Daily Fantasy Golf Course Primer: Fort Worth Invitational
Last week, we saw a new course on the PGA Tour of Trinity Forest GC in Dallas.
It played a mite easier than what was probably expected, and Aaron Wise won by three strokes at -23. Whew.
This week, the Tour heads back to a longstanding host course of Colonial CC, where Kevin Kisner won last year's DEAN & DELUCA.
Course and Tournament Info
Colonial CC is a 7,209-yard par 70 with tiny bentgrass greens that read a roughly average 12 on the stimpmeter. The tournament itself has been called the DEAN & DELUCA Invitational the past two seasons after nine years as the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. So knowing that might help your research process.
As for the course itself, it's been a mostly average course in terms of difficulty relative to par, but last year, it played tough.
| Year | Difficulty Rank | Course | Par | Yards | Avg Score | Avg O/U Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 7 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,209 | 71.154 | 1.154 |
| 2016 | 18 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,209 | 70.197 | 0.197 |
| 2015 | 21 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 69.782 | -0.218 |
| 2014 | 19 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 70.273 | 0.273 |
| 2013 | 24 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 69.895 | -0.105 |
| 2012 | 13 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 71.129 | 1.129 |
| 2011 | 22 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 70.082 | 0.082 |
| 2010 | 41 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 68.541 | -1.459 |
| 2009 | 34 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,204 | 69.186 | -0.814 |
| 2008 | 25 | Colonial CC | 70 | 7,054 | 70.328 | 0.328 |
The field itself will be a little thinner than the full-field opens at 125-or-so golfers.
Key Stats
Strokes gained: tee to green and putting are always worth factoring in, but these stats have looked to be vital at Colonial CC.
| Key Stats for the Fort Worth Invitational at Colonial CC |
|---|
| Strokes Gained: Approach the Green |
| Scrambling |
| Proximity from 175 to 225 Yards |
| Driving Accuracy |
Strokes gained: approach stands out as the most important of the strokes gained stats most weeks, but it's especially true this week for Colonial.
On a similar note, proximity is going to be worth weighting heavily, as the greens are small and require good placement to the pin. With the three of the four par 3s ranging from 180 to 200 yards and the other just shy of 250, strong approach players should thrive at Colonial this week.
Distance doesn't give much of an edge here, but accuracy does. Via FantasyGolfMetrics, golfers finishing top 25 outdrove golfers missing the cut by only three yards, on average, since 2003. Their driving accuracy, however, was nearly seven percentage points better (60.49% compared to 53.88%).
Course History Studs
For yet another week, we're operating at a course where Jordan Spieth can dominate. He's earned +3.03 adjusted strokes gained per round over his 20 rounds at Colonial, via datagolf. Those finishes since 2013 read T7, T14, T2, 1, T2. So, yeah, Spieth can and does dominate here, just like the key stats would suggest he could.
Kisner is the defending champ and has strong form of his own (+2.33 adjusted strokes gained per round). After a missed cut in 2014, Kisner finished T5, T10, and first a year ago at Colonial.
Zach Johnson has cooled off here lately but still owns 8 top-25 finishes in 12 starts since 2003, including two wins in 2010 and 2012. In fact, from 2009 to 2013, he finished 9th, 1st, 4th, 1st, 3rd. His past four have resulted in a 73rd, 19th, 17th, and 63rd, but that still gives him 12 straight made cuts with some top-25 upside.
Danny Lee has shown signs of life here, finishing 6th a year ago to follow up from a T22 and a T10 the two prior seasons.
David Lingmerth's finishes since 2013 at Colonial are promising: 18th, 5th, 33rd, no start, and 12th.
