Data Mapping with Collapsed Group Columns

We have a data table that uses column groupings. We update the data programatically using the parse() method. When the columns are collapsed the mapped data doesn’t resolve.

Digging into the source a bit, it looks like the MapCollection is built off of the grid.config.columns property which only has visible columns. For now we have gone back to using the column id, which works. We were using the mapping to send over smaller json to keep the client package as minimal as possible.

Is there a way around this limitation?