Hogan’s Alley is in the spotlight this week as the PGA Tour heads to Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas, for the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
Colonial Country Club honors the history of the game with its Wall of Champions located by the first tee. The wall features the names, scores and dates of past champions. One of the names you will find on the wall is Ben Hogan. In fact, you’ll see Hogan’s name more than once. He won here five times including the inaugural year in 1946. Colonial has since become known as “Hogan’s Alley.”
Many of today’s players would like to see their names listed as many times as Hogan’s, but no one has come close to his record.
Defending champion Zach Johnson is a member of an elite group of past champions who have won this event twice. A third win would place him in a category by himself. Nobody but Hogan has won this title more than twice.
Most of the top European players will be in England at the BMW PGA Championship this week. That means no Rory, but Kuchar, Dufner and Johnson are among the top-30 players who will be competing for $1.152 million and 500 FedExCup points.
Kuchar and Johnson are not the only players to keep a close eye on this week. Henrick Stenson leads the Tour in fairways hit and greens in regulation and tied for fifth at The Players this year. Kevin Streelman is looking for his second title in 2013 after winning the Tampa Bay Championship. He is also listed in the top 25 in fairways hit and greens in regulation.
Known for its history, Colonial is also known for its tight fairways and sharp dolegs. Players really need to focus on finding fairways and greens consistently to find themselves in contention. Established in 1936, the 7,204-yard course was designed by Perry Maxwell and John Bredemus.
The Colonial is one of only five invitational tournaments on the Tour. It also has a tradition known as the Champion’s Choice Invitation. This tradition entails past champions selecting two young players who would otherwise be ineligible to compete in the tournament.
On Sunday, another page of Colonial’s history will be written and another winner will be added to the Wall of Champions.