The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier

     300 West Main St., White Sulphur Springs, WV 24986

     Par/Yardages: 70; 5,019 to 7,287

     Stay-and-play: Packages start at $240 per player, per night (weekdays) and rise to $290 (weekends).

     Website: www.greenbrier.com

     Phone: (800) 453-4858; golf packages, (877) 398-2871

     Frequent traveling companion and Hall of Fame golf writer George Sweda had given me a tantalizing preview of The Greenbrier, both as a resort and as a golf venue.

     The place lived up to George's advance billing and then some.

     With its rich history dating to the mid-19th century, the resort is a throwback in the best sense of the term. It's an ornate place that wears its luxury on its sleeve.

     Forewarned is forearmed about the price niche of The Greenbrier. It's a five-star resort that prices itself accordingly.

     "Affordabili-TEES'' will make an allowance for the Greenbrier as a "splurge'' destination. While always keeping an eye on the bottom line, it doesn't hurt to treat yourself to a taste of the good life every now and then.

     In the resort and on its two championship courses, you will get your money's worth.

      Our group of golf-travel writers played the Old White TPC, home of the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic. The white tees came in at just under 6,000 yards, so we moved to the blue tees at 6,443 yards and had a satisfying experience.

      Old White is named after the resort's original hotel and opened in 1914. The architect was Charles Blair Macdonald, an esteemed designer who used some British holes he admied as inspiration for at least three holes on Old White.

              You climb stairs near the clubhouse to the elevated tee for the par-4, 437-yard first hole. It's a neat  setting and a preview of what's to come as the course unfolds.
      Old White is demanding, fair, and oh so easy on the eyes. I'd  its sister course, the Greenbrier.
         

     Oglebay Resort and Conference Center

            Palmer Golf Course
            Route 88 North, Wheeling WV 26003
     Par, yardages: 72; 4,569 to 6,725
     Greens fees: Resort offers many stay-and-play packages
     Website: www.oglebay-resort.com
            Phone: (304) 243-4000; (800)624-6988

     Stonewall Resort
     The Palmer Course
     940 Resort Drive, Roanoke, WV 26434
     Par, yardages: 72; 5,038 to 7,149
     Greens fees: $55 (off season) to $99; Resort offers many stay-and-play packages.
     Website: www.stonewallresort.com
     Phone: (304) 269-7400 (Resort direct); (304) 269-8885 (tee times).

     Eye-opening would be the apt description of my first golf trip to West Virginia.
     For years, I've passed through the Mountain State on my way to golf destinations in North Carolina, South Carolina and other points south.
     Now, I'm getting the chance to play some of West Virginia's better courses and kicking myself in the behind for taking so long to set down the clubs in a place so close to home.
     This journey began in Wheeling at Oglebay Resort and Conference Center.
     Located in the state's northwestern panhandle hard by the Ohio-West Virginia state line, Oglebay is easily reachable from all points in the Cleveland area.
     Mapquest puts it at 160 miles and three hours driving time from my front door.
     Oglebay is owned by the city of Wheeling and operated by the Wheeling Park Commission. Between the golf (five courses, 72 holes), main lodge, cottages, restaurants, zoo, museum, specialty shops and other amenities, the place teems with activity.
             Our group of golf-travel writers was placed on the championship-caliber course designed by legendary golfer and golf course architect Arnold Palmer.
             There wasn't time enough in the schedule to check out the Robert Trent Jones Sr. course at Oglebay. After having such a positive experience on the Palmer course, I'm eager toi return and play the Jones course.
            Playing from the white tees (par 71, 6,065 yards), the Palmer Course is challenging, pleasing to the eye and user-friendly.
            The toughest hole is the first, a 444-yard par-4 that rightfully is accorded the No. 1 handicap.
             Every hole offers sweeping vistas of the state's hill country. You need to pay attention to hitting shots and managing your game, of course, but it would be foolish not to drink in the natural beauty of the surroundings.
      Palmer also designed the course at the second stop on our tour, Stonewall Resort in Roanoke.
              The Palmer Course at Stonewall offers all the natural beauty of the one at Oglebay and a higher degree of difficulty. Our foursome played from the white tees (par-72, 5,821 yards). It felt more like 6,200 yards.
      From first tee shot to final putt, there is no let-up on this superior track.
      Stonewall Resort is owned by the state and offers an impressive array of options for lodging, dining and indoor-outdoor activities beyond the golf course. Stonewall Jackson Lake is a gem, too.
      This traveler especially liked the outdoor/indoor pool and fitness area that featured a steam bath.
              Affordability is a major selling point at the Oglebay and Stonewall, which is about 140 miles due south of Oglebay via I-79. Check out the stay-and-play packages at both venues.
              Given their proximity and favorable price points, it's not surprising that many Northeast Ohioans are patrons at the Oglebay and Stonewall resorts.

