The Charles Schwab Challenge stands as the longest-running non-major PGA Tour event held at its original site. Hosted annually in May at the historic
The Charles Schwab Challenge stands as the longest-running non-major PGA Tour event held at its original site. Hosted annually in May at the historic Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, this iconic tournament weaves deep-rooted professional golf traditions with a modern competitive edge.
Founded in 1946 as the Colonial National Invitation, the event quickly became synonymous with legendary Fort Worth resident Ben Hogan. Hogan won the inaugural tournament and went on to claim five titles in total—a record that still stands today, earning the tight, tree-lined layout the permanent nickname “Hogan’s Alley”. No single player has shaped the identity of Colonial more than Hogan, who is immortalized on the property with a 7-foot bronze statue overlooking the course.
Ben Hogan’s Historic Five Colonial Victories:
1946: The Inaugural Colonial Invitation Champion (-1)
1947: Back-to-Back Title Defense (-1)
1952: Third Victory Post-Accident Recovery (+4)
1953: Second Consecutive Back-to-Back Double (-2)
1959: Final PGA Tour Career Victory at Age 46 (-1)
Hogan’s dominance was so absolute that contemporary sportswriters jokingly labeled the tournament “Hogan’s Benefit”. His victory in 1959 marked his 68th and final official PGA Tour title, proving that even at age 46, his precision-based ball-striking was perfectly suited for the course.
While the Masters Tournament is famously known for its Green Jacket, Colonial Country Club boasts its own equally prestigious tailoring tradition. When tournament founder Marvin Leonard launched the event in 1946, he wanted a way to distinguish club officials and champions, mirroring the idea used by his close friend and Augusta National chairman Clifford Roberts.
Initially, the tournament awarded a standard navy blue sport coat. However, Leonard found the design dull and uninspired. In 1952, drawing inspiration from his personal travels and golf outings in Scotland, Leonard replaced the blue jacket with a custom Scottish Tartan Plaid. Coincidentally, the first champion to slip on the newly minted plaid jacket was none other than Ben Hogan.
The jacket’s precise construction reveals meticulous detail. The Fabric: Every year, the 100% pure wool fabric is woven by a specialized mill overseas in Scotland.
The Pattern: While early iterations featured 17 colors, the modern “Schwab Blue” era pattern utilizes 9 to 10 distinct colors, making it highly complex to align across the seams.The Fit: Champions don a stock jacket for the trophy ceremony. Afterward, Fort Worth master tailors take meticulous measurements to handcraft a permanent, custom-tailored piece.The Vault: The jackets cannot be bought. They remain stored at Colonial Country Club, freshly pressed and hung in past winners’ lockers when they arrive each May.
Colonial Country Club was founded in 1936 by Marvin Leonard, primarily driven by his relentless determination to prove that bentgrass greens could thrive in the harsh Texas heat. The original course architecture was a masterpiece crafted by John Bredemus and Perry Maxwell. Unlike modern courses engineered for massive driving distances, Maxwell and Bredemus designed a layout that rewards discipline, tactical ball positioning, and shot shaping.
Over the decades, the course lost some of its original character, gradually taking on an artificial appearance featuring perfectly oval white sand bunkers, brick walls, and concrete cart paths.
To restore its soul, the club underwent a massive $25 million restoration project led by world-renowned golf architect Gil Hanse following the 2023 tournament. Hanse brought back the rugged, natural aesthetic of the 1941 U.S. Open era: Rugged Bunkering: Replaced perfect ovals with irregular, frayed-edge bunkers featuring natural sand islands.Natural Wash Areas: Removed concrete retaining walls from the property’s dry washes and tributaries, opening them up into natural ravines to better handle Trinity River basin flooding.Lowered Greens: Lowered the green complexes back to the natural ground level, stripping away the artificial mounds added over the years.The Historic 8th Hole: Using an archival photograph of Ben Hogan, Hanse completely mirrored and rebuilt the par-3 8th hole, shifting the green complex so it seamlessly sits right over a hidden creek.
The ultimate test of precision at Colonial comes incredibly early in the round. Comprising holes 3, 4, and 5, “The Horrible Horseshoe” is a brutal, U-shaped three-hole stretch wrapping around the club’s practice range. Coined by legendary Fort Worth sportswriter Dan Jenkins in the 1980s, this stretch historically ranks as the toughest non-major three-hole sequence on the entire PGA Tour.
