HOUSTON, Texas – The Astros Golf Foundation announced today that three native Houstonians, Travis Vick, Walker Lee and Cole Hammer, have earned sponsor exemptions to play in the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open, set for Nov. 10-13 at Memorial Park Golf Course.
Travis Vick is a senior at the University of Texas who is a Houston native and a graduate of Second Baptist School. Vick earned the clinching point as the Texas Longhorns won the 2022 NCAA men’s golf title. At the 2022 U.S. Open he claimed low-amateur honors by shooting a 73 on Sunday. Prior to Texas, he was the 2017 Southern Texas PGA Junior Player of the Year, won the 2018 Junior PLAYERS Championship, was a 2018 First Team AJGA Rolex Junior All-American and the No. 2 ranked played in the class of 2019 by Golfweek/Sagarin.
Walker Lee, also a Houston native, is a recent graduate of Texas A&M University. During his fifth year in 2021-22, Lee earned PING Third Team All-America honors, PING All-Central Region Team and was named to Team USA for the Arnold Palmer Cup. He competed in 10 tournaments during his final college season, registering a 70.83 stroke average and was victorious at the Marquette Intercollegiate and the Aggie Invitational. Prior to his collegiate career, Lee was ranked by Junior Golf Scoreboard as the No. 2 player in the state of Texas and the No. 18 player nationally and was named a 2016 All-American by the American Junior Golf Association among other honors.
Cole Hammer played collegiately at the University of Texas from 2018-22, winning the 2022 NCAA Men’s Golf championship and four individual tournaments during his career. He earned All-America honors as a freshman in 2019 and third team honors as a senior in 2022. The Houston native and graduate of Kinkaid, earned three All-Big 12 selections, and was named both the 2019 NCAA Division I National Freshman of the Year and Big 12 Freshman of the Year. He finished No. 5 in the PGA TOUR University, presented by Velocity Global Class of 2022, earning him spots in all remaining open-field events on the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour schedule and Final Stage of the 2022 Korn Ferry Qualifying Tournament. He earned a top 10 finish in the Memorial Health Championship, presented by LRS, where he finished tied for seventh.
**THE FIELD
**The field for the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open is coming together, headlined by the No. 1 player in the world, 2022 PGA TOUR Player of the Year and 2022 Masters Champion, Scottie Scheffler. Also committed to play in 2022 is Sam Burns, Jason Day and Sahith Theegala.
Burns, a native of Shreveport, La., and graduate of Louisiana State University, is set to compete in the Houston Open for the fourth-straight season. He boasts four PGA TOUR victories, including three in the 2021-22 season with wins at the Valspar Championship, Charles Schwab Challenge and Sanderson Farms Championships. In 2021-22 he advanced to the TOUR Championship for the second consecutive year, finishing No. 24 in the FedExCup standings. He finished the regular season in 2021-22 at No. 3 in the FedExCup standings and was one of just three players to finish the Regular Season in the top 10 in 2021 and 2022.
Day, a former Major winner and former No. 1 in the world rankings, is committed to the field for the third-straight season. In addition to his 2015 PGA Championship crown, he has four additional top three Major finishes, including tying for second at the 2011 U.S. Open, third at the 2013 Masters Tournament, tying for second at the 2013 U.S. Open and second at the 2016 PGA Championship. Overall, he boasts 12 PGA TOUR victories. In the 2021-22 season, he qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs for the 15th consecutive season.
Theegala is coming off a stellar rookie season in 2021-22, where he advanced to the TOUR Championship and finished No. 28 in the FedExCup standings. He led the PGA TOUR in birdies (433) and rounds in the 60s (55). He recorded five top-five finishes, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Travelers Championship and made 26 cuts in 32 starts.
COMMUNITY PARTNER EVENTOn Thursday, Oct. 6, the Astros Golf Foundation welcomed community partners out to Memorial Park Golf Course to hear about the exciting updates to this year’s tournament and to play the same course the pros will play in just over a month.
CADENCE BANK HOUSTON OPEN TICKETS ON SALE NOW**
Tickets** to the 2022 Cadence Bank Houston Open continue to be on sale to the public at houstonopen.com/tickets.
Monday, Oct. 10 is the last day that fans can be the general admission Good Any Day tickets. These tickets offer the most flexibility as you get to choose later which day of the tournament you will attend.
After Monday, Oct. 10, the options to fans will be the pick your day general admission ticket and the venue hopper ticket.
