Course Review - Colonial Country Club & West Course at Wentworth

The US PGA Tour make the last of four annual stops in the Lone Star State of Texas as famed Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, just next to Dallas, hosts the Crowne Plaza Invitational.  The club was founded in 1936 by local businessman Marvin Leonard who at the same time became the patron of a promising young golfer by the name of Ben Hogan.

Relative unknowns John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell laid out the golf course and its reputation grew quickly, especially after hosting a successful US Open in 1941. I946 saw the launch of the event that was the forerunner of this week’s championship, making it the longest running event on Tour after the Masters that is continuously held at its original venue. Ben Hogan won 5 of the tournaments at Colonial, including the first two, prompting the nickname Hogan’s Alley.

At 6600m with a par of 70, Colonial’s parkland layout with tree-lined fairways and well contoured greens is one of the best manicured venues on the calendar. After a relatively easy start, the three hole stretch from the 3rd to the 5th- collectively known as the Horrible Horseshoe – comes as a shock to the system (the 225m par 3 3rd has never been aced in the 65 year history of the tournament). A nostalgic touch is the lifelike statue of all-time-great Ben Hogan overlooking the 18th green.

The year’s first UK event sees the iconic West Course at Wentworth on the south-western outskirts of London staging the 58th edition of the European Tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, with 14 Major champions and the top 3 in the world rankings set to headline in a stellar field. Celebrated architect Harry Colt created this heathland layout in 1926, carved through a heavily wooded natural setting bristling with pine, oak and birch.

Wentworth has proudly hosted a Ryder Cup, the World Match Play for over 40 years, and has been the home of the PGA Championship since 1984. However, shot values had gradually eroded largely due to technical advances in equipment, and in 2005 local homeowner Ernie Els was commissioned to modernise the design, whilst retaining the character of Colt’s original concept. Some holes were lengthened, all green complexes reconstructed and all fairway and greenside bunkers were reviewed, with some remodelled, some removed and others repositioned more “in play”. The work was completed in 2010 and the dust has now settled on Els’ sometimes controversial changes.  Last year Luke Donald vaulted to the top of the rankings by winning this event, and Wentworth’s revered layout could again witness a new world order.

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