poses a threat to the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry, but the larvae can hatch and breed in any mammal, including wildlife, dogs, cats and occasionally humans.

The problem develops when a female fly lays its eggs in open wounds and mucus. After the eggs hatch, the larvae feed for about a week before maturing, dropping to the ground and continuing to develop into an adult fly.

The American Veterinary Medical Association says newborn animals and animals with open wounds or who have undergone surgery or other medical procedures recently are especially vulnerable. Even a tick bite can host an infestation, Aaron Grady, executive director of the Houston Humane Society shelter, said during a webinar on the screwworm.

Screwworm fly The goal is to stop these flies from successfully breeding.Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture

Infestation signs include restlessness and bad smell
Animal health experts say pet owners in areas where the screwworm is present — southern and southwestern Texas and southeastern New Mexico so far — should watch their animals closely and examine them for wounds, cuts and bites regularly.

Pet owners should look for any maggots or movement in a wound. Other signs include a foul smell and restlessness or anxiety in an animal, or an animal “hyper-fixating on looking or chewing in a certain area of the body," said Melissa Stansell, a veterinarian at the shelter Austin Pets Alive!

Any one of those is reason enough to go to a veterinarian. The affected animal is likely in a great deal of pain, and that can cause death from shock. The larvae also can cause death if they move into vital organs or by causing infections that turn deadly.

Flea, tick medications can stop an infestation
Humane society officials and veterinarians said shelters across Texas are trying to prevent infestations in animals by giving them prescription flea and tick medications. They recommend that pet owners do the same.

“It will kill the larvae as they ingest the blood and tissue,” Stansell said. “The chemical compositions of those products are what kill the actual larval stages of these flies.”

Veterinarians also can treat infestations and animals can recover if pet owners contact them quickly. Stansell said the treatment could include antibiotics.

“It is only fatal if left untreated,” she said.

An effort to eradicate the fly again is underway
The New World screwworm fly is a tropical species and decades ago would disappear each year when colder weather arrived with the fall or winter.

But state and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials aren't waiting for the weather to turn. They've returned to an eradication method that worked decades ago, breeding sterile male flies and releasing them into the wild. The female New World screwworm fly mates once in her monthslong life, and if her partner is sterile, her eggs won't hatch — causing the population in an area to drop and then disappear.

For years, the only factory breeding sterile flies in the Western Hemisphere was in Panama, but the USDA invested $21 million to convert a site in southern Mexico from breeding fruit flies to recently start breeding screwworm flies. The agency also plans to spend $750 million on a new fly factory in Texas, set to open next year.

screwworm fly pets

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pet protection

What Texas pet owners need to know about the dangerous New World screwworm