Hole 3 (483-Yard Par 4): A sharp dogleg-left that demands an aggressive, pinpoint tee shot. A massive wall of bunkers protects the left corner, forcing players to bypass the trouble into the heavy right rough, which leaves a nearly impossible long-iron approach into an elevated green.Hole 4 (247-Yard Par 3): A monstrous, long par-3 playing to a heavily raised, well-guarded green. Birdies are practically non-existent here, and the tournament has never recorded an official hole-in-one on this hole since its inception in 1946.Hole 5 (481-Yard Par 4): Consistently ranked as the single hardest hole on the course. Reversing the shape of the 3rd, it dogs heavily from left to right. The Trinity River runs completely down the right side, while a deep drainage ditch waits on the left, squeezing the fairway down to a razor-thin landing zone.
Since ShotLink data tracking began, the field has played the Horseshoe to a combined 7,613-over par, whereas the other 15 holes on the course sit at a combined 1,113-under par. Survival here is essential to staying in contention for Sunday.
The tradition of awarding a custom car at the Charles Schwab Challenge is one of the most innovative and highly anticipated prize histories on the PGA Tour. Introduced in 2019 when Charles Schwab stepped in as the title sponsor, the prize car acts as a symbol of a challenge-driven mindset.
Rather than a standard luxury vehicle, the tournament awards a completely custom-built “resto-mod”. Expert builders source a rare, vintage classic car chassis and fully re-engineer it from the ground up, outfitting the exterior with a signature coat of “Schwab Blue” paint and a modernized, high-performance engine.
The exact model year chosen for each vehicle ties directly back to a major corporate milestone or historic tournament anniversary:
1973 Dodge Challenger (2019): Commemorated the exact year that Charles Schwab & Co. was officially incorporated.
1946 Dodge Power Wagon (2021): Celebrated the 75th anniversary of the very first Colonial National Invitation in 1946. (Note: No car was awarded in 2020 as funds were diverted to COVID-19 relief).
1982 Jeep CJ8 Scrambler (2026): Rebuilt by Vigilante 4×4 in Johnson City, Texas, this 485-horsepower build honored 1982—the year Schwab became the first brokerage offering clients 24/7 quote and order entry services.
To seamlessly blend corporate innovation with historical golf heritage, every car includes explicit tie-ins to Colonial Country Club’s roots, featuring custom leather bucket seats upholstered with the tournament’s official Scottish Royal Tartan Plaid.
The Winner’s Garage History:
2019: Kevin Na ──> 1973 Dodge Challenger
2021: Jason Kokrak ──> 1946 Dodge Power Wagon
2022: Sam Burns ──> 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
2023: Emiliano Grillo ──> 1973 Ford Bronco
2024: Davis Riley ──> 1975 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
2025: Ben Griffin ──> 1992 Land Rover Defender
2026: Russell Henley ──> 1982 Jeep CJ8 Scrambler
While Colonial’s history and eligibility criteria generally lock down a stellar field, the 2026 edition faced a brutal bottleneck on the tour schedule. Slotted directly between two majors and leading right into Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament—a designated PGA Tour Signature Event with an elevated $20 million purse—the tournament lost a massive chunk of top-tier talent.
Faced with playing five high-stakes weeks in a row, many elites chose Colonial as their rest week. The field featured only one player in the world’s top 10 (No. 9 J.J. Spaun) and only seven of the top 20. Most notably, top local Dallas-area superstars Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth bypassed their hometown favorite event for the first time in years, alongside stars like Rory McIlroy and Collin Morikawa. Brooks Koepka added to the field’s depletion by withdrawing just days prior to the first tee time.
The 2026 Schedule Crunch:
May 14-17: PGA Championship (Major)
May 21-24: CJ Cup Byron Nelson
May 28-31: Charles Schwab Challenge <── [Star Power Deficit]
June 4-7: The Memorial Tournament (Signature Event
June 11-15: U.S. Open (Major)
While the star power was missing at the top of the week, it opened a wide-open canvas for a spectacular finish. Entering the final round, Eric Cole held a slim lead as he chased his first elusive PGA Tour victory. However, a back-nine charge from Russell Henley completely reshuffled the leaderboard.
Henley saved par on the 15th hole and proceeded to bury three consecutive 15-to-17-foot birdie putts on 16, 17, and 18 to post a 3-under 67 and force a sudden-death playoff. On the very first playoff hole, Henley stuck his approach shot within 5 feet to lock in his fourth consecutive birdie and secure his sixth career PGA Tour title.
Position Player To Par Score Payout Prize / Car
1st Russell Henley -12 (Playoff) $1,782,000 1982 Schwab Scrambler
2nd Eric Cole -12 $1,079,100 Tartan Belt Buckle
T3 Ben Griffin -11 $524,700 —
T3 Alex Smalley -11 $524,700 —
T3 Mac Meissner -11 $524,700 —
Henley’s historic clutch performance earned him a piece of Fort Worth lore, the massive $1.782 million winner’s check, the Tartan Plaid Jacket, and the keys to the hand-built 1982 Schwab Scrambler.
Radu Roman
(All rights reserved)
Photo: Instagram
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