TheVirginia Explorer
The Snead Course at The Greenbrier
Sporting Club continues to shine as a
scenic layout that provides an exacting
test of one’s all-around game.
Author Aimee Lee Ball is a writer from New York, N.Y. This is her first contribution to
Virginia Golfer.
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RELAXATION
More than 200 years ago, the Shawnee
tribe discovered that “there’s something
in the water” of the local white sulphur
springs, and their reputed medicinal
properties have become legend. The
Greenbrier’s spa offers contemporary
and luxurious versions of hydrotherapy in
private soaking rooms, sure to ease any
sore muscles brought back from the links
(if not the pain of a bogeyed hole).
The Olympic-sized indoor pool is 100
years old, with original tilework echoing a
Roman bath. Esther Williams performed
aquatic shows there to entertain the GIs
recuperating in the wartime hospital. The
beautiful infinity pool, its edgeless water
kept at a constant 80 degrees, looks down
one of the fairways and beyond to the
Allegheny Mountains.
A state-of-the-art
infinity pool offers
an ideal getaway in
a natural setting.
w w w. v s g a . o r g
5/1/14 12:43 PM
TOP: SCOTT K. BROWN; ISTOCKPHOTO.COM (7)
The grounds of The Greenbrier’s championship courses have been walked by the
who’s who of the sport, from Hogan, Palmer and Nicklaus to Watson, Woods and
Mickelson. A members-only layout, The Snead Course at The Greenbrier Sporting
Club is named for its former golf pro, the legendary Sam Snead, who was originally
hired as an assistant at a salary of $45 per month.
The Greenbrier Classic is held on The Old White TPC Golf Course, celebrating
its 100th birthday this year and named for the original hotel that stood on the
property (so called because the sulphur water left a white deposit on surrounding
rocks). Tom Watson called the first hole his favorite opening shot in all of golf.
The course record to beat? Try eclipsing Stuart Appleby’s stunning 59 at the 2010
Greenbrier Classic. This year’s renewal is set for July 3-6.
The Greenbrier Course, opened during the Roaring T
wenties and redesigned
by Jack Nicklaus for the Ryder Cup Matches, is heavily wooded with terraced
greens. The Meadows Course offers the most spectacular views of the surrounding
mountains. These three all begin and end at the clubhouse, where the names of
previous golf greats are inscribed on the lockers, so your shoes might occupy the
same space used by Tiger Woods.
The Greenbrier’s newest course is actually the oldest organized golf club
in America. Oakhurst Links was built in 1884 by a local man who became
entranced with the game in Scotland. It’s golf as it was played at the turn of the
19th century, from the attire (knickers for men, hoop skirts for women, available
for rent or sale) to the equipment (hickory-shafted clubs and old-style balls
made of gutta-percha rubber).
“It’s almost like two different games,” says Burt Baine, general manager of The
Greenbrier Golf Club. “It’s more rhythmic and artistic than athletic. You don’t
smash the ball—you guide it, you caress it. With modern clubs, the game is about
speed and force and angle. This is about timing and finesse.”
The nine-hole course is less manicured than today’s standard, and no tees are
allowed because they weren’t available in the time sphere the track is trying to replicate.
“You tee off a little anthill of sand that you create yourself,” Baine says, “and when
you hit the ball, the tee is obliterated.”
REFRESHING
TOP: THE GREENBRIER; PIOTR REDLINSKI
LEGENDARY LINKS