Tour Guide 2026: Colonial Life Charity Classic

The ever-present staple location of professional golf and elite courses — the Carolinas — once again plans to make a statement with the addition of a new Korn Ferry Tour tournament: the Colonial Life Charity Classic. 

Taking place from May 14-17 at The Woodcreek Club near Columbia, S.C., superintendent Steven Smith says he’s excited to showcase the course and the surrounding area, especially with some hefty investments being made to propel the club further into that top-tier status. 

“I think it’s also a beautiful part of the country, and I think there’s still a lot of really good Southern hospitality here that I’m thoroughly enjoying,” Smith says. “It’ll be good for the town to have this event and for companies to see Columbia have this kind of golf tournament and have this kind of business coming to us. I think it’s great for the area, and I’m glad to be part of it.”

A new chapter

Despite the five-year deal given to the club for the Colonial Life Charity Classic, Smith says he has barely spent six months at the club, having just started in November when the course was going into its winter semi-dormancy. 

In addition, Smith says the club’s owner and developer of the Woodcreek Farms neighborhood, Harold Pickrel, has invested heavily into The Woodcreek Club the past few years to help secure its tournament host status. 

“He’s been a member here from the beginning, bought it and has subsequently invested heavily in the club,” Smith says. “They got relatively new greens, a bunch of work has been done on the maintenance facility and golf course, and he’s doing a multimillion-dollar renovation to the clubhouse and facilities here in preparation for the tournament. So, I was really excited about that.”

Other improvements include bunker renovations (not all of them will be completed for this year’s tournament) with EcoBunker products, irrigation auditing, weed control, drainage improvements and detail work to ensure the course is ready for the spring and summertime. 

“When I started my job, what I’ve been doing is just riding the course with the crew, assessing course conditions, helping with irrigation auditing, weed control,” Smith says. “I spray greens and then detail work. I like to pick at things like edging irrigation heads around the greens, edging the greens and helping with setup and just different odds and ends around the course.” 

Smith says that while this will be his first time hosting a pro tournament, but he’s not completely new to the task ahead. He’s been the assistant for both men’s and women’s U.S. Open qualifiers before, and he also spent time as the superintendent at Dothan (Ala.) Country Club, host site of the Future Masters. 

The Future Masters tournament, according to Smith, is an event featuring roughly 500 top junior golfers across different age groups, representing more than 20 countries and all 50 states. The tournament has drawn in big names such as Bubba Watson Jr., Stewart Cink and the kids of Tiger Woods and John Daly. 

“That was a nine-day event, and we worked really hard on getting that golf course into really great shape for that tournament. And then we’d have 1,200 rounds over nine days, so it was a grueling tournament,” Smith says. “I feel something like that is good preparation for me — knowing how to plan and get ready for an event like this.”

Optimistic opportunity

Despite all the challenges that come with hosting an inaugural tournament and operating out of the transition zone (Smith, like many other superintendents, says he just wishes he could control the weather), Smith remains optimistic about the Colonial Life Charity Classic and what he’ll be able to showcase in May. 

One factor contributing to his positive, can-do attitude comes from his run in with Guillain-Barré syndrome around high school, a rare autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks the peripheral nervous system.

“I was athletic when I was younger — ran cross country — and I went from all of that to paralyzed from basically the chest down in about 48 hours, which is an extremely severe case,” he says. “It took me a really good year to get back to where I could kind of get back to work and school and things like that.”

After being sidelined for the year, he began working at a Houston resort restaurant, one that was facing the resort’s golf course. After playing a bit of golf himself, an assistant superintendent recommended going into the turf program at Texas A&M University. Now, he’s back up and running, about to host a Korn Ferry tournament on an elite Tom Fazio-designed course. 

“I’m very grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had, and looking back at that, it makes me grateful to be in this position, to be able to get out on the golf course and walk around with my crew and help with bunkers, help with projects,” he says. “I think that kind of experience, going through that when I was younger, has made me more appreciative of the opportunities and what I’m able to do now and where I’m at in my career.”