Greenbrier Old White Course (White Sulphur Springs, WV)

#38 WORLD TOP 100 RESORT (GOLF WORLD)

#37 TOP 100 PUBLIC USA (GOLF DIGEST)

#51 TOP 100 PUBLIC (GOLF MAGAZINE)

#40 TOP 100 RESORT COURSE (GOLFWEEK)

#54 TOP 100 PUBLIC COURSE (GOLFWEEK)

Old White is the only public C.B. Macdonald golf course in America. His template holes reside at every course he’s designed and each one is studied intensely by architecture aficionados. It is safe to say that Old White’s Biarritz and Redan may be the best of their kind which makes this a must play for anyone who truly loves old style architecture. 

(The 449/428 yard opening hole boasts an elevated tee box just outside the clubhouse doors…

…a fully stocked trophy trout stream meanders below. A trained guide is ready to take one fly fishing before or after a round of golf…
…the view back to the tee reveals this breathtaking vista.) 

The Greenbrier is a spectacular resort where only one word can be used to describe it…massive! It almost requires a map to get through the place. It’s collection of Sam Snead memorabilia is impressive and it’s connection to the silky swinger is reiterated with every step inside. It hosted the PGA Tour for nine years and has seen 59 shot by Kevin Chappell and Stuart Appleby. (Appleby shot it in the final round to beat Jeff Overton by one shot) It has hosted many famous people including President Eisenhower and it’s secret bunker as part of a relocation facility makes it one of the most interesting places in the country. 

(The 208/197 yard par three Biarritz hole is one of the best templates you’ll see. The green is a full 63 yards long and the swale in the middle is a solid 6’ deep. The pin was disappointingly in the front when we played it. The hole takes on an entirely different personality when the pin is in the rear. Putting from the middle up to either tier is mythical stuff.) 

(The 388/330 yard par four fifth is called Mounds and the left half of the green is hidden behind it. A lot of interior movement allows for some nice pin placements.) 

(The 390/380 yard par four seventh is called Plateau and the green is slightly elevated with some good greenside bunkering.) 

Old White is a classic mountain course with all the holes residing in the valley. Howard’s Creek rambles through the middle but rarely does it come into play. The routing gives it a wide berth making it part of the scenery along with the rolling mountain tops. Macdonald’s design is all about the greens and the templates found throughout. The course is very playable off the tee. For most golfers, it’ll be a chance to get acquainted with features like Biarritz, Redan, Eden, Short, Punchbowl, Principal’s Nose and Alps. All of these concepts are taken from linksland courses over in the British Isles. 

(The 236/180 yard par three Redan eighth is one of the best of its kind. Look at the high right side where a draw is favorably funneled towards the pin. The left side bunker stretches the length of the hole and obscures any view of the green. Note the front right bunker that protects the kickplate. There’s also a bunker long to catch those who fly it. I’ve played a few Redan holes, and I’ve found that a high cut is held nicely by the left sloping green. This particular Redan maybe the best…
…this view from the kickplate displays just how big the green really is. Amazing how one can only see 10% of it from the tee!) 

The 382/344 yard par four Principal Nose is much different than ones I’ve seen elsewhere. This one is 100 yards short of the green and blocks the view from those in the middle of the fairway. Players who hit the ball down the left or right sides of the fairway have an unobstructed view.) 

Many people were surprised that Old White was chosen to host a PGA Tour event. At heart, it’s a resort course but Lester George’s renovation in 2005 added a lot of length and restored the template features into world class holes. In 2010, Stuart Appleby won the inaugural Greenbrier Classic with a -22 score which included his stunning 59 in the final round. That winning score change drastically in 2011 when Scott Stallings won in a playoff at -10. 2012 saw Ted Potter Jr win at -16, followed by Jonas Blixt the following year at -13. Angel Cabrera won in 2014 at -16, and Danny Lee took home the title in 2015 with -13. Xander Schauffele won it in 2017 at -14. The next two years saw the return of low scores with -19 and -21 by Kevin Na and Joaquin Neimam. 

(The 570/536 yard par five twelth called Long is the only hole where water comes into play. It cuts in diagonally from the right between 120-100 from the green…
…the slope just short of the green will kick balls towards the hazard especially for those going for it in two. The hole is beautifully tied in to the hillside next to it.) 

(The 395/344 yard par four fourteenth is called Narrows. I love this approach shot with the mountain in the background. A spine in the rear makes the back left pin placement a very tiny target to attack. The hole doglegs left so the bunkers seen in the foreground can be reached off the tee if one carries it over the tiger line.) 

During my round, I kept commenting how Old White reminded me of Bedford Springs in Pennsylvania. At Bedford, the course plays up into the hillside and gives you grand vistas and juiced up downhill tee shots. Old White never does that and keeps the golfer in the valley. This means the tee shots look similar as the round progresses and allows the golfer to be comfortable all the way to the end.  The lack of diversity off the tee hurts the course in my opinion. I give Old White a 7 (great)(worth driving 3-4 hours to play).