    As a member of Professional Golfers Association, Bryan Huff has deep, abiding respect for the rules of golf are established by the United States Golf Association and the Royal & Ancient.
    He also knows that every day, on golf courses around the world, everyday players choose either to ignore the rules or observe them only in the loosest of ways.
    In this series of videos, shot a StoneWater Golf Club in Highland Heights, Huff offers a general overview of the rules, common applications of the rules and how best to follow the rules while maintaining pace of play.
  
       
   
   

 

Tens of thousands of winter-weary folks will descend on the I-X Center this weekend to attend the Cleveland Golf Show.

Yours truly will be one of them.

I don't usually buy much at the show...maybe some gloves or a pair of golf shoes if I can spot real bargains. I'm happy with all of my clubs at the moment, so I'm not in the market for "sticks.''

What I love to do most at the golf show is meet the representatives of dozens of golf courses and golf destinations. During those conversations I hope to plant the seeds for some "Affordabili-TEES'' trips during the upcoming spring, summer and fall.

I'm also an avid people watcher, and there will be plenty of that to do during the show on Friday (noon to 7 p.m.), Saturday (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).

ou may run into StoneWater Golf Club head professional Bryan Huff this weekend at the I-X Center. Bryan is thje "Affordabili-TEES'' pro and one of the best golf teachers in the area.

     Here, he offers some tips on putting, putters and putter grips.

 

 

 

 

 

 

     Lake Marion Golf Course
     9069 Highway 6, Santee, S.C., 29142
     Par 72: 5,109 to 6,474 yards
     Greens fees: Variable, according to packages
     Website: www.santeecoopergolf.com
     Phone: 803-854-2554

     Santee Cooper Country Club
     630 Santee Dr., Santee, S.C., 29142
     Par 72; 5,045 to 6,589 yards
     Greens fees: Variable, according to packages
     Website: www.santeecoopergolf.com
     Phone: 803-854-2467

     Santee Cooper Golf and Travel
     9069 Highway 6
     P.O. Box 160
     Santee, S.C., 29142
     www,santeecoopergolf.com
     800-344-6534

