White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
The Old White Course delivers a rare blend of strategic, century-old architecture and championship conditioning. Fans of great design will revel in Macdonald's iconic holes, while the lively Greenbrier resort backdrop ensures a memorable experience for both architecture buffs and recreational golfers.
The Old White Course stands as America’s great public window into C.B. Macdonald’s early design ethos: template holes imported from the British Isles, disciplined angles, and wickedly complex greens. Every nine delivers a tour through golf’s playbook—Redan, Biarritz, Alps, Eden, Cape—executed with strategic rigor and period flourishes. After post-flood restoration, the course reclaims its original lines and features: broad corridors, artful bunkering, and bold contours that thrill historians and strategists alike. Perfect presentation and the resort’s classic setting heighten the sense you’re walking through living golf history.
Macdonald and Raynor channeled the strategies of the Old World, and each subsequent restoration—most recently Keith Foster's acclaimed 2017 work—has revived the heart of their vision for public play.
A one-of-a-kind par 3 with a massive, two-tiered Biarritz green—its deep swale bisecting the putting surface dares you to pick the right section on your tee shot. Cross the central channel and pure your iron, and birdie is on offer; miss your landing zone and a brutal lag putt awaits.
Mind the day's pin and fly the tee shot to the proper plateau. The contours reward precision and punish guesswork.
Miss short and the swale leaves an almost unmakeable putt; miss long and you risk a lightning-fast, racing downhill return.
Exceptional resort conditioning with crisp bentgrass fairways, true greens, and world-class presentation.
Efficient, steady resort pace—plan for 4.5–5 hours during peak times.
Historically rich but unfussy; grandeur of a classic resort meets serious golf culture.
Collared shirts, tailored shorts/pants, standard resort golf attire—confirm specifics with the resort before play.
Study key Macdonald/Raynor holes—Biarritz, Redan, Alps—before you play to understand the intended strategies.
Sharp wedge play, creative recovery skills, and a deft putting touch are essential to handle the wild green complexes.
The first hole demands a dialed-in tee shot—get loose and ready on the practice tee.
Mountain valley weather can shift quickly—come prepared with layers and confirm dress code.
Course opens, designed by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor
Course becomes host of The Greenbrier Classic (PGA Tour)
Officially joins Tournament Players Club network as Old White TPC
Catastrophic flood severely damages course
Keith Foster completes full rebuild; course reopens in time for PGA Tour event
From Woodrow Wilson’s inaugural round in 1914 to Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead and beyond, Old White has seen golf royalty—and more than a few presidents—tread its fabled turf. The echoes of classic golf’s golden age still hum on every tee.
The 2016 floods nearly wiped Old White off the map, destroying fairways and greens. In a feat of restoration, Keith Foster transformed devastation into opportunity, rebuilding every green, repositioning bunkers, and reviving the course’s Macdonald soul.
No other public-access Macdonald course in America puts you face-to-face with template holes like Redan, Alps, and Biarritz. Playing Old White isn’t just a round—it’s a living study in classic golf architecture.
Unlike almost any other PGA Tour venue, The Greenbrier’s Old White ends on a nerve-wracking par-3. Tournaments are often decided here, with the deep bunkers and tiered green shifting fates in a heartbeat.
One of America’s only public-access C.B. Macdonald designs.
Ends with a par-3—an extreme rarity for a championship venue.
Host of The Greenbrier Classic, where multiple PGA Tour playoffs ended on the dramatic 18th.
Wilsons, Sneads, and Nicklauses have strolled its fairways.
The course’s name pays homage to a vanished 19th-century resort hotel.
Play a different side of the resort on a contrasting Lester George redesign—fun, strategic, and eminently playable.
Experience the legendary Sam Snead’s home course, also with a storied PGA Tour/major event past.
Stretch your trip for river views and Pete Dye’s fiendish angles and bunkers.
Solid local golf alternative if you want a change from resort layouts.
Stay at The Greenbrier Resort for unmatched convenience, full amenities, and walk-out-to-the-first-tee access.
Courses with the most similar DNA profile — matched by deviation shape across all eight playing characteristics.
Why it matches: If The Old White Course at the Greenbrier is your kind of course, Kingsley Club is worth a look because it rewards imagination from tee to green and demands the same precision once you reach the putting surface.
Why it matches: What links these two? A comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character — a familiar feeling, expressed in Dormie Club's own setting.
Why it matches: There is real overlap here. Park Mammoth Golf Club a comparable balance of challenge, variety, and character, making it a compelling counterpart to The Old White Course at the Greenbrier.
Macdonald #7
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