The day after Emiliano Grillo defeated Adam Schenk in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge a year ago, renowned golf architect Gil Hanse and his team got right to work.
Their mission: revitalize Colonial Country Club to how it played during the 1941 U.S. Open, which saw Craig Wood win his second career major after he had won The Masters a few months earlier. Ben Hogan, who went on to win five times at Colonial, finished in a tie for third that year.
Nevertheless, Hanse and his team wanted to re-establish the rugged landscape that Colonial offered then. They also wished to incorporate more tributaries from the Trinity River, which runs alongside the property.
Hanse also wanted to eliminate the ‘cookie-cutter’ sand traps and greens, emphasizing a more ‘natural’ look for each hole.
In addition to that, Hanse and his team felt it necessary to incorporate modern technology into the course to make it more sustainable for the future. That involved revamping all of the interrogation systems and the greens.
However, to accomplish these goals, Hanse wanted 18 months. But he only had 11 since Colonial planned to host the Charles Schwab Challenge again in 2024.
Alas, they achieved their objectives on time, thanks to their hard work throughout the summer Texas heat.
To top it all off, the revitalized course has received rave reviews from PGA Tour pros who will tee it up this week.
“I think [Hanse] did a really, really good job from what I can tell playing it once,” explained Jordan Spieth on Wednesday.
“I imagine it’s tough for a course designer to bring a course back in time, but accommodating the modern game, making it maybe more playable for an average member 51 weeks of the year, but still a championship golf course making it as or more difficult for us. I guess time will tell over the next four days, but it really seems like he’s somehow done that, and that’s really cool.”
One of the significant changes Hanse made was to the par-3 13th. The green used to sit directly adjacent to the water, but Hanse and his team pushed the putting surface back a bit. In doing so, they added rugged sand traps between the green and the pond, thus taking the water more or less out of play for the pros.
“The only one that stood out and wasn’t like the others was 13. As long as the right tee box is played, I think it’s a fantastic par-3. But it could be the best hole on the course or the worst hole on the course depending upon where the tees are, given the hole locations and the wind,” Spieth explained.
“The firmness of the greens, it doesn’t seem like they would be able to yield holding 5-irons, but if it’s a mid-iron in, a good shot gets really rewarded. Then, if you miss in the wrong spot, you can be in big trouble. You could have over 10 feet for par, even hitting a good chip. So it’s a good risk/reward par-3 from the right tee box now. It was probably the most shocking of any hole that I walked up to the green that I saw yesterday.”
Spieth made a great point about the firmness of the greens.
Because they are so new, they will have more bounce to them throughout the week. We saw this extensively two weeks ago at the Wells Fargo Championship, as Quail Hollow re-did its greens in advance of next year’s PGA Championship.
“Super excited about the greens this week,” added Tom Hoge, one of the best ball-strikers on the PGA Tour.
“Feel like they’re probably the best greens we’ll play on all year. They’re firm and will present a great Colonial and a great challenge this week.”
Adam Scott, who won at Colonial in 2014, returned to the course for the first time since 2018 this week. He called this revitalization process a “refresh.”
“I think some of the classic old golf courses, you know, certainly on the PGA Tour, but at a lot of the great clubs, the agronomy is such at a high standard now, and sometimes when you’ve had grass on the course for 30 and 40 years, it gets old and a bit tired. Now they have all new grass, and it feels fresh, and it’s going to play very well, whether you’re a member or playing this tournament this week,” Scott explained.
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“There’s a difference between hitting off a nice tight new fairway or a 40-year-old, thatchy, matted fairway, and I’m not saying it was thatchy and matted here, but a freshen-up is nice. I think [Hanse] is incredibly experienced, and when you go to these great historical clubs, you don’t want to lose the character. I think he’s very aware of that and was very gentle with his approach here.”
Hanse has worked on dozens of major championship courses, including the Los Angeles Country Club, which hosted last year’s U.S. Open, won by Wyndham Clark. Other projects of his include Winged Foot, Southern Hills, and most recently, Oakmont, which the world will see next year when the U.S. Open visits Western Pennsylvania for a record 10th time.
“It’s been a crazy year for Colonial, obviously, with the restoration, but what Gil Hanse and his team did, I mean, it’s unbelievable how fast it came together,” said Ryan Palmer, who doubles as a PGA Tour and Colonial member.
“To finally see it, and for the guys on Tour to be here playing it, I heard a lot of great positive comments, so that’s good to know. I was a little nervous, to be honest with you, for the course and the club, but I just spoke with [Hanse] outside a few minutes ago, and he said he’d heard a lot of great things. So I’m excited to see how it all unfolds this week.”
Indeed, a few rough patches still exist out on the course, but that is the nature of completely overhauling a property in an 11-month span.
Yet, despite that, Hanse and his team, along with Palmer, have received overwhelmingly positive feedback, meaning Colonial—the longest-tenured stop on the PGA Tour outside of Augusta National—will continue to be a staple in pro golf for years to come.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
