PGA TOUR: The PGA TOUR Comes to Emerald City

Featured Columnist Andy Reistetter is on site this week at America's Resort- The Greenbrier for the PGA TOUR's inaugural Greenbrier Classic. Here are his thoughts and comments after arriving on Tuesday afternoon.

In the Land of West Virginia The Greenbrier Resort is known as the "Emerald City."

Around the world and in the United States it is simply known as "America's Resort" for its longevity and patriotic service in times of need.

To a couple of young kids growing up in Beckley less than an hour away, the yellow brick road never led then to play the Greenbrier until they qualified for the State Amateur.

Now one of them owns the resort and the other is a key PGA TOUR rules official that you likely have seen on television.

“We used to come here and play in the State Amateur,” Jim Justice said while the other one echoed “it was like coming to Emerald City. It was fantastic. We were in awe of everything around here.”

The other childhood pal was Carlton Palmer White II though you would know him as "Slugger" White, the rules official.

"Slugger" White is usually the guy who offers the hat containing the crumpled up papers with numbers on them to playoff contestants on the tee to see who gets to hit first.

"True as it could be" they have been great friends since Justice was 10 and White was 12. Their fathers, both athletes, White's a boxer and Justice's a football player brought them to the game of golf and that is where they found each other.

Perhaps White's nickname came from his boxing heritage or from the length of his drives as a tour player in the 1970s.

Or maybe it came from the funny story Justice told about playing a prank on White as kids growing up in a lot of ways on the golf course.

One day he put a heavy rock in the bottom of White's golf bag. White was so strong he did not notice it until Justice yelled over to him coming up the 18^th fairway.

Word has it that Justice ran so fast White never caught up to him but maybe he did and that is when the slugging started?

Justice came out from behind the curtain and worked his magic so all his fellow West Virginians could see as he put together the right combination of people and finances to purchase the National Historic Landmark a little over a year ago.

The two friends quickly came together to promote the idea that The Greenbrier would be a great host for a PGA TOUR event.

As fate would have it, the demise of the Buick Open created the opening for the Greenbrier Classic to come into existence this week in the Allegheny Mountains.

Everything is green at The Greenbrier though not necessarily what you think.

During World War II , the resort served both as an army hospital and as a holding place for diplomatic enemies of the United States .

When the country needed a place to build a bunker to host Congress during a potential Cold War emergency in the late 1950s The Greenbrier responded.

In war and peace, The Greenbrier is America's refuge.

Longevity has its place especially in West Virginia.

United States Senator Robert Byrd, the nation's longest-serving member of Congress died last week. He spent nearly six decades in Congress promoting West Virginia, first in the House of Representatives and then for 51 years in the Senate.

Slammin' Sammy Snead, the player in PGA TOUR history with the most wins, was the pro at the Greenbrier for 29 years and served as Golf Professional Emeritus from 1993 until his death in 2002.

Long-playing Tom Watson who almost won the Open at Turnberry at age 59 became only the second Golf Professional Emeritus at the Greenbrier in 2005.

Watson is not here this week because he is still playing the game he loves dearly, this week at the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Sahalee CC in Seattle.  

The Greenbrier roots go back to the late 1700s with the discovery of the medicinal sulphur springs.

The game of golf dates back to 1914 at The Greenbrier when the C.B. Macdonald designed The Old White Course opened for play.

The Seth Raynor designed 1924 Greenbrier Course hosted the 1979 Ryder Cup and the 1994 Solheim Cup.      

And now the Greenbrier Classic starts its own legacy as a PGA TOUR event when Tim Herron tees off the first tee at 7:00 a.m. on Thursday morning

I wonder what Sam Snead, who once shot 59 here would think about that?

Maybe we will see Ricky Barnes win his first PGA TOUR tournament?

Or John Daly completes his comeback with his first title since 2004?

Or Sergio Garcia gets his game back to where it was when he captured the 2008 PLAYERS championship?

Or Jim Furyk wins for the third time this year?

Somehow, some way someone will tap the heels of their golf shoes together on Sunday afternoon and emerge with a new edge and a new meaning in life.

Just like The Greenbrier has done in the last year under the leadership of Jim Justice and "Slugger" White.

Welcome to the Emerald City of PGA TOUR stops!

Good living and good golfing my friends!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering and working part time for CBS Sports, NBC Sports, and The Golf Channel.

He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach.

He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]