Getting To Know: The Greenbrier Sporting Club ( The Snead ) By Brian Weis

Getting To Know: The Greenbrier Sporting Club ( The Snead )

An Insightful Interview With Robbie Gilmore, Jr., Golf Professional

By Brian Weis

Whether you have played a course 20+ times a year or looking to play the course for the first time, insights from an insider can help enhance your golf experience. Below is an interview with Robbie Gilmore, Jr. who shares some valuable tidbits about the course, memorable holes and must eats and treats at the 19th.

Give Our Readers An Overview of the Golf Course/Property
The Greenbrier Sporting Club is the private equity club and residential community organized for the purpose of offering memberships to those that purchase real estate at The Greenbrier, America's Resort. Members of The Greenbrier Sporting Club not only enjoy complete access to everything The Greenbrier has to offer, but they also enjoy private amenities unavailable to hotel guests, which include two distinct lodges and outdoor pools, two restaurants, a fitness center, an equestrian center, an eastern-inspired spa and The Snead, a members-only golf course. The Snead opened in 2004 and is the only Tom Fazio design in West Virginia.

If Someone Was Looking To Golf In The Area, Why Should They Play Your Course?
The golf course conditioning is second to none, perfectly manicured.

What Tips or Local Knowledge Would You Provide To Help Them Score Better At Your Course?
The greens complexes are very severe. Therefore, it is a second shot golf course. Approach shots must be extremely accurate to find the correct portion of the green to play from.

Recent Awards or What You Are Most Proud About The Course?
When The Snead Course opened in 2004, it was voted #3 in Golf Digest's list of "Best New Private Golf Courses in America." We are always ranked among the best in the state by Golf Digest & Golf Magazine.

What Is The Signature, Most Talked About, or Most Photographed Hole?
#16 - The tee shot is from an elevation of 85 feet above the fairway, with beautiful vistas in every direction.

What Is Your Favorite Hole? Any Tips to Play It?
#14 is a wonderful, natural design par 4, which crosses Howard's Creek and remains down the entire left side. The hole is well bunkered and has a terrific greens complex. Must drive it straight and hit a lofted iron to hold the green. Putts can be very deceiving on this green.

Must Have Dish or Drink after the round at the 19th Hole?
Moscow Mules are among the favorites of the members.

Who Holds Course Record and What Was Their Score?
PGA TOUR Player, Bubba Watson, shot 60 from the back tees.

Back Tee Stats
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,025
Slope: 137
Rating: 74.3

More Information
The Greenbrier Sporting Club ( The Snead )
One Sporting Club Drive
White Sulphur Springs, WV, 24986
www.greenbriersportingclub.com

Revised: 12/02/2015 - Article Viewed 120,257 Times - View Course Profile

About: Brian Weis

Brian Weis is the mastermind behind GolfTrips.com, a vast network of golf travel and directory sites covering everything from the rolling fairways of Wisconsin to the sunbaked desert layouts of Arizona. If there’s a golf destination worth visiting, chances are, Brian has written about it, played it, or at the very least, found a way to justify a "business trip" there.

As a card-carrying member of the Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), International Network of Golf (ING), Golf Travel Writers of America (GTWA), International Golf Travel Writers Association (IGTWA), and The Society of Hickory Golfers (SoHG), Brian has the credentials to prove that talking about golf is his full-time job. In 2016, his peers even handed him The Shaheen Cup, a prestigious award in golf travel writing—essentially the Masters green jacket for guys who don’t hit the range but still know where the best 19th holes are.

Brian’s love for golf goes way back. As a kid, he competed in junior and high school golf, only to realize that his dreams of a college golf scholarship had about the same odds as a 30-handicap making a hole-in-one. Instead, he took the more practical route—working on the West Bend Country Club grounds crew to fund his University of Wisconsin education. Little did he know that mowing greens and fixing divots would one day lead to a career writing about the best courses on the planet.

In 2004, Brian turned his golf passion into a business, launching GolfWisconsin.com. Three years later, he expanded his vision, and GolfTrips.com was born—a one-stop shop for golf travel junkies looking for their next tee time. Today, his empire spans all 50 states, and 20+ international destinations.

On the course, Brian is a weekend warrior who oscillates between a 5 and 9 handicap, depending on how much he's been traveling (or how generous he’s feeling with his scorecard). His signature move" A high, soft fade that his playing partners affectionately (or not-so-affectionately) call "The Weis Slice." But when he catches one clean, his 300+ yard drives remind everyone that while he may write about golf for a living, he can still send a ball into the next zip code with the best of them.

Whether he’s hunting down the best public courses, digging up hidden gems, or simply outdriving his buddies, Brian Weis is living proof that golf is more than a game—it’s a way of life.