Chevron's winner's jump gets permanent home as Memorial Park pond is completed

The new pond along the right side of Memorial Park's 18th hole is complete.

The site of the LPGA's Chevron Championship , the first women's major of the year, as well as rhe PGA Tour's Texas Children's Houston Open, will have a new hazard for players to deal with coming down the stretch in 2027 and beyond.

Architect Tom Doak returned to help re-design the closing hole at the municipal facility about 5 miles west of downtown Houston, adding a pond that flanks the right side of the green on the closing par 4.

The Astros Golf Foundation helped fund a $34 million renovation of the course, and the PGA Tour returned to the facility in the fall of 2020. Last year, the LPGA moved the Chevron to Memorial Park after three years in The Woodlands, a northern suburb of Houston.

Why the change? The LPGA and tradition is why.

Amy Alcott started the tradition of the Chevron winner jumping into Poppie's Pond back in 1988 at Mission Hills. That tradition continued at The Club at Carlton Woods for three years, but there was no water feature on the 18th hole at Memorial Park.

Last year, after the conclusion of the Houston Open, crews constructed a temporary pool, which measured 15 feet by 10 feet and 4 1/2 feet deep and cost roughly $60,000, for the winner to jump into and continue the tradition. Nelly Korda won her second Chevron title and celebrated with the customary jump, doing a cannonball.

"If I'm hoisting the trophy then I'm jumping in," Korda said after her win. "I'm going to keep the tradition alive. Everyone is going to have their own opinion. My opinion is if you kill a tradition it's going to be gone forever. They're making the effort to wanting to continue the legacy of the jump, and there is a lot of the effort from Chevron, from Glenn (Weckerlin), Mike Wirth, to wanting this tradition to move on, and, you know, yeah."

The change drastically changes the shape of the 18th green. The front right portion of the formerly large putting surface is now gone, with the pond lurking for any approach shots that leak right. There's a narrow entry on the left side of the green, and the surface gets larger for any shots that are hit toward the back. Two bunkers await shots that go too far left at the front of the green, so accuracy will be paramount for players starting in 2027.

There's now water in play on the final four holes at Memorial Park, making it an even tougher closing stretch for players trying to hoist a major trophy. And for those who conquer the stretch, they'll have a nice pond to cool off in with a celebratory leap starting in 2027.

Cameron Jourdan is an assistant editor of Golfweek, covering college and amateur golf, the PGA Tour and plenty more. Follow Cameron on X/Twitter (@Cam_Jourdan) or Instagram (@GolfweekJourdan).