Golfcrest was founded in 1926 by developer Earl Gammage Sr. and opened in 1927 in southeast Houston as an alternative to River Oaks; in 1932 it was among the first U.S. clubs to try floodlit night golf. Hemmed in by industry, the private club relocated to 200 acres in Pearland in 1965 and had Joe Finger rebuild the course in 1971, with a Jeffrey Blume renovation in 2008.