The 1st hole at the Old White TPC © Brian Weis at GolfTrips.com
Webb Simpson 16/1 © Keith Allison
This week sees the tour pitch up in West Virginia at The Old White TPC course at the Greenbrier Resort. The course was designed by the first ever winner of the US Amateur Championship, Charles Blair Macdonald in 1914. Charles was born in Canada but was shipped of to St Andrews University where he fell in love with golf.
Located in White Sulphur Springs, the course was named after the famed Old White Hotel, which stood on these grounds from 1858 to 1922. You will see a lot of that Scottish influence on this course, where Macdonald used some of the courses he played in Scotland as a template, the 8th hole is based on the Redan at North Berwick, the 13th on the Alps at Prestwick and the 15th on the Eden course at St Andrew’s.
President Woodrow Wilson was one of the first golfers to play at The Old White course in April of 1914. The Old White is a very strategic course with wide fairways and challenging, undulated greens.
In 2001 Lester George was commissioned to restore The Old White Course, bringing back many of the original features to this Charles Blair Macdonald masterpiece. All 18 greens, as well as the practice putting and pitching greens have been reconstructed with minor tweaks and narrowing fairways, lengthening to 7,274-yards and expanding the lake on the16th.
Steve Stricker 20/1 © Keith Allison
My tips to win:
I bet Webb Simpson 16/1 couldn’t wait for the break after competing in the travelers championship after his US Open win which says a lot about the man. Most people would have understood if he had withdrawn but after his rest and getting his head sorted out I expect Webb to at least repeat last season and win multiple events.
Steve Stricker 20/1 has a record this season of played ten events, made the Top 25 in five, made the Top 10 in four and won one, not a bad record. Steve hasn’t played in the last two events here but I am sure that’s not going to be too much of a problem.
I did tip Brendon De Jonge 40/1 at last weeks AT&T but he had a bit of a meltdown in his final round, shooting 77. Whether it was the so-called Tiger Woods gallery or his golf, who knows. He has a chance to put that right this week on a course he seems to enjoy. Brendon came forth in this event last year and third in its inaugural year at this track.
Jimmy Walker 66/1 © Photo by Tommy Gilligan/PV
My each-way tips:
It has been a bit of a roller coaster year for last years FedEx Cup winner Bill Haas 45/1. Bill has won the Northern Open this year but he has also had four missed cuts, two in his last two outings. I am sure he has been working on his game since the missed cut at the US Open and will want to go one better here than last year, where he lost in a play-off.
A good bet this week is Jimmy Walker 60/1. Jimmy loves this track, coming forth in the two events held here and shot a 62 in last years third round. So he certainly seems to enjoy playing this track and with a stroke average of 67 for his eight rounds you can’t rule him out this week.
Outside bet:
A great outside bet this week is Jhonattan Vegas 80/1. Jhonattan has not had the season he enjoyed last year where he won once and had three other Top 10 finishes. His best finish this season come at last weeks AT&T National where he tied in forth place, hopefully this will herald a good run of form.
For updated betting odds during the tournament go to planetgolfreview.com
The 15th green at the Old White TPC © Brian Weis at GolfTrips.com
