FORT WORTH — It was the late Bruce Lietzke who told me once that the CJ Cup Byron Nelson is all about the man Byron Nelson while the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial is all about the golf course.
Lietzke, who passed away in 2018, should know since he won both tournaments twice.
Lietzke could not have been more insightful as Colonial Country Club has stood the test of time and many times its annual PGA Tour Event has been referred to as “The Texas Masters.”
The course along the banks of the Trinity River was the brainchild of the late Marvin Leonard, a successful businessman who owned and operated Leonard Brothers Department Store in downtown Fort Worth for many years. Upon the advice of his doctor, Leonard took up the game of golf as an adult and soon became hooked on the game. He also had the good fortune to have a young Ben Hogan as his caddie at Glen Garden Country Club and that began a lifelong relationship that was beneficial to both men.
Later they would enjoy the golf and dining at the city’s most prestigious golf club Shady Oaks.
Having fallen in love with golf, Leonard took his clubs on a business trip to the Northeast and played some of the esteemed courses of that region with its beautiful and fast bent grass greens. He decided Fort Worth needed a course to rival those like Winged Foot of New York and thus hired John Bredemus, often considered the father of Texas golf, to fashion such a layout on a farm site near Texas Christian University.
The result was Colonial Country Club that opened in 1936 and with the help of architects Perry Maxwell and Ralph Plummer was able to host the 1941 US Open won by Craig Wood.
Word got out after that about Colonial and so an invitational tournament was started after World War II in 1946 and has been played there every May since except for a flood in 1949 and the playing of the second Players Championship in August of 1975. It is the longest running PGA Tour tournament at the same location other than the Masters at Augusta National which commenced in 1935.
Adding to the intrigue this year is the new, renovated layout by Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner that debuted last year. The course has been designed to highlight the original features more prominent in the early years of the late 1930s with greens closer to the ground, fewer bunkers with preference for natural hazards such as the Trinity River bordering several holes and a meandering barranca.
The course debuted at the 2024 Schwab Challenge and the pros liked it but said it needed time to settle in so the reviews this year will be more revealing.
A famous stretch of holes is called the “Horrible Horseshoe” because of the difficulty and the arrangement resembles a horseshoe. These holes were designed by Maxwell to toughen the course for the 1941 US Open. The stretch begins with the third hole, a long par 4 that doglegs to the left with giant fairway bunkers on the left side to discourage cutting off too much of the dogleg and then a second shot into a green carved from a pecan orchard.
The 4th hole is a long par 3 of up to 250 yards that was to an elevated green that has now been lowered. It is perhaps easier than before but still no cupcake.
The final hole of the “Horrible Horseshoe” is the treacherous 5th hole along the banks of the Trinity River. The changes to the 5th hole, as well as the par 3 8th, are perhaps the best work of Hanse and Wagner. The 5th is still diabolical but enhanced by the removal of many of the trees that blocked the view of the river lurking to the right. A barranca with thick grass negates a bailout drive to the left and the second shot, even from the middle of the fairway, is daunting to a flat and rectangular green.
It was Dan Jenkins, the late golf writer who hailed from Fort Worth, that selected the 5th as one of his 18 most difficult holes in America. Jenkins wrote that back in the day, when someone moved to Fort Worth and established a successful business, they would join Colonial and make their next goal a par on the 5th hole.
After the Horrible Horseshoe, the golfer must continue to pay attention to detail for Colonial is known for requiring precise and strategic tee shots. The course thus does not favor the long hitters and many of the good tour players look forward to the Charles Schwab because they feel they have a chance against the guys who smash their drives.
A look at past winners proves that point with known short hitters like Zach Johnson, Kevin Na, Kevin Kisner and Justin Rose taking home the title. The field in 2025 is another good one with local stars Scottie Scheffler, the top ranked player in the world, and Jordan Spieth, playing again. That more than makes up for big names like Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas taking the week off.
Spieth won in 2016 on the heels of his amazing 2015 when he won both the Masters and the US Open. Spieth is searching for his winning form of old and the Colonial is a place he may find it.
Scheffler is at his peak right now with two consecutive wins at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson and just last week the PGA Championship, his third major to go along with two Masters wins.
Scheffler shot a torrid 31 under at the Nelson and many say he won by five at the PGA with less than his best game. But like all champions, Scheffler was clutch down the stretch to prevail.
Of its many traditions similar to the Masters, the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial has a sport coat for the winner, plaid instead of green, and a Wall of Champions along the first tee with the names of former winners installed on plaques.
Scheffler lost in a playoff to best friend Sam Burns of Shreveport, Louisiana in 2022 and so is still in need of that plaid jacket to go with his two green ones in the closet at his Dallas home. He also would like to see his name on the wall near the first tee.
I wouldn’t bet against him.
