The PGA TOUR continues its two-week stop in the Dallas area by crossing the Metroplex to stop in Fort Worth, Texas, for this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge. Colonial Country Club has hosted this event since it began 80 years ago, and it should provide a great backdrop for another great week of golf before June begins with the next Signature Event. The Charles Schwab Challenge begins on Thursday, May 28, and will conclude by crowning the champion on Sunday, May 31, barring any weather issues.

Let’s start the week with a look at the format, history, and course for the Charles Schwab Challenge.

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The Format of the Charles Schwab Challenge

The Charles Schwab challenge is one of the events classified as an invitational, so the field is slightly smaller this week than in many tournaments. The field will be 132 players after Brooks Koepka withdrew on Sunday, meaning his special exemption won’t expand the field to 135. The field will be cut to the top 65 and ties after Round 2. All four rounds take place at Colonial Country Club (more details below).

The purse for the Charles Schwab Challenge is $9.9 million, and the winner will receive 500 FedEx Cup points.

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The history of the tournament

The tournament is the longest-running event with the same host venue for a non-major on the PGA TOUR. It began in 1946 as the Colonial National Invitation, when Ben Hogan claimed the first of his five career victories at the tournament.

Hogan’s success earned this course the nickname “Hogan’s Alley,” and the Dallas native was closely associated with the event throughout his career, even though he never served as the official host.

In addition to the prize money and FedExCup points, the winner receives a tartan jacket, paying homage to the origins of the game in Scotland. The event also has a tradition of awarding the winner with a custom, hand-built, one-of-a-kind classic prize car. This year, it’s a 1982 Schwab Scrambler, which is a classic 4×4.

A number of sponsors have had naming rights throughout the last 20 years, but since 2019, the tournament has been the Charles Schwab Challenge. Prior to that Dean & DeLuca, Crowne Plaza, Bank of America and MasterCard were title sponsors.

Throughout all those sponsors, though, the course has remained the same and the event has drawn a solid field, typically landing after the Masters and a few weeks before the U.S. Open in the schedule, as it does this year.

Last year, Ben Griffin got his first individual career win at this event after Davis Riley, Emiliano Grillo, Sam Burns, Jason Kokrak and Daniel Berger have claimed victories since 2020. Three of those last six titles have required a playoff to decide the winner, although last year Griffin won by one stroke over Matthias Schmid with no extra holes.

This year, the field is a little light with the Memorial next week as a Signature Event and the U.S. Open just a few weeks away as well. Denny McCarthy, Koepka, and David Ford were listed in the original field but withdrew before the event began, and be sure to keep an eye out for more field adjustments before tee time.

The field still includes seven of the top 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings, led by No. 9 J.J. Spaun, No. 11 Russell Henley, No. 13 Ludvig Åberg, No. 14 Robert MacIntyre, No. 16 Justin Thomas, No. 17 Ben Griffin and No. 19 Hideki Matsuyama.

Check out the full field and odds on DraftKings Sportsbook to see all the players teeing it up this year.

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A Closer Look at the Course

Colonial Country Club is a tight, 7,289-yard par-70 that demands accuracy and the ability to work the ball both left and right. It’s a positional track with trouble lurking all around the fairway, requiring finesse and placement more than brute strength.

The current course layout and setup were established by a major renovation after the 2023 Charles Schwab Challenge. Architect Gil Hanse led the effort to return the property to a more natural, classic presentation.

The course features Bermuda grass fairways and greens and has a reputation for its demanding, tree-lined fairways that prioritize accuracy off the tee over pure distance. The course borders the Trinity River with water in play on six holes.

Scores have varied widely over the last several years since Texas winds are a huge part of what makes the positional golf course difficult. Since it’s a par-70, the course features four par-3s, 12 par-4s, and two par-5s. The toughest stretch of the course is from hole No. 3 through home No. 5, earning the nickname the “Horrible Horseshoe.” Players have a good chance to enter that stretch under par if they can take advantage of hole No. 1, which is a very reachable par-5, but the other par-5 is 639 yards at No. 11, which still gives up plenty of birdies but doesn’t usually allow players to reach the green in two.

The four par 3s are some of the most difficult holes on the course, especially if the wind is whipping. Par 3 scoring is important this week, along with course history and current form.

The weather will be key to scoring this week, and with heavy rain on Wednesday and quiet winds on Thursday and Friday, the scoring for the first two rounds should be low. Saturday’s forecast calls for more wind, which could lead to higher scores before the wind dies down later in the day on Sunday.

Driving Accuracy, Strokes Gained: Approach, and Scrambling and putting on Bentgrass greens are the key metrics to target this week, and Par 4 efficiency will be key since so many of the holes this week fall into that category.

As you get ready for what should be another fun week on the PGA TOUR, be sure to get your DFS fantasy golf lineups and betting cards filled out with help from DK Network! We’ll have ongoing coverage throughout the week and exciting promotions to help you enjoy this weekend’s tournament.