Whenever the subject of a discussion is great Texas golf courses, two courses should always be included in the discussion — Jack Burke, Jr. and the late Jimmy Demaret‘s Champions Golf Club in Houston and Colonial Country Club in Ft. Worth, nicknamed “Hogan’s Alley” after the late Ben Hogan, a Ft. Worth native and arguably the best ball-striker in golf history.
Both of these golf courses are steeped in history and are phenomenal challenges. Champions is long and relatively wide open off the tee, but has huge greens that place a premium on getting the ball close to the hole on approach shots. Colonial is short and tight, with postage stamp greens.
Chad Campbell is a 30 year old West Texan from Andrews, Texas. After graduating from UNLV in 1996, Campbell worked his way through the mini-tours for five years before getting his Tour card in 2001 and, since that time, has established himself as one of the best ball-strikers on the Tour.
Last October, Campbell shot one of the best rounds of the year on the Tour when he shot an incredible 61 (10 under par) at Champions during the third round of the Tour Championship, which he went on to win the following day for his first Tour victory. Campbell won his second Tour victory earlier this year at Bay Hill.
Yesterday, in 25 mph wind conditions (i.e., extremely difficult for most golfers; no big deal for a West Texas boy), Campbell shot an equally incredible 61 (nine under par) at Colonial to bolt into a third round tie for the lead.
Campbell’s 61’s on these two great golf courses is the equivalent of pitching two perfect games in baseball. Campbell is now firmly established as one of the Tour’s rising stars and may now be the best Tour player who has not yet won a major golf tournament. The only flaw in his game at this point is inconsistent putting, but if he gets that part of his game to a more consistent level, watch out. Chad Campbell has serious game.