A year ago, the day after Emiliano Grillo beat Adam Schenck in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge, golf architect Gil Hanse And his team immediately got to work.
Their mission was to restore Colonial Country Club to its original appearance during the 1941 U.S. Open. At the US Open, Craig Wood, who won the Masters a few months ago, won his second major. Ben Hogan, who went on to win his fifth time at Colonial, finished tied for third that year.
Nonetheless, Hanse and his team wanted to recreate the rugged landscape that Colonial offered at the time. They also wanted to incorporate more of the tributary from the Trinity River that runs alongside the site.
Hanse also wanted to emphasize a more “natural” look to each hole, eliminating routine sand traps and greens.
In addition to that, Hanse and his team felt the need to incorporate modern technology into the course to make it more sustainable into the future. It included revamping all interrogation systems and environments.
But it took Hanse 18 months to achieve these goals. However, only 11 were earned as Colonial was scheduled to host the Charles Schwab Challenge again in 2024.
Unfortunately, they achieved their goal on time, thanks to hard work during the Texas summer heat.
Additionally, the renovated course has received rave reviews from PGA Tour pros who will be playing this week.
“I think [Hanse] As far as I can tell once he’s played, he’s done a really, really good job,” Jordan Spieth explained on Wednesday.
“I think it’s a tall order for a course designer to take a course back to how it was, adapt it to the modern game, make it more playable for the average member for 51 weeks of the year and still make it just as difficult or more difficult for us because it’s a championship golf course. And as you’ll see over the next four days, it looks like he’s managed to do that, which is really impressive.”
One of the key changes Hanse made was to the par-3 13th. Previously, the green was directly adjacent to the water, but Hanse and his team pushed the putting surface back a little. In doing so, they added a sturdy sand trap between the green and the pond, making water more or less a concern for the pros.
“The only one that stood out and was different was No. 13. I think it’s a great par 3 as long as you play it from the right tee box. But when you take into account the hole location and the wind, it could be the best hole or the worst hole on the course depending on where you’re teeing,” Spieth explained.
“The firmness of the green means you’re unlikely to be able to hold a 5-iron, but if you have a middle iron in, it really rewards a good shot. Then if you get it in the wrong place, you could be in big trouble. Even if you hit a good chip, it’s likely to be over 10 feet for par. So, now it’s a good risk/reward par 3 from the right tee box. Probably more shocking than any hole I saw yesterday was the one where I walked right up to the green.”
Spieth made a great point about the hardness of the greens.
Since it’s so new, we’ll likely see more reactions throughout the week. We saw this extensively two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship, when Quail Hollow redid their greens in advance of next year’s PGA Championship.
“I’m really excited about the greens this week,” added Tom Hoge, one of the best ball strikers on the PGA Tour.
“Probably the best greens we’ve played this year. They’re firm and provide some great colonial and great challenges this week.”
Adam Scott, who won at Colonial in 2014, returned to the course this week for the first time since 2018. He called the revitalization process “refreshing.”
“I think certainly some of the traditional older golf courses on the PGA Tour, but a lot of the great clubs, the agronomy is at a really high standard now and sometimes the courses have grass on them. After 30, 40 years it gets old and a little tired. Now they have all new grass, it feels fresh and it’s going to play extremely well whether you’re a member or you’re playing in this tournament this week,” Scott explained.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25460593/493820111.jpg)
“There’s a difference between hitting from a new, tight fairway and hitting from a 40-year-old straw-covered fairway. I’m not saying it used to be a straw-covered fairway, but it’s nice to refresh. Yes, that’s good. [Hanse] “He’s incredibly experienced and when you go to a great club with such a long history, you don’t want to lose that character. He understands that very well and I think he’s been very gentle in his approach here.”
Hanse has worked on dozens of major championship courses, including Los Angeles Country Club, site of last year’s U.S. Open won by Wyndham Clark. His other projects include Winged Foot, Southern Hills and most recently, Oakmont, which the world will see next year when the U.S. Open returns to Western Pennsylvania for a record 10th time.
“Obviously it’s been a crazy year for Colonial with the renovations, but what Gil Hanse and his team have done is it’s come together incredibly quickly,” said Ryan Palmer, a member of both the PGA Tour and Colonial.
“I finally got to see it and I saw the tour guys playing here and I heard a lot of great positive comments, so that’s good news.To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed in the course and the club. I was nervous, but [Hanse] I met him outside a few minutes ago and he said he’s heard a lot of great things. So I’m looking forward to seeing how this week unfolds. ”
In fact, there are still some rough spots on the course, but it is in the nature of a complete overhaul of the facility over the span of 11 months.
But despite this, Hans and his team, along with Palmer, have received overwhelmingly positive feedback and are confident that Colonial, the PGA Tour’s longest-running venue outside of Augusta National, will continue to be a staple of professional golf. It means to continue to exist.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Please take a look. @_PlayingThrough For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
