April 2 -- Are things bigger and better in Texas? Many of the PGA Tour players think so as the Tour swings into the Lone Star State. PGA Head Professional Brett Nutt spent some time with PGA.com's John Kim to talk about this week's Shell Houston Open and Redstone Golf Club's appeal to golfers everywhere.

PGA.com: Brett, this is now the 3rd time that the Shell Houston Open is being played at your course. How's it gone so far?

Adam Scott has set his sights on a repeat win at the Shell Houston Open. (Wireimage.com)

Nutt: It's gone very well, we are really pleased. The feedback has been so positive. Last year, at the end of the year, the players on the PGA Tour complete a survey that ranks the venues that they competed on throughout the year. In terms of course conditions, Redstone came in 3rd. And the course looks just as good this year. So yes, things are going very well.

PGA.com: What makes your course a good test for PGA TOUR players?

Nutt: There is bailout on this course. You can't have any weakness in your game if you expect to score well here, it will test every facet of your golf game. There are some tournaments that allow for spraying the ball a little or give you good places to miss, but not here. At our course, your distance control, your driving accuracy, your putting, all elements really need to be on in order to stay around for the weekend.

PGA.com: David Toms was a special consultant in designing your course, but he barely made the cut last year (ended in a tie for 27th). Doesn't local knowledge matter at Redstone?

Nutt: It does matter, but the way that Rees Jones and David Toms designed this course was also very fair. Even the first time you play here, you can stand on the tee and have a good idea where you need to hit your ball in order to score. It isn't a tricky course, you can see the trouble and the safe areas fine, it's just a matter of hitting your ball there.

PGA.com: Yours is the final week to qualify for Augusta, what does that mean in terms of field and how players playing approach their time here?

Nutt: We try, as much as we can considering climate and terrain differences, to simulate what the players will find at Augusta next week. For example, while many tournaments might have three to five inches of rough, that's not what the players will find next week and so as they try to prepare for the Masters, we keep our rough at an equivalent length. I think that many players see what a tremendous venue we have here for them and for preparing their games. That's why players like Phil Mickelson will be playing this year, Adam Scott who's won here before, Stuart Appleby, really a very strong field.

PGA.com: What are your hopes and expectations from the golf world as they see the world's best players taking on your course this week?

Nutt: We're somewhat unique in that we are, I believe it's one of eleven courses that host a PGA Tour event and that are also open to public play. What I would hope is that golfers recognize how great an opportunity it is for them to test their skills on the same venue as the world's best players. I mean, you can't gather a group of friends and go play baseball at Yankee Stadium, but you can get your golf buddies and play the same courses as a Phil Mickelson or Tiger Woods. And our course here is a great test for the best players in the world, but it's also a fair test for just about any level of golfer. So I would hope and expect that golfers see us in that way, as providing an entertaining and stern challenge for the PGA Tour, and a great potential destination for their next round of golf.