How to play at Colonial Country Club?
The Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas is synonymous with one event: the Charles Schwab Challenge. It has hosted the tournament since 1946, making it the oldest on the PGA Tour held at the same location.
The club was established in 1936 and the course was designed by renowned architects John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell. Indeed, the influence of the latter is evident in the rolling greens and the use of existing topography. Tree-lined fairways, small greens and doglegs are the order of the day, emphasizing all aspects of a player’s game on a course widely recognized as one of the most challenging on the PGA Tour. .
Doglegs, which are a familiar theme from another Maxwell-designed course, Southern Hills, are particularly troublesome on a three-hole stretch dubbed the Horrible Horseshoe. The par-4 third features a 483-yard left dogleg with a tight turn that demands precision with the tee shot. Bunkers on the left force many tee shots to the rough on the right. Meanwhile, if your drive is heading to the left and the ball avoids a bunker, chances are it will be blocked by trees.
The fourth is a 247-yard par-3 with an elevated green. Incredibly, it is so difficult that the hole has yet to see an ace in the history of the Charles Schwab Challenge. If the first two holes of the Horrible Horseshoe seem difficult, the fifth which completes it is frankly brutal. The 481-yard par-4 has a dogleg right with a river on the right and a ditch on the opposite side. Other tests follow, including the 13th with its unique triangular green. The 170-yard par-3 plays on the water, and wind is also a factor, with shots as likely to find the tight green as the lake.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The course, which also hosted the 1941 US Open, will receive a $20 million facelift after the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge. While it retains its sense of history and familiarity, there will be nods look to the future with a new irrigation system, tees, bunkers and green complexes in a project by Gil Hanse.
Whether you want to play a game of Colonial before or after the upgrades, it’s not that easy to organize. Like other Texas PGA Tour courses, TPC Craig Ranch and Austin Country Club, Colonial is a private course, so its facilities are for members and guests only. To become a member, you will have to find an initiation fee which would be around $80,000. On top of that, there are monthly dues of around $470 per month, while there are additional fees for any member who invites a guest to play. Anyone interested in becoming a member should email the club’s assistant general manager for details.
How much does a Colonial Country Club Fort Worth membership cost?
The club, which has 700 members, would have an initiation fee of $80.00 with monthly dues of $470. On top of that, there are additional charges for bringing guests to play on the course.
Who created the Colonial Country Club?
The Colonial Country Club was started in 1936 by Marvin Leonard, who was determined to bring bentgrass greens to Texas. After being rebuffed in his effort to make it with multiple greens at River Crest, he built his own course – Colonial.
What was the name of the Charles Schwab challenge?
The event has gone through several name changes since its inception in 1946. It was initially called the Colonial National Invitation, then became the Southwestern Bell Colonial in 1989. Other names have included the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. More recently, it became the Charles Schwab Challenge in 2019.
