By Amanda Herrington and Colvin Hedgepeth, AJGA Communications
The Woodward Video Junior at The Greenbrier is a 54-hole stroke play competition played on the par-70 Meadows Course at The Greenbrier. The event features 99 boys and 33 girls, ages 12-18, from 24 states and two countries. The Boys Division played the course at 6,607 yards while the Girls Division played the course at 5,871 yards.
KING OF THE HILL
Hill Herrick, Head Golf Professional at The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier has seen many traditions, including the 29-year tenure of Hill Herrick, head golf professional at The Greenbrier. Herrick, who casually throws around terms such as “dragon’s teeth” and “punchbowls” to describe the unique features of the courses at The Greenbrier, has shared a part of golf history and experienced the modern age of grandstands and reality television, Big Break Greenbrier will air on the Golf Channel next month, unfold on the game.
“I’ve met thousands of guests and had the chance to be associated with maybe the most famous amateur, Billy Campbell, and the most famous golf professional, Sam Snead,“ Herrick said. “Golf is a very historical game so to hear all of Sam’s great stories, and talk to those people who played with Bobby Jones and all these famous golfers from 100 years ago, it’s a really neat thing.”
The AJGA is part of Herrick’s story as well, as Herrick and AJGA Executive Director Stephen Hamblin were teammates at Michigan State. With stops made by the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour, Herrick welcomes the AJGA as a premier golf organization.
“There’s not a lot of difference,” said Herrick, who has seen five years of AJGA play at The Greenbrier. “It’s amazing how good theses players are.”
HANDFUL OF HISTORY
The golf shop at The Greenbrier is home to many pieces of golf history, while the greens hold memories of legendary golf.
- While the AJGA teed off on The Meadows Course, three other courses make up The Greenbrier, including the private Fazio-designed Snead Course, The Greenbrier Course and The Old White TPC.
- Woodrow Wilson was one of the first golfers to play The Old White in April 1914.
- Built in 1924, The Greenbrier Course was renovated by Jack Nicklaus in 1977, in preparation for the 1979 Ryder Cup.
- Host of the 1979 Ryder Cup and 1994 Solheim Cup, making The Greenbrier the first of only two locations to have hosted both the Ryder and Solheim Cups. (Muirfield Village accomplished this feat in 1998).
- In 1994, The Greenbrier named Sam Snead as Golf Professional Emeritus, a position he held until his death in 2002. Tom Watson continued the tradition and is the current Golf Professional Emeritus. Memorabilia of Sam Snead and Tom Watson line the halls of the golf shop.
- Countdown clocks can be seen throughout the resort, counting down the seconds to the 2013 Greenbrier Classic. At time of post, the clock reads 301 days, 14 hours, 8 minutes,27 seconds.
The Old White TPC, one of The Greenbrier’s three championship courses, was designed by Jack Nicklaus.
IN THE BUNKER
Bunkers usually conjure a negative nuance in the context of golf; once a ball is discovered in the despised sand, shoulders instantly shrug and frustration leaks from the affected player. At The Greenbrier, the term ignites a new meaning beyond an undesirable course element. The government created The Bunker as a confidential safe haven for Congressional royalty in case of a nuclear attack; the bunker is wedged within the hillside of The Greenbrier’s West Virginia Wing. In 1992, the refuge was decommissioned after the secret spilled outside the mountain valleys. Now, the Bunker is a prized attraction of America’s Resort, providing guests the chance to tour war history buried beneath the Appalachian Mountains.
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