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Charles Schwab Challenge

Colonial Country Club



    Shoal Creek

    Shoal Creek

    100 New Williamsburg Dr

    Shoal Creek, AL 35242-5940

    United States

    Overview

    Asked if a course could be built in a Birmingham forest, Jack Nicklaus scouted the site from lumber haul roads and said of the mountainous terrain, “Well, there are a lot of par 3s out there, that’s for sure.” But then he discovered a gentle valley in which to put par 4s and 5s, so he took the job. It became one of his great early designs. But as it neared 40 years of existence, Shoal Creek needed some reconditioning, so Nicklaus and his former senior designer Jim Lipe (now operating his own firm in Louisiana) literally ripped up every hole and rethought strategies and options. The result was not a restoration but an updating. Gone are huge fairway bunkers, replaced by smaller clusters of traps. Greens have been recontoured, with one, the 12th, actually flowing front to back, unheard of back in the late 1970s when the course was first built. Shoal Creek has twice hosted the PGA Championship and the remodeled layout hosted the 2018 U.S. Women’s Open, won by Ariya Jutanugarn in a four-hole playoff over Hoo-joo Kim.

    About

    Holes 18
    Length 7114
    Slope 141
    Facility Type Private
    Designer Jack Nicklaus, ASGCA

    Awards

    100 Greatest the Second 100
    Best Courses in Every State

    Ranking history:

    Second 100 Greatest: Ranked since 2015.
    Previous ranking: 130th.
    2025-'26 ranking: 141st.

    100 Greatest: Ranked for 34 years from 1981-2014.
    Highest ranking:
    No. 14, 1985-'86.

    Best in State: Ranked first since 2011.
    2025-'26 ranking: 1st.

    Golf Digest Logo Panelists

    Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists

    4.5

    100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

    Shot Options
    7.4225
    Character
    7.5631
    Challenge
    7.4762
    Layout Variety
    7.3518
    Fun
    7.466
    Aesthetics
    7.5473
    Conditioning
    7.4534

    Reviews