The PGA Tour carries on this week as it visits Colonial Country Club for the 2024 Charles Schwab Challenge. Originally designed by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell and redesigned last year by Gil Hanse, Colonial Country will play as a Par 70, 7,289 yard layout this week.
Colonial was first opened in 1936 and has shown that a course doesn’t have to be abnormally long to pack a punch. Following the old school approach to golf course design, Colonial features narrow fairways, thick, penal rough, strategically placed bunkers and diabolically fast bentgrass greens. To find success here, finding the fairway is a must. Yes, long hitters can find an advantage at just about any course due to how far they hit it, but shorter hitters have often found success here by avoiding the rough from the tee and placing their irons in the right spot on the greens. With nearly 100 bunkers placed around the course, both near the fairways and the greens, just having superb control of your ball striking is a plus in finding success at Colonial. If you are errant from the tee or with your irons, just avoiding the big number is key to staying in the hunt. The winning score has been single digits under par the past two years, so par can very well be a good score here at the end of the week. Ultimately, the weather and the winds will play a factor in the final score, but avoiding the big number and taking what the course gives you a leg up on the competition.
The Charles Schwab Challenge is one of the oldest non-major events on tour, with the first edition being held in 1946. As it approaches its 80th anniversary, the winner’s list is a who’s who of golf history, including Ben Hogan, Clayton Heafner, Sam Snead, Cary Middlecoff, Mike Souchak, Roberto De Vicenzo, Tommy Bolt, Julius Boros, Doug Sanders, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Bruce Devlin, Bruce Crampton, Dave Stockton, Gardner Dickinson, Homero Blancas, Gene Littler, Jerry Heard, Tom Weiskopf, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Al Geiberger, Bruce Lietzke, Fuzzy Zoeller, Jack Nicklaus, Jim Colbert, Peter Jacobsen, Corey Pavin, Dan Pohl, Keith Clearwater, Lanny Wadkins, Ian Baker-Finch, Tom Purtzer, Fulton Allem, Nick Price, Tom Lehman, David Frost, Tom Watson, Olin Browne, Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Kenny Perry, Steve Flesch, Tim Herron, Rory Sabbatini, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson, David Toms, Boo Weekley, Adam Scott, Chris Kirk, Jordan Spieth, Kevin Kisner, Justin Rose, Kevin Na, Daniel Berger, Jason Kokrak, Sam Burns and Emiliano Grillo, just to name a few.
Ben Hogan is the King of Colonial, taking home the victory 5 times in his career. 10 players have each won here twice, including Julius Boros, Billy Casper, Lee Trevino, Ben Crenshaw, Bruce Lietzke, Corey Pavin, Nick Price, Kenny Perry, Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson.
The 18 hole scoring record for the Charles Schwab Challenge is 61, which has been shot by 7 players:
- Keith Clearwater- Round 2, 1993
- Lee Janzen- Round 4, 1993
- Greg Kraft- Round 3, 1999
- Kenny Perry- Round 3, 2003
- Justin Leonard- Round 4, 2003
- Chad Campbell- Round 3, 2004
- Kevin Na- Round 4, 2018
The 72 hole scoring record is 259 (-21), which was shot by Zach Johnson in his victory in 2010.
Last year’s edition was won by Emiliano Grillo, who outlasted Adam Schenk in a 2 hole playoff to pick up his first victory in 7 years. Harry Hall and Scottie Scheffler finished T-3, one stroke out of a playoff, while Paul Haley II finished in fifth, two strokes back.
2024 has been a very forgettable year for Ben Taylor, who has only made 2 cuts in 13 starts this season, with his best finish being a 37th place showing at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the team event. Taylor is losing strokes in 5 of the 6 major Strokes Gained categories and there are minimal signs of life in his game at this time. Taylor missed the cut in the Charles Schwab Challenge last season and there is no doubt in my mind that he will miss the cut here again this season.
Aaron Rai has quietly put together a solid campaign this season, with 2 top 10’s, 5 top 25’s and just 4 missed cuts in 14 starts, highlighted by a T-4 finish just a few weeks ago at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson. Rai often falls under the radar due to being a poor putter, but he is gaining strokes in each of the other 5 major Strokes Gained categories, including ranking 14 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green and 10th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green. Rai may be a poor putter, but he is an elite ball striker, ranking inside the top 10 in both Driving Accuracy Percentage and Greens in Regulation Percentage, which will pay dividends as he picks his way around Colonial Country Club, a course that rewards accuracy from the tees and fairways. Rai has some good mojo in this event, finishing T-12 here last season. He may have a bit of a climb if he wants to win the event, but another top 20 finish at Colonial is certainly within reach.
Chris Kirk started off 2024 with a bang by winning the season-opening The Sentry. Kirk has cooled off since though, with just 1 additional top 10 and 3 top 25’s in his other 11 starts. Kirk’s other top 10 finish came last month at the RBC Heritage, whose host course, Harbour Town Golf Links, shares some similarities with Colonial Country Club, with both featuring narrow fairways and tight greens that puts a premium on accuracy with your driver and irons. And that is where Chris Kirk shines, ranking 12th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, 25th in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and 40th in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, as well as 16th in Driving Accuracy Percentage. Kirk has excelled at the Charles Schwab Challenge in the past, highlighted by a win in 2015, as well as 2 top 10’s, 7 top 25’s and just 1 missed cuts in 13 career trips to Colonial Country Club. Kirk seems to be getting a little more pep in his step again after his hot start to 2024 and I predict he will find success here once again and pick up his 3rd top 10 finish of the season and his 3rd top 10 finish at Colonial.
Incredibly, I’m taking a pause for the cause and picking someone other than Scottie Scheffler to win this week. Enter Sepp Straka. Straka, the pride of Vienna, Austria, has had a very up-and-down showing in 2024, with 2 top 10’s, 6 top 25’s and 5 missed cuts in 13 starts. Straka struggled for a bit, but he’s been starting to really find his form of late, with 2 top 10’s and 5 top 20’s in his last 7 starts, including finishing T-16 at both THE PLAYERS Championship and The Masters Tournament and T-5 at the RBC Heritage, which included him playing in the final pairing with eventual winner Scottie Scheffler. Straka has not been known for the long ball in his young career, but he is deadly accurate with his driver, ranking 3rd in Driving Accuracy Percentage. Straka’s short game does hold him back at times, ranking outside the top 100 in Strokes Gained: Around-the-Green and Strokes Gained: Putting, but fortunately for him, Colonial has been showing its teeth in more recent editions, with the winner finishing single digits under par each of the past 2 years. Straka has not had much success here in the past, with his T-29 finish last season being his only made cut in 3 attempts, but I just have a gut feeling that this may be the week he finally breaks through in 2024. Albeit a bit of a longer shot, I predict that Sepp Straka will slip on that coveted plaid jacket and take home the win at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club!
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