    Santee travel info:  www.SanteeTourism.com

       Of all the great out-of-state destinations we've visited since launching this blog two years ago, none better embodies the core principles of "Affordabili-TEES'' than the South Carolina crossroads town of Santee.
       Santee. is all about quality golf and lodging at hard-to-beat prices in a friendly, down-home community. Throw in great location on the busy I-95 corridor and it's no wonder an estimated 150,000 golf travelers make their way to Santee every year.
     Tens of thousands of those travelers pull into town in vehicles with Ohio license plates, many of them issued in the Northeast Ohio counties of Lake, Geauga and Cuyahoga.
     From where traveling partner George Sweda and I started our trip, it's about 700 miles to Santee. That's do-able in a day, but if your schedule permits, I'd recommend making this trip in two legs.
     Here's the plan I'd suggest.
     On Day 1, go to Wytheville, Va. From anywhere in Lake County, it's about 360 miles straight down I-77. Leave early in the morning, and you could even get in 18 holes at Wolf Creek Golf Club in Bastian or Draper Valley Golf in Draper before checking into one of the many affordable motels at the two Wytheville exits.
     Check out previous installments of "Affordabili-TEES,'' including the first entry from this trip, for more details about golf and lodging in Wytheville.
     On Day 2, make your way down I-77 south to I-26 south (toward Charleston) to I-95 north. Santee (Exit 98) is just a short jaunt up I-95.
     Our hosts for a three-day stay in Santee were the husband-wife team of Todd and Penny Miller.
     Todd is the general manager of Santee Cooper Resort, the owner and operator of Lake Marion Golf Course, Santee Cooper Country Club and the nifty golf villas at Lake Marion.
     We stayed in one of the villas. It featured two spacious bedrooms, two bathrooms, large living room and full kitchen. The villas, less than five years old, were quite busy when we were there in mid-October.
     Penny manages the pro shop at Lake Marion. It's a first-rate shop with tons of stuff to buy at reasonable prices, a snack bar and a club repair shop operated by Jack Slater.
     If you are planning a trip to Santee, Todd and Penny recommend that you check out the many stay-and-play packages offered on their website, www.santeecoopergolf.com.
     From now until Nov. 13, the villa packages set up for quad occupancy are $268 per person for three nights and four rounds, two each at Lake Marion and Santee Cooper.
     From Nov. 14 to Feb. 5, that price goes down to $180. The rates will go up to $300 or slightly more in March 2013 and April 2013, the peak "golf snowbird'' months, but those numbers are still solid values given the quality of lodging and golf.
     Unless I'm misreading their flyer, the Millers and their staff can work with you to pull together stay-and-play packages using various hotels and motels as well as 17 golf courses in the Santee area.
     We played Lake Marion, Santee Cooper and Wyboo Golf Club.
     Lake Marion was my personal favorite, followed closely by Santee Cooper and Wyboo.
     Located just minutes from the I-95 exit and essentially next door to each other, Lake Marion and Santee Cooper are solid tests of golf. From tee to green, playing conditions at both courses are top-notch.
     Especially for first-time visitors, the golf experiences at Lake Marion and Santee Cooper are made easier by on-cart GPS systems that are the best I've ever seen. They provide accurate yardages not just from the cart to the pin, but from the cart to hazards and to the front and back of greens.
     Our playing partners at Lake Marion and Santee Cooper were Ed Halcomb and the aforementioned Jack Slater.
     Demonstrating that it is, indeed, a small world, we learned moments after meeting these fine gentleman that Ed was a longtime resident of Northeast Ohio - living in Geneva and working in Mentor and Painesville - before retiring at 55 and making the move to Santee.
     "Do-it-all-Ed'' works behind the counter in the Lake Marion pro shop when he isn't out on the course cranking out long drives and accurate iron shots.
      Jack came to Santee from New Jersey and is a master of many trades. In addition to his work in the club repair shop, he's an expert stone mason and carpenter whose handiwork is everywhere to be seen at Lake Marion and Santee Cooper.
     The same as Ed, Jack also is a fine player. That's Ed on the left and Jack on the right.

    At Wyboo, about a 25-minute drive from our villa at Lake Marion, our playing partners were Dana Perry, the head professional at Lake Marion and Santee Cooper, and noted local amateur Charles Persinger.
     George and I could not have fared better than we did in having Ed, Jack, Dana and Charles as playing partners. They showed us Southern hospitality at its finest.
     There was an added bonus to playing with Dana and Charles at Wyboo.
     During our round, I tapped into their expertise while shooting a video lesson on how to effectively, consistently move the ball out of the Bermuda rough that lines the fairways of most of the courses in the Santee area.
     I'll be the first to admit I struggled mightily with the stuff.
     That momentary frustration notwithstanding, I tell you without hesitation that Santee honestly comes by its billing as "America's Value Golf Destination.''

     For weeks, I'd been looking forward to the four-day leg of this trip to the Pinehurst-Southern Pines-Aberdeen area in south-central North Carolina.
     On the "Affordabili-TEES'' beat, I was set for rounds at the Mid South Club and Talamore Golf Club, both in Southern Pines.
     I'd played the Rees Jones-designed Talamore on the March 2011 "Affordabili-TEES'' trip, but this would be my first visit to Mid South, an Arnold Palmer design across the street from Talamore.
     Talamore and Mid-South are sister courses owned by the same company. Booking for both courses is handled by the Talamore Golf Resort company.
     Let me recommend the stay-and-play packages offered by Talamore Golf Resort while also advising you that prices for those packages are higher than many of those we've reviewed here in the past.
     But in golf vacations as in life, you get what you pay for.
     With multi-day packages at the Talamore villas currently averaging $289 per night (golf and lodging), I'd definitely classify these as "splurge'' packages.
     I also know that Talamore resort manager Derek S. Noll is a resourceful guy who will move heaven and earth to pull together a package for you.
     The icing on the cake is that those packages can include rounds at 21 other Pinehurst-area courses.
     Trust me on this...if you can somehow get these numbers inside your budget, you won't regret it.
     Mid-South came highly recommended to me by people who've played many or most of the Pinehurst-area courses. It more than lived up to the hype, both with its beauty and top-notch playing conditions.
     Talamore was just as I remembered it from the previous visit, scenic and tough as nails.
     The putting surfaces at both courses were darn-near perfect and on the fast side.
     During this visit to Pinehurst, I stayed at Homewood Suites by Hilton Olmsted Village. The per-night room rate was $109. It was a solid value considering the quality of the multi-room suite.
     Pictured below are Mid-South and Talamore.

