After spending a weekend in Greenbrier County, West Virginia to attend a friend’s wedding, I was pleasantly surprised to read that the Greenbrier Resort, which is located in White Sulphur Springs where the ceremony took place, is in negotiations to host an event that would replace the Buick Open on the PGA Tour tournament schedule.
In a report posted on its Web site this week, Golfweek published the following: “Golfweek has learned that the Greenbrier, the venerable mountain retreat recently rescued from financial straits, is awaiting confirmation from the Tour to join the schedule for 2010. The West Virginia resort would replace the Buick Open, which this week will end a 51-year run on Tour, according to two sources familiar with The Greenbrier’s operations who requested anonymity.”
The Greenbrier, which was recently purchased by prominent West Virginia businessman Jim Justice, is the only resort golf course in the world to have hosted both the Ryder Cup (1979) and Solheim Cup (1994). And none other than Tom Watson is the golf professional emeritus at the Greenbrier; the same position was once held by Sam Snead, who caddied at the club as a kid. The likes of Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, and a few U.S. Presidents have also spent time playing golf at the resort.
The tradition of the resort itself, as well as its golf facilities would make The Greenbrier a very welcome addition to the Tour schedule.
What I’d like to address is the community surrounding The Greenbrier, and its role in creating a climate for a successful event. As you could imagine, and I think Henry-Louis Gates would agree, no state is more negatively profiled than West Virginia, with possibly the exception of New Jersey in light of recent events.
One blogger wrote of the pending move from Grand Blanc, Michigan to West Virginia, “I'm not really certain that this would be the best move considering that West Virginia is not exactly either a population center or easy to travel to for players and fans.”
White Sulphur Springs, combined with neighboring Lewisburg, where I stayed for the weekend, has a population of roughly 6,000. That number would make it one of, if not the smallest towns, cities, etc…to host a PGA Tour event. So it’s natural for there to be concerns about transportation, lodging, sponsorship and fan support.
The impression I got from the area, aside from the locals who just can’t help themselves and buy into the image of West Virginia that the outside world has bestowed upon them, was that it’s fairly close-knit, culturally rich, visually pleasing and historic and the portion of the population that’s grown up there or chosen to relocate after hearing good things about the area (which would exclude young people who are just dying to get out; this happens everywhere) is very passionate about where they live.
The Greenbrier is basically synonymous with Greenbrier County; the resort brings in a healthy number of tourists, which in turn contribute to the local economy. If such a local institution were to host a major sporting event, I have no doubt that the entire community would be overjoyed and rally around the cause. And if West Virginians are passionate about one thing, it’s athletics. The only game in town is the West Virginia Mountaineers, unless you’re a fan of Marshall, which has a decidedly smaller fan base. A PGA Tour event at The Greenbrier would be the state’s only major professional sporting event and would draw support from Morgantown to Charleston.
The resort is located right off Interstate 64, so I’m unwilling to say that transportation would be a problem. And after attending the U.S. Open at Bethpage and the AT&T National at Congressional this summer, I’m going with the blanket statement that transportation is an issue no matter where you hold a golf tournament.
Lodging would be the most difficult proposition and most likely force fans to either commute from home, wherever that may be, or to stay a few towns away once rooms in Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs reached capacity. But the players would be spending their nights at The Greenbrier, which is annually ranked as one of the nation’s top resorts.
Golfweek reported that The Greenbrier would sponsor the event and that the purse would be among the Tour’s richest.
As far as the ultimate venue, The Greenbrier Course hosted the international competitions, but Golfweek stated that Tour officials were looking at the Old White Course, the resort’s original layout. Old White was built by Charles Blair Macdonald, who designed fantastic old courses like Yale University Golf Course and National Golf Links of America, and recently went through a multi-year restoration project that was completed in 2006.
The renovation of Old White is just one of the improvement projects undertaken by the resort in recent memory, and under new ownership even more additions are on the horizon. Recently the resort partnered with NBA Hall of Famer Jerry West on a new steakhouse, and introduced plans for a new casino.
“Our near-term goal is to give The Greenbrier a fresh start,” said Justice when he officially purchased the resort in May of 2009. “Even though the current economy is taking its toll on the resort, we are going to take a long-term view by focusing on reclaiming our five-star status and making the right investments for future growth.”
Obviously adding a PGA Tour event would enhance the already sterling image of the resort and bring more tourists to this by and large undiscovered destination. From the Tour’s perspective, it should think long and hard about planting its flag in a community with such a strong connection to golf history. If the deal goes through, this is a relationship that would have some staying power.