(The 179/144 yard par three eighteenth is a wonderful Short hole. The entire concept of this revolves around the sunken thumbprint in the front of the green. Today’s pin is quite simple yet move that pin on the other side of the horseshoe and it becomes an exacting shot. There are numerous hole locations where this is the case. When the PGA played here, Jim Justice, the owner, would pass out $100 bills to those in the stands whenever someone had a hole in one!) 

[Two of us played the blue tees at 6426 yards while the other played the whites. Have you ever went to a great course and played horrible? Unfortunately that was me. I was making mid round adjustments but could never get comfortable over my approach shots. I only missed two fairways too so it was very disappointing. Thankfully I was able to watch my friend who had a great round capped off by birdies on the final two holes! He was really striping it off the tee and had some good yardages for his approaches. My other friend, a streaky 15 handicap, finished strong too for his 87. Note the course rating from the blues. It’s almost two strokes over par!]

[If you’re looking for value just remember that the Greenbrier is a five star resort and everything is priced accordingly. The shoulder season, which we played on the last day, is $170. It goes to $365 before rising to a staggering $525 during the summer!]

Darby Creek Golf Course (Marysville, OH)

Back in the ‘90s, my friend Joby and I didn’t have a lot of money so we took plenty of golf trips in the spring to either Columbus, Dayton, or Cincinnati. A few courses, like Pipestone, were a mainstay and we would add others each year we went down. Darby Creek just outside Columbus was one of the few at the time that stood out to me. I wanted to see it again after it popped up a few times in conversations about best courses in Ohio. 

(The 194/168/151 yard par three eleventh is not the place to be aggressive. The green is edged against the water and chips coming from long or left can find the hazard. Today’s pin in the back right is particularly dangerous.) 

Darby Creek opened in 1993. At the time, most of the new courses being designed in Ohio were by local architects Michael Hurdzan and Arthur Hills. Darby Creek went in a different direction and hired Geoffrey Cornish and Brian Silva. They put together a routing that focused on players attacking optimum angles to gain an advantage. Several of the doglegs have inside hazards that force the player to determine his ability to carry them. The par five sixth has an upper fairway defended by sand that opens up for the third shot. At the short par five fourteenth, the green has five bunkers guarding the direct line while the fairway wraps around so golfers can attack from a cleaner lie.  It’s these kind of decisions that separate it from many courses in the greater Columbus area. 

(The 423/374/363 yard par four second demands a drive over the inside trap to gain a shorter club to this green. This view shows the uphill shot to the elevated green.) 

(The 520/486/435 yard par five sixth has an upper fairway that is guarded by several diagonal bunkers. If one can access it, then the third shot is just a simple pitch or chip. There is plenty of fairway in the lower part but the green is shallow from that angle. It’s a nicely designed hole.) 

(The 434/418/401 par four eighth doglegs around a pond. Can I make the carry? It’s an honest question and if the answer is no then a bail out off the tee will leave a long approach into the green. A par is a good score.) 

Darby Creek is kept in excellent condition and has no houses on it. These two things make it one of the better experiences in central Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch awarded it one of their top picks. I feel that the wooded back nine is very different from the usual farmland setting and gives the course an extra boost of intrigue that golfers are looking for during their round. 

(The short 335/309/286 yard par four tenth has bunkers in variety of areas to thwart any absent minded drives. The green is well protected and requires a nicely pitched shot to hold the green. A big drive over the right mounds can roll onto the putting surface. It’s a good birdie opportunity.)

(The 426/411/376 yard par four twelth has a green angled against the water. This view from short right does not accurately portray the difficulty of hitting the approach. It is an all carry shot and is not for the timid. Thankfully the right half is surrounded by fairway and gives players a chance to bailout and still make par.) 

(The 502/592/461 yard par five fourteenth has a wraparound fairway for those who choose not to directly take on the bunker filled second shot. It’s a fun risk reward hole that allows players a chance to reach the green in two shots.)

Anyone looking to match or break their handicap at Darby Creek must avoid disaster at the four water holes (8,11,12,18). There’s plenty of birdie opportunities, especially on the par fives, and it’s these four holes that can send one’s score soaring. With the tips topping 7,000 yards, Darby can pretty much host any kind of local tournament. For those looking for a game west of downtown Columbus, this one comes highly recommended. I give it a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play). 

(The 475/452/432 yard par four ending hole will not be reached in regulation by too many people. If it plays into any type of prevailing wind, one should try to find the best angle for the pitch…
…playing short right opens up most of the green except for a pin hard against the water in the back left. Easily one of the hardest eighteenth holes in Columbus.) 

[I played Darby Creek on a beautiful 70 degree day in March. The greens rolled very nice and even had some creep out to them. I can only imagine how fast they play in the summer. My friend Wags and I were paired with a young lady who’s fiancé ran the Columbus Chapter of Golfweek’s Amateur Tour. We played the white tees at 6,176 yards. A couple of the par fives were reachable on those tee boxes. I really should have  scored better but my game was not going that well. I had too many silly mistakes especially on the par fives which are the easiest holes on the course. I played the four water holes in even par which balanced things out.]