Is the sprawl any different than big cities in other states?

Aggie369 said:

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I got a text a few weeks ago that said Colonial is pretty much done after this year.

Texas golf kinda sucks and not much to choose from in DFW is why I chose PGA West. I personally don't like the course much. Maybe they just don't have a tournament named after Byron Nelson....

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Anybody that says things in absolutes like what you got texted is either making stuff up or working with false information. The only things known so far are that San Antonio didn't bid and Houston got rejected for Championship events.

Nelson and Colonial both have strong sponsors and have submitted bids that are still being evaluated. I think one of them is a certainly. I also think Colonial will bow out versus take a Challenger event.

Both events have been getting crushed by the schedule as others have mentioned. The window if just so short in Texas if you don't overseed. The Nelson has also had well documented tremendous host course problems.

I believe that the remaining events/sponsors in contention are being told to "sharpen their pencils". Hopefully the decisions will be known soon as they also affect the 2027 event planning as well.



We also know PGA West has officially been told no thanks without much consideration...

Which sucks because - while I personally don't like the courses much - it is a great spot in the calendar and a beautiful part of the world that translates fantastically to TV in January.

You absolutely nailed the analysis. Both the Nelson and Colonial have made competitive bids with excellent sponsors. I believe one will be picked. I would love to see the quality of the course, tradition, players opinions, and 80 years of history made the difference in selection but unfortunately, we know it is all about the money. We should all find out soon.

"Pretty much done" isnt an absolute

And the text came from a PGAT player

Well it isn't "pretty much done" as anyone close to the situation knows. And "Colonial will be dropped completely after this next year" sounded pretty absolute.

I'm not saying I know either but I'm close enough to get pretty good intel, which doesn't mean much right now.

Honestly I would say it is 50/50 or pretty close. All comes down to how high Schwab will go compared to the other title sponsors.


I also think the tour is going to realize that after the initial excitement dies off it is going to be very hard to find enough sponsors ponying up north of $30MM per year. Who knows what happens then.

If I was a member, no way in hell would I want to surrender access to my course for a challenger event. Although I'm the type that wouldn't want to surrender it at all. So I can absolutely see challenger or bust mindset. The historic Colonial is a lean on course, but I do think the Salesmanship club is going to give the Nelson an advantage. Those guys can bring in the dough

Agreed. I believe they have one of the biggest charity numbers on tour. Salesmanship club is a big piece of that. They also have a much larger corporate base and better GA numbers as well.

Just passing along what I was told from a couple guys that I would think have heard as much as one could

I'll be with a bunch of Colonial guys this weekend. I'll find out what they know. This is also the group that really doesn't care for the tournament at their course and their lack of club access (including their own clubhouse during tournament week).

I 100% agree with that

The owners at Houston Oaks let us vote on if we wanted to host the LPGA houston tournament. They included a giant list of pros and cons

They had a bunch on the list but the only actual "Pro" was the course would be on TV and more well known. Well no one cared about that thankfully. A strong majority voted no thanks

Colonial has Charles Shwab which also sponsors the senior tour. That's a pretty big stick to swing if the club wants it. I know there's a bunch who don't.

talked with my Colonial guy and he feels like 2027 is their final tournament. we will see.

I've heard the same. Tour rejected Schwab wanting to continue hosting as a Championship Series event. Want to give it to Dallas instead.

The players with families loved it at the hotel

At least the guys I had talked to had that feedback

There is a decent chance it goes back there

Aggie369 said:

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The players with families loved it at the hotel

At least the guys I had talked to had that feedback

There is a decent chance it goes back there

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Okay but they aren't paid for social hour, they're paid to play golf, and reality was they didn't like the course so no it's never going back.

From a business standpoint it's pretty much impossible to go back. Four Seasons no longer manages both the resort and club which they were able to do previously because both were owned by the same company. It's now two different owners and two different management companies with different business directions

The golf club owners now run it as a member first year-round club so closing for a tournament would be negative financially and anger the members. The new resort owners who hired the Ritz to manage the property spent 50+ million turning it into a year-round high-end staycation destination. Blasting corporate grandstands and 200,000 fans across the property completely ruins that luxury ambiance.

The PGA tour is also financially incentivized to host it for the time being at Craig Ranch since it's a TPC course. They have more control and take home a higher percentage of the pie. They aren't going to hand that revenue over to a third-party management group like Century Golf or Marriott/Ritz-Carlton.

The current deal is signed till 2030. If the sponsorship extends and stays strong then it's more likely that they either renew at Craig Ranch or move to a brand-new facility that hasn't broken ground yet.

Im just passing info along from current players

I personally know nothing about all of this

The info that their families liked the old resort I'm sure is factual but there's no way that an actual tour player legitimately thinks that the Byron Nelson has any chance of going back to Las Colinas. It's not feasible for the players, the resort, or the PGA tour.

As a Colonial guy, I believe there is still a good chance they remain in the Championship level. Charles Schwab has made a very competitive bid for 2028. It is hard to say which coarse they will choose in DFW. You also have to remember that the CJ Cup is not even in Dallas County. No decisions have been made yet

One unmentioned item is attendance. The Byron Nelson draws about 50-60k per day, and 2026 saw record 240k attendance in spite of a weak field. Colonial draws about 25-30% of that. Craig Ranch is ho hum, but it will play tougher in 2027. 2026 was post-renovation, but there was no wind, all the rain had it lift/clean/place with soft greens, and the rough was low given it was still maturing. Those new green complexes will be tricky when conditions are more normalized. They'll still go low, but it will not be nearly as extreme

Colonial certainly has the edge on history and I'd hate to see it end, but I do think the Nelson will get the nod. Salesmanship club + attendance support is going to be hard to pass up.

I love the salesmanship club as it is a wonderful organization, but it's all about the money for the PGA Tour. -31 won a year ago and -30 won this year. I don't think one more year is going to make it that much tougher. Due to the layout of the Byron Nelson, they are able to have many more fans on the grounds than Colonial country club is able to handle. I really think it will just come down to which tournament offers the PGA Tour the most money. Colonial country club has held a PGA event for 81 years and is the longest running continuous PGA Tour stop. As much as I would hope that they would honor tradition, I think it's all about the money.

It's really sad because for a long, long time, the Nelson had an amazing field when Byron was alive, and the 4 seasons was a great setup for fans, players, and families. Then you go to Colonial, a smaller traditional track that rewarded shotmakers and was a really fun, walkable course for fans as well. never would have thought both tournaments would be in the state they are in right now.

Need to refer to the course by its proper name- TPC Craig T Nelson