Greenbrier: Old White and Snead Courses
So the above photo tells you all you need to know about the resort. It is top notch, The accommodations are incredible. The amenities amazing. Great dining. Blah blah blah and so on and so on. You’re not talking Motel 6 here so be ready to pony up some serious cash but save up and buck up because the Greenbrier is an awesome treat and worth the trip into Bumfuck. I came here with my girls, brother, sister-in-law and nephew for a long weekend.
I comp this with the Homestead in my Cascades review. Bottom line: Greenbrier is simply more polished, more refined, the bunker tour here is neat, and even though I put the Cascades course above Old White, it’s close and the private Snead course here beats the Old course there so golf favors the Greenbrier. Oh yeah and the Texans were holding Spring Camp here when we came and it was cool barging into their private dining room and telling them the Eagles were gonna kick their ass that year and we’d be there booing them. And OK it wasn’t really an ass kicking but we won and would ride Nick Foles into the playoffs and beat the Bears on the double doink. And yes we did boo them.
If you do the Greenbrier, do the bunker tour. Built during the cold war, it was the underground bunker that they prepared should the US be nuked by the USSR. They had a mini-Congress house there and an entire underground city. Where the Snead course sits now, there was an airstrip that could handle a 747 full of congressmen (congresspeople to you easily offended Libturds). Food-wise both the main dining room and Prime 44 were great and I hear the Snead clubhouse has good eats too though we never ate there.
First the Snead. The Snead is a private club but my pro got us on so yours probably could too. It’s a little ride down the street from the resort but boasts its own club house and halfway house on the driving range (which is a good 500 or so yard ride from the clubhouse and on the way to the first tee). A wicked storm blew through before we had to cross the road on the front so we were able to coop up there for the half hour or so during the rain delay.
There are multiple water features throughout the tract and as a former airstrip, you can imagine it is not very hilly though some of the holes feature some elevation variations. While I rank it below the Old White, I don’t do so by much as these are pretty equal and pretty good courses. The first and second are pretty innocuous and feature water all along the left but room to miss right. Four’s a decent length par five and five’s a long par-four brute (the 3rd and 1st handicaps respectively). So it gets tough quick. Six, seven and eight are across the road and offer more elevation changes and on the back the holes on the other side of Howard creek are the same. My favorite on the back (and on the course) is the par-five sixteenth where you’re above the hole and have to cross the creek down to the fairway which is running away from you diagonally. I shot a decent 89 here for me despite being six over on the last three holes (someone ran out of gas).
To the White course. I talk about the first on Cascades being a real yawner, well the first at the White course is a great opener. You’re above the hole, on an elevated tee but from the back tees where we played, it’s a 428 tester. One of the great opening holes in golf. Two’s not as long but still tough then the third is a Biarritz green par three. As you make your way around the course, some of the holes on the front are a little back-and-forth and get a little mundane, though you have the CB MacDonald/Seth Raynor bunkering and angular greens throughout keeping it interesting. After the 11th hole halfway house, you get a taste of some really great golf holes. The 12th Is a long par 5 and the number two handicap. A creek cuts diagonally through the fairway on your approach. The 13th is a long par four with a slight dogleg and a good hill to climb to get up to the green. Fourteen a short dogleg left with a bunker protecting the dogleg. After a tough 185-yard par three 15th, you get to another of my favorite holes on the course – an awesome cape hole where you bite off as much as the pond as you can handle to set up your approach. Seventeen is a long, long, long par five and 18 is a great par three finisher right in front of the clubhouse. Love the grill in the clubhouse, it has pool tables and a great vibe. Played pretty well – especially on the back (a 41 and an 86 overall).
There’s another course here that was closed when we came down but we wouldn’t have had the time nor permission to play it (I brought my girls who would have nixed a third round in three days had it been open). Not sure I would try and pull off a guys trip here but for a couples escape, bring some bankroll and make the trip. Very enjoyable.
Old White
The Snead
Golf Scrapbook 