Colonial Country Club is a private golf club in Fort Worth, Texas. It hosts an annual PGA Tour event, currently called the Fort Worth Invitational, the longest running non-major PGA Tour event held at the same site. The golf course is located on the south bank of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River, just northwest of the campus of Texas Christian University.
History
Tough Test: The Horrible Horseshoe at Colonial Country Club - A daunting three-hole stretch on the front nine at Colonial Country Club has holes 3, 4, and 5 nicknamed the Horrible Horseshoe and played annually during the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial....
Colonial Country Club was started 82 years ago in 1936 by Marvin Leonard, who had a keen interest in bringing bentgrass greens to his hometown of Fort Worth. When his initial plans to install bentgrass greens at an already existing Fort Worth golf club failed, Leonard came up with his vision for Colonial Golf Club. His vision became a reality in January 1936 when the club opened with approximately 100 members.
In the late 1930s, Leonard began talks with the United States Golf Association (USGA) to conduct the U.S. Open at Colonial. After guaranteeing the USGA $25,000, Colonial was granted the rights to the 1941 edition, won by Craig Wood.
In 1942, Leonard decided to sell the club to the members of Colonial. His first attempt to sell to the members was rejected, but he eventually sold the club to the members on December 31, 1942, when it took its current name, Colonial Country Club.
The course
The golf course at Colonial Country Club was designed by John Bredemus of Texas and Perry Maxwell of Oklahoma. The par-70 course, currently at 7,209 yards (6,592Â m), is bordered on the northern edge by the Trinity River (Clear Fork) with the rest of the course surrounded by the neighboring residential area. The course length in 1941 was 7,035 yards (6,433Â m), considerably long for the era.
In addition to the annual PGA Tour event, the course has hosted three major or significant professional golf events: the 1941 U.S. Open, the 1975 Tournament Players Championship (won by Al Geiberger), and the 1991 U.S. Women's Open (won by Meg Mallon).
Course layout
Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in 2012
The course has the following ratings and slopes:
Course record
The course record is 61, co-held by six PGA Tour pros: Keith Clearwater, Lee Janzen, Greg Kraft, Justin Leonard, Kenny Perry, and Chad Campbell.
Colonial Tournament
The Colonial golf tournament has been held every year since 1946, with exceptions in 1949 (flooding of the Trinity River) and 1975, when the club hosted the second Tournament Players Championship in August.
The most noteworthy winner of the tournament is Ben Hogan; the late Fort Worth resident won five times, which earned the course the nickname "Hogan's Alley." Other notable winners include Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper (twice), Lee Trevino (twice), Ben Crenshaw (twice), Al Geiberger, Bruce Lietzke (twice), Jack Nicklaus, Peter Jacobsen, Lanny Wadkins, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Lehman, Corey Pavin (twice), Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson (twice), Sergio GarcÃa, Nick Price (twice), Kenny Perry (twice), Zach Johnson (twice)), and Jordan Spieth.
The current tournament record is 259, shot by Zach Johnson in 2010. Kenny Perry holds the 54-hole record of 192 which he shot in 2005. In 2011, David Toms set the 36-hole record with a 124. The 18-hole record of 61 is held by 6 players. The front nine and back nine records are both 28, held by Wayne Levi and Keith Clearwater, respectively.
From 2007 through 2015, the tournament was sponsored by Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts and called the "Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial." Previous title sponsors include Southwestern Bell, MasterCard, and Bank of America. It became the "Dean & DeLuca Invitational" in 2016; Dean & DeLuca is a chain of upscale grocery stores headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. It became the "Fort Worth Invitational" in 2018.
Trivia
- The fifth hole of the course (which has the Trinity River running alongside the right for nearly the entire length) is often mentioned as one of the best holes in America, and is regularly ranked as among the most difficult in the annual survey performed by the Dallas Morning News (which appears in early spring in a special golf section). It also ends the nicknamed "Horrible Horseshoe," a very tough three-hole stretch.
- The course is ranked 73 on Golf Digest's list the 100 greatest America golf courses.[1]
- In 2003, Annika Sörenstam became the first woman to play in PGA Tour event since 1946, when Babe Didrikson Zaharias played in the Los Angeles Open.
- Part of Bud Shrake's 2001 novel, Billy Boy, was set at Colonial.
Further reading
- "The Legacy Continues" by Russ Pate.
- Colonial: 60 Years of Greatness. Panache Partners, LLC. 2006.
References
Colonial Country Club - Diamond Jubilee Celebration - 75 Years 1st Edition. Frances G. Trimble, 2010
External links
- Official website
- Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
- Coverage on PGA Tour's official Site