The Charles Schwab Challenge is underway at Colonial Golf Course this week and Ryan Palmer has been explaining some of the big changes to the course.
The Colonial is one of the more interesting courses on the PGA Tour and presents players with a stiff challenge in the Texas heat, with bunkers aplenty and long rough to deal with.
Of course, Palmer is a man who knows the course better than most and he’s so close to proceedings at the club that he’s even been directly involved in helping shape some design changes.
Palmer – a four-time PGA Tour winner himself – will tee it up and try to plot his way around the course.
And he’s admitted to having an influence on some of the big changes around the bunker placement before the Charles Schwab got underway today.
Ryan Palmer explains how he’s helped make Colonial Golf Course a bit harder ahead of the Charles Schwab
- READ MORE: Brian Harman has noticed change to Colonial Country Club which will make it easier to play this week
Speaking to Smylie Kauffman on The Smylie Show, Palmer detailed how he’s been firmly involved in some course changes ahead of this week.
“One of the biggest things that I kind of threw in my two cents, I guess, is we took some bunkers out of play on a lot of holes,” Palmer said.
“Cause it’s funny when guys talk about Colonial, they try to hit it in the bunker. Cause they’re perfect. I mean, it’s the easiest bunkers to get out of. So a lot of the holes, we took some bunkering out of play. For instance, number nine, we took the right bunkers out.
“And then the left bunkers were pushed up to about 300, I guess, something like that. So if you’re laying back and you hit it left, you’re no longer in a bunker, you’re in the rough and you know how hard it is to play out of that rough at Colonial.
“So that’s a few of the things we really looked at. Took the bunkers out on 14, pushed it back 20 yards as well.”
47-year-old Palmer, a Texas native himself, will be hoping to make an impression on the home crowd and at least make it into the weekend.
Whether he can win it or not, remains to be seen.
Palmer’s last win on tour came at the 2019 Zurich, when he won alongside Jon Rahm.
However, if he doesn’t win, he’ll be safe in the knowledge that he’s at least made things a touch trickier for those trying to get over the line.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