     Talamore Golf Club, Resort Course
     Where: Southern Pines, N.C.
     Par, yardages: 71, 4,977 (red tees); 5,470 (green); 6,025 (white); 6,534 (blue); 6,840 (gold)
     Website:  www.talamoregolfresort.com/golfpackages.html
     Phone: 1-800-352-6292; 910-692-5884

     Mid South Club
     Where: Southern Pines, N.C.
     Par, yardages: 71, 4,773 (red tees); 5,655 (green); 6,200 (white); 6,607 (blue); 7,003 (gold)
     Websites:  www.talamoregolfresort.com/golfpackages.html     Phone: 910-695-3193

     Homewood Suites by Hilton Olmsted Village
     250 Central Park Avenue
     Pinehurst, North Carolina 28374
     Phone: 910-255-0300
     www.olmstedvillage.homewoodsuites.com

　

    
     Back in March, I paid a visit to Draper Valley Golf Club in Virginia while on my way to Fayetteville, N.C.
     Although there wasn't room enough in my schedule that day to get in a round there, I made a mental note to do so on the next "Affordabili-TEES'' trip in that general direction.
     The "next trip'' is underway, and it got off to a nice start at the scenic layout astride Interstate 81 about 10 miles south of the busy Wytheville exits off I-77.
     Draper Valley is a public course with a walk-in greens fee of $37. The price point, scenic views and above-average playing conditions makes the course a favorite stop for road-tripping golfers from Northeast Ohio on their way to North Carolina and South Carolina.
     Joined by fellow traveler and retired Hall of Fame golf writer George Sweda, we worked our way around the par-72, 6,412-yard layout on a sunny but decidedly cool Saturday morning.
     Quick aside......as a faithful adherent to the principles of "Tee it Forward,'' I always choose the tee boxes playing from 6,100 to 6.400 yards.
     For those of you who are bigger hitters, Draper Valley stretches out to 7,070 yards.
     Draper Valley begins with a straightforward, 491-yard par-and ends with a sharp dogleg-right, 312-yard par-4 that requires distance control both on the tee shot and approach shot over water
     In between, there is a satisfying variety of holes. Personal favorites were the par-3, 163-yard seventh and par-5, 511-yard 13th (see photos below).
     Our base of operations was the Super 8 hotel in Wytheville. It's a clean, friendly place with a right-in-the-wheelhouse nightly rate of $58. It took about 20 minutes to get from the hotel to the golf course.
     Here's a suggestion for budget-conscious golfers from Northeast Ohio who want to take a fall golf vacation but only have time for a quick trip.
     Pair up Draper Valley with Wolf Creek Golf and Country Club in Bastian, about 20 miles north of the Wytheville interchanges.
     You can leave Friday after work and easily make the 6-hour ride to Wytheville. Play one of the two courses anytime on Saturday, the other on Sunday morning and be back at home Sunday night.
     As for the meals, affordability is the key, too. Start with the free continental breakfast at the Super 8, have lunch at the courses and dinner at the Sagebrush, a really good restaurant immediately adjacent to the hotel.

     Draper Valley Golf Club
     Where: 2800 Big Valley Rd., Draper, Va. 24324
     Par, yardages: 71, 4,683 (red); 5,467 (gold); 6,412 (white); 7,070 (blue).
     Greens fees: $37, 18 holes with cart; $35 seniors.
     Phone: 540-980-4653
     Website: www.drapervalleygolf.com

     Wolf Creek Golf and Country Club
     Where: Bastian, Va.
     Par, yardage: 71, 6,020 (white tees); 6,360 (blue tees)
     Greens fees, with riding cart: $35 weekdays, $40 weekends; $30 weekdays, $35 weekends (seniors, 60 and older)
     Website: www.wolfcreekgolfcourse.com

     Super 8 Wytheville
     130 Nye Circle, Wythevile, Va., 24382
     276-228-6628
     www.super8.com