May 27, 2009 -- Dow Finsterwald Jr. knows legends. He is the son of 1958 PGA Champion Dow Finsterwald Sr. and has had the honor of managing one of the great golf facilities in the country. This week, his course, Colonial Country Club, once again hosts the PGA Tour at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He talked with Coordinating Producer John Kim about what makes his facility one of the most popular stops on Tour.

PGA.com: The Crowne Plaza is the longest running PGA Tour event held at one site. What is the reason behind this longevity?

• Complete Coverage of the Crowne Plaza Invitational

Finsterwald: I think there are many reasons, but three main reasons for our long-standing success. One is the course. It's a beautiful, classic, traditional golf course. It doesn't particularly favor any one type of player, not a long hitter or anything specific, just someone who has to have all parts of their game working to have success for the week.

We have just undergone a renovation of the course that lowered some tees, changed some bunkers and added a little yardage. Many people, including Tour players, felt like we shouldn't change anything -- but now that they've seen the renovations, they've been incredibly excited.

Secondly, we are fortunate to have a Players Alliance that happen to live in the area and they do a great job as serving as informal consultants to us to let us know what we are doing well and what we could do better, and as serving as roving ambassadors for us out on Tour and keeping players excited about coming here to play.

Finally, we have a history and tradition that very few clubs in the country can match. We are the only course that has hosted a U.S. Open, a U.S. Women's Open, a Players Championship and a PGA Tour event. We have the famous Wall of Champions by the first tee that honors those who have won here and maybe most significantly, our ties to Ben Hogan which I'm sure brings many players out so they can experience the special aura that his presence brought here.

PGA.com: Speaking of Ben Hogan, as a visitor comes to your facility, how is Mr. Hogan's influence reflected at Colonial Country Club today?

Finsterwald: It shows in everything we do I think. His standards for excellence and integrity are part of the culture here. But there are three direct areas where you can actually see his imprint.

We have the Hogan room where visitors can actually see Mr. Hogan's trophies, medals, videos and other great mementos. We also have Mr. Hogan's office downstairs, it sits exactly as it did the last time he was there -- from the calendar opened up to the date, cigarette butts, everything. And finally, that same Wall of Champions has his name on it five times. You couldn't get away from his presence, not that you would ever want to when you are here.

PGA.com: Since the course was built in 1936, most new courses have been built on a larger piece of property. The TPC courses are built with crowds and galleries in mind. But even with recent renovations, you don't have too much room to grow. How do you accommodate the galleries and crowds?

Finsterwald: I think we do a very good job of it, but it certainly is a challenge. An average attendance for us is around 50,000 and that works just fine. When we have crowds that approach 100,000 (in 2003, Colonial hosted Annika Sorenstam's foray on to The PGA Tour which drew massive crowds), it can get a bit packed. But we constantly work on making our event a great fan experience. We can add some bleachers, make them go a little higher, those things that will alleviate too much congestion. But overall, I think fans will agree that it's a great place to watch a tournament. We're never going to be like Phoenix and it's massive crowds, but we're not looking to be that.

PGA.com: Last year, you implemented a new "Green Gate". How did that go and will you do it again?

Finsterwald: We did, that was a program that told our fans that if they arrived to the tournament by way of non-motorized transportation -- bike or kayak for example -- we would donate $10 for each person to a local charity. So yes, it went well and we'll be doing it again. Just another way for us to make a positive contribution to the community.

PGA.com: But green is the color that's on many people's mind this week at Colonial.

Finsterwald: We're not going to have our defending champion Phil Mickelson here for obvious reasons. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and Amy of course. On Saturday, the committee, workers, volunteers and hopefully many fans will be decked out in pink to show our support for the fight against breast cancer. We all know someone who has been touched by this horrible disease. I think when the nation tunes in on Saturday, they are going to be really impressed by the show of support. It will probably be the most pink ever seen on a golf course -- and for a great purpose.