Colonial Country Club
The north Texas city of Fort Worth is renowned for many things, but tops on the list are likely its ancient status as “Where the West Begins” and its role in the history of golf in the Lone Star State.
As the home of venerable Colonial Country Club, Fort Worth was one of the favorite courses on legendary Texas golfer Ben Hogan and stands above the PGA Tour fray as far as a constant on the schedule
Colonial Country Club hosted the 1941 U.S. Open and has been the site of an annual PGA Tour stop since 1946. Hogan won the tournament (now called the Charles Schwab Challenge) five times, and the course is even known as “Hogan’s Alley” because no one dominated at Colonial like Hogan.
A larger-than-life bronze statue of Hogan overlooks the golf course and the clubhouse is full of Hogan memorabilia, including a trophy room that is known as the Hogan Room. The display includes video footage, trophies and more, all celebrating Hogan’s life and accomplishments.
Next to the club’s pro shop is a replica of Hogan’s office, complete with the original furniture. His legacy is one that goes beyond the game of golf.
The 7,209 yard, par-70 course designed by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell, will hold the 77th annual rendition of its famed tournament May 25-28. Colonial Country Club boasts by far the longest-running PGA Tour-sponsored event held at the same golf course.
Nothing comes easy at Colonial, and that’s just fine
Playing Colonial is like solving a difficult puzzle – it’s a course that demands conviction on every shot and confidence in each putt.
There are places you think you can score – like the 565-yard par-5 first and three short par-4s on the front, the second, the sixth and the ninth, which play at 389, 406 and 407 yards, respectively. On the back nine, golfers can attack the 408-yard 10th and the 387-yard 17th, two par-4s with very demanding putting surfaces.
But there are also holes that are just plain hard. Holes 3, 4, and 5 are called the “Horseshoe” and are perhaps the hardest three-hole stretch you will ever play. The 483-yard par-4 fourth moves left over a huge fairway bunker and the fifth is carded at 247 yards from the back tees and plays uphill and into the wind.
No. 5 is the most difficult hole on a course full of challenges, playing at 481 yards with a narrow fairway and trees down the right. Annika Sorenstam, who famously played in the 2003 edition of Colonial’s PGA Tour event against the men, said No. 5 “is the hardest golf hole I’ve ever played. Every day I would dread coming to the tee. You know it’s a long hole when you hit driver, 8-iron, 8-iron, and it’s a par-4.”
The back nine is equally as testing, highlighted by the 635-yard par-5 11th, the 464-yard par-4 14th, the 192-yard par-3 16th (with its devilish hole placements on a sloping green), and the 441-yard par-4 closing hole the ends in the shadow of the Hogan statue and the stately clubhouse.
There is very little elevation change and nothing tricked up at Colonial – it’s just a great golf course on a great piece of land that demands your best game to be successful.
Hanse set to return Colonial to original glory
Beginning literally in the hours after the final putt drops on this season’s Charles Schwab Challenge, Colonial Country Club’s course will undergo an extensive renovation and modernization project led by golf course architect Gil Hanse and his team that’s set to be the most significant in the course’s history.
“It will still be the revered Colonial course we are all familiar with seeing and playing, but the Hanse work will improve, update and maximize this legendary course and routing,” said Frank Cordeiro, general manager of Colonial Country Club.
The project will address every aspect of the course’s infrastructure, including a state-of-the-art irrigation system and new bunkers, tees and greens. New subterranean cooling and heating systems for the green complexes will manage and adjust soil temperatures for superior growth and plant health, as well as to maximize playability, aesthetics and consistency throughout the year.
The course is scheduled to re-open just in time for the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge next May.
The course at Colonial Country Club opened in 1936 and has undergone a variety of changes over the decades, including a 1969 flood-control project by the Corps of Engineers that dramatically altered the Trinity River channel that forms the north border of the golf course.
Hanse’s vision for the renovation was inspired by Colonial’s original layout, with the biggest changes to the course being on holes 8 and 13, par-3s that were dramatically changed by the 1969 flood project.
The eighth green will be shifted left in somewhat of a mirror image of the original hole, with a creek on the left side rather than a river on the right. The 13th green will also move left, with bunkers added in front of the hole.
Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex resident and 2016 tournament champion Jordan Spieth admitted an initial hesitancy to any renovation of such a revered course
“Man, Colonial is so great, why would you change anything? It’s one of those unique tests we get throughout the year.” Spieth opined. “Then you look at the changes and you see it is still going to keep its roots. It is still going to be Colonial. The project doesn’t change the
DNA of the golf course, which is already fantastic.”
Public golf in and around Fort Worth
You can’t play Colonial Country Club without an invitation and the escort of one its members, but there are plenty of great golf courses in and around Fort Worth on which you can channel your inner Hogan or Spieth. Here are three to consider:
Rockwood Park Golf Course, Fort Worth
The City of Fort Worth has three courses on its roster, led by the uber-cool Rockwood Park Golf Course. Rockwood opened in 1938 and was designed by Bredemus, Colonial’s designer, with subsequent upgrades by Ralph Plummer and, most recently and most notably, the design team of John Colligan and associate Trey Kemp in 2017. The renovation created a different and challenging routing that lengthened the course 7,053 yards. There are also with new greens, tees, fairways, bunkering system, drainage, and cart paths.
Split Rail Links & Golf Club, Annetta
Split Rail Links, set about half-hour west of downtown, pays homage to the rich traditions of the birthplace of golf through its Scottish theme. The par-72, 7,353-yard links-style course was designed by Phil Lumsden with influence from some of the characteristics of the great courses from across the pond. It offers a perfect balance of strategy and playability and is framed by an abundance of bunkers and mounds of tall fescue. While tough enough to test scratch golfers, five sets of tees enable golfers of all abilities to enjoy this unique design.
Waterchase Golf Club, Fort Worth
Located just 10 minutes east of downtown Fort Worth, Waterchase GC has been ranked among the top courses in the region since its opening in 2000. Designed by Steve Plummer, the track is carded at 7,159 yards and can be played from six tees to allow for all levels of player. The par-72 layout has five par-3s and five par-5s and features an exceptional variety of holes. There are tree-lined doglegs and split fairways, and the course sports plenty of the risk/reward opportunities. A cascading waterfall between the ninth and 18th greens highlights the course’s beauty.