Colonial Country Club, home of the longest-running non-major event on the PGA Tour schedule, may not be hosting PGA Tour stars for much longer.
Golfweek has learned that the Fort Worth, Texas-based private club, affectionately known as “Hogan’s Alley” for Ben Hogan’s five victories there, isn't expected to secure a place in the PGA Tour’s new Championship Series, which is scheduled to debut in 2028. Sources also say that the club likely will pass on an opportunity to participate in the Tour’s second-tier Challenger Series.
Instead, Colonial, which currently hosts the Charles Schwab Challenge, could transition to PGA Tour Champions, and become the new home of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, the season-ending playoff finale.
The Tour previously
said that final bids for the remaining four Championship Series events were due Sept. 30, and no decision has been made — an announcement will come at a later date.
Sources say that only one tournament from the Dallas-Fort Worth area will be chosen for the Championship Series and CJ, the title sponsor for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, has ponied up a better offer. It doesn't help that the footprint at Colonial is deemed to be maxed out and making it difficult to elevate the event the way the Tour would like to in order to generate additional revenue.
Officials view snub as 'insult'
The club and Charles Schwab officials are still holding out hope that they will be selected for the Championship Series, but they are miffed that 80 years of loyalty and a sponsorship commitment that far exceeds most other companies is getting short shrift.
Frustration is mounting for the club, and Schwab officials, that despite being an official marketing partner and a title sponsor on both tours, as well as the umbrella sponsor of both the season-long points race and postseason on PGA Tour Champions, they may be cast aside. They aren't thrilled with the prospect of hosting a Challenger Series event. One source said that club leadership termed being demoted after all these years as "an insult."
Instead, they are believed to be weighing an offer to lean into the senior circuit and its familiar faces, many of whom are past champions and have a rich history at Colonial. The Charles Schwab Cup Playoffs consist of three events that determine the winner of the season-long title. The top 36 players in the standings following the Simmons Bank Championship advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, where the player with the most cumulative points captures the Charles Schwab Cup and a share of a multimillion-dollar bonus pool.
The playoff finale has been known as the Charles Schwab Cup Championship since 2003. It has been contested at Phoenix Country Club since 2017 after previously being held at Desert Mountain Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, starting in 2012. Papago Golf Club was named as the temporary host for 2027 while Phoenix Country Club undergoes a renovation. According to a source, the Schwab Cup is set to return to Phoenix in 2028, after which the contract will expire.
There could be other complications. The Schwab Cup is owned and operated by the Tour's Championship Management division, while Colonial is one of the few remaining private clubs to own and operate its event. Will either side be willing to give that up?
Given Charles Schwab’s longstanding sponsorship of the senior circuit, Colonial appears to be a natural fit for the championship.
CEO Rolapp said some will be left out
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said in August that demand for the Championship Series exceeded supply, and it has been reported that the Tour received bids from 14 tournaments. Rolapp added that the Tour plans to unveil its complete 2028 schedule on Feb. 27 during a live broadcast from its headquarters in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. So, there are bound to be some losers and hurt feelings.
The Sony Open in Hawaii was the first longtime Tour venue to find a safe landing as part of PGA Tour Champions beginning in 2027, and it likely won't be the last. Asked last month at Furyk & Friends if PGA Tour events that get left out of the Championship Series might move to the senior circuit, Miller Brady, president of PGA Tour Champions, confirmed that he had been fielding calls from interested parties.
“I don’t want to be seen as taking anything away from the PGA Tour,” Brady said. “They need to come to their own conclusion, and then I’m happy to have that discussion. If it’s a good fit, let’s try to figure something out.
“Our schedule is pretty full, but we can find a way for them to come on board.”
Colonial is steeped in PGA Tour tradition
The move would also bring an end to one of the PGA Tour’s most enduring traditions. Colonial has hosted a PGA Tour event every year since 1946. Originally known as the Colonial National Invitation, or NIT for short, Hogan won five times at the Fort Worth club, including in 1959, the final of 64 career victories, fourth all-time, in his storied Tour career.
The club’s famed Wall of Champions features many of golf’s biggest names, including Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Billy Casper, Ben Crenshaw, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth. Beyond its PGA Tour history, Colonial has also hosted two USGA championships: the 1941 U.S. Open and the 1991 U.S. Women’s Open.
Rolapp is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the PwC SMU Athletic luncheon in Dallas on Nov. 11, leading to speculation that an announcement could be forthcoming early next week, which coincides with the playing of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Phoenix.
The PGA Tour declined to comment for this story and Charles Schwab Challenge officials did not return email or phone calls.
Adam Schupak joined Golfweek in 2006 and covers the PGA Tour, the business of golf, and enjoys contributing to golf travel and architecture.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: EXCLUSIVE: Colonial Country Club likely losing PGA Tour event after 80-year run, per sources
