The Old White TPC – The Greenbrier Resort
The Old White TPC, the final round on our Golf Aficionado Ultimate Golf Trip 2018. The tail end of a boys golf trip, I’m not sure where the tipping point from boys to men is but I know the wives for our group aren’t holding their breath!!
A 6-day trip, we’ve played The Highland Course at Primland twice, and arrive at THE Greenbrier Resort, play The Meadows, The Greenbrier, The Snead (what a course) and to finish … The Old White TPC. Trying to find the words for this article are difficult, I feel as uneasy as I did on the 1st tee box. The enormity of the course history and the fact that my emotions are at an all-time high, it’s a challenge to do this C.B. Macdonald course justice. Picture walking to the 1st tee, feeling a wave of excitement wash over your body as you tee it up to play a course with over 100 years’ worth of moments, you start to chant the golfer’s prayer, ‘please let me get off the tee! If I’m only going to have one good shot today, please let this be it’… Watson, Woods, Mickelson, Jordan, Bubba, Nicklaus, Snead the list of all-time greats that have stood on this tee box outnumber the hot dinners I’ve had, if you’re not nervous, you’re not human!
The conditions are perfect – it’s sunny, there’s a gentle wind, the fairways look lush, the rough doesn’t look that bad (looks can be deceiving, as we all found out) and we’ve already been told the greens are running true.
Course Breakdown
Without going hole by hole, honestly I don’t have the vocabulary, without repeating the same words, to describe the challenge, the beauty and the quality of this course perhaps it’s just easier to say you’re going to have the time of your life and golf hereafter will not be the same as on The Old White TPC. To be honest, nobody in our group shot under par, or anywhere close. While we won’t remember the actual scores from that day, several holes left a meaningful impression.
Right around the right corner of the clubhouse, the 1st tee on The Old White TPC is elevated well above the fairway and provides a great view of everything The Greenbrier has to offer
Hole No. 1 – an elevated tee box looking out over the hole, stay left of center to have a view of the green is the advice. If the first isn’t on your bucket list of best opening holes you ever want to play, it should be – it’s equally beautiful and challenging.
The Biarritz green on the 3rd hole is a C.B. Macdonald signature and sure to turn heads
Hole No. 3 – for those playing with a draw, there’s a very ‘nice’ tree on the right to be wary of but the best way to play this is straight. A good mid-iron will get you to the green where the valley of sin awaits, a C.B. Macdonald signature Biarritz green! Depending on the pin placement putting will be more than interesting, never played a par 3 with a green like this before and I’d love to play this hole over and over…while it got the best of me, a couple of the team got their pars.
What a great view they have from the front porch looking down the Par 4, 5th hole
Hole No. 5, called the mounds, a simple hole (yeah right). Stay left, hit a solid drive and the green is easily in play, along with a creek ready to penalize anyone for being short. Bunkers surround the green so don’t be off-center, long, or short!
Hole No. 8, another beautiful Par 3 (there are no par 5’s on the front 9), short and left will put you in the hardest bunker on the course, a draw approach is the best shot to play however the green runs away with the ball if you are lacking some height, looks easy, plays hard – we had 2 out of 4 on the green, one short and one in the bunker. We don’t discuss the bunker, I’m just glad it wasn’t me.
The first of only 2 Par 5s, the Long Hole provides plenty of challenge and little chance of making the green in 2.
Hole No. 12, we finally reach the 1st of 2 Par 5s on the course – a good drive will still likely leave you laying up in front of the stream as the false front to the green will pretty much hold back anything short, when anyone talks about course management, this hole defines it.
Hole No. 13 – one of my top 3 holes on the course, a good drive and a perfect second are needed with the green protected on the left and right with a narrow entry, beautiful! Words don’t do this hole justice but I promise you’ll walk off the green with a smile on your face.
Hole No. 14 – love this hole, a good tee shot to the fairway makes the green very accessible, just don’t be short, the false front isn’t forgiving. A recurring theme on The Old White TPC, don’t be short; false greens, creeks, and bunkers always seem to be lying in wait.
What a finish, a Par 3 to finish one last real chance at bridie
Hole No. 18 – another C.B Macdonald signature The Short hole, a par 3 over water to a postage stamp green surrounded by bunkers, Sam Snead shot his last ever hole in one here, I was just happy to hit the green. All in all an amazing, wonderful, beautiful, complex, challenging, testing, awesome course.
My advice – stay out of the rough, enjoy the round, show some respect and don’t beat yourself up to much. The course can do that to you all on its own and lastly if this isn’t on your bucket list of courses to play, add it!
PS – As you go round the course you’ll find yourself distracted by some of the houses, it’s a much shorter list to talk about the houses you wouldn’t live in than those you would and we all wondered, aloud, if this is the weekend getaway, what do they live in Monday to Friday?
The Old White TPC Course Rating 4.7 out of 5
At the end of the day, the experience on the golf course at The Old White TPC was phenomenal. Following the trip we dissected the rating, the golf course scored extremely well in all of our major golf categories. However, what kept the rating of Old White TPC from being one of the best we’ve had was the pre-round experience. In contrast to the wonderful reception we received at The Sporting Club when we playing The Snead, Old White TPC left a lot to be desired. In fact, the staff in the pro shop made us feel unwelcomed and really started us off with a bad taste in our mouth. Luckily for us, the course more than made up for the bad experience in the pro shop but the staff and limited selection of items in the pro shop kept the rating at an A- when it could have easily been an A+.