After our morning round, we grabbed some snacks and got checked in for our replay round on the Meadows course. When my friend and I were here in 2013 for The Greenbrier Classic, we parked over in Lewisburg and took a shuttle to The Greenbrier. I’m pretty sure the shuttle driver took U.S. Route 60 to get to the resort and that we passed by the Meadows course at that time. But, because there are four courses at The Greenbrier, I don’t remember exactly!

While looking at the satellite image of the Meadows course and typing this review, I scratched my head. The course looks to have been rerouted after the 2016 flooding and the images just haven’t caught up yet. The course still seems to be split on both sides of the highway, but from what I can find the Meadows course got some nice upgrades!

After reading a few articles, the Meadows course wasn’t anything exciting prior to the flooding. It seemed to be a filler course that was overshadowed by Old White TPC and the Greenbrier course, which is still closed for renovations. When the Meadows was brought back to life it received some holes from the Greenbrier course and had beautiful, stacked sod bunkers put in! A couple other changes were made too.

Currently, the Meadows course has five of the eighteen holes on the north side of Route 60, the 1st through the 4th and the 18th. Except for the 18th, these holes feel squished between the road, the hillside and Howard’s Creek. Of the opening holes, the 4th is my favorite. The 4th is a scenic par-5 where you need to thread the drive between the road on the right and the creek on the left. Pine trees and a rock wall along the sides of the creek increase the aesthetics.

Once you get to the other side of the road, things open up and you’ll find some minor elevation changes. This section of the course (the 5th through the 17th) has a parkland feel to it and the creek comes into play again. The holes are tree lined, however you can hack it around it a bit. Because you get higher into the hillside you get good views of the small valley. Because of all of these things, this part of the course reminded me of the Pacific Northwest!

I thought the course was alright, but nothing too interesting until the 11th hole. Then, the 11th through the 16th turned out to be a great stretch of holes, mainly because of the creeks that come into play! Apparently, most of these holes were moved from the Greenbrier course to the Meadows course when it re-opened last year. From my reading, evidently holes 9 through 14 on the Greenbrier course became holes 10 through 15 on the Meadows course, with a few changes.

The 11th is a shortish par-4 where you’ll probably want to lay up from the tee. The approach plays over Howard’s Creek, but only a deserving shot will end up at the bottom as the green is a good 30 yards beyond the creek. If you are playing your second shot from the rough, then you could have some nervous moments trying to carry the creek from a dicey lie!

The 12th is a 162 yard par-3, and it was one of my favorite holes on the course. It again goes over Howard’s Creek but this time even a “good” shot can find the creek because of how close it is to the green! The creek runs at an angle, so it was really difficult to judge just how far I had to hit it on different lines. And, if you chicken out and go over the green then it will be a slippery putt or chip.

The 13th and 14th are a 524 yard par-5 and a 412 yard par-4, respectively. They stood out because of their unique green complexes. The 13th green is in a little bowl which will help feed shots onto the green if you are trying to get there in two. The 14th is another green guarded by a rocked-lined creek which can force you to lay up if you are out of position.

The 16th was my favorite hole on the Meadows course. It is a long par-4 that doglegs left. The drive plays from an elevated tee down to a green that is framed by mountains and another section of a beautiful, rock-lined creek. I had a long iron for my approach and made sure to bail right and avoid the creek.

Besides holes 11 through 16, the other feature about the Meadows course that I loved were all the stacked sod bunkers. Well, I loved the way they looked, not the way they played!  The bunkers here are deep and zero fun to play from, but they look stunning! You really have to open the face up and try to hit it high as there is very little room for error. If you end up near a lip, they will show you just how unforgiving they are! I almost nicked the edge of a bunker on my backswing on the 2nd and then had an awful stance on the 4th. After those experiences, I tried my darnedest to stay out of the sand the rest of the round.

We played the tournament tees which are 72.0/138/6602 (par 70). By far, I think the bunkers are the most difficult thing about the Meadows course. The greens are rather modern, so they add to the difficulty as well.

Conditions on the Meadows course were similar to the Old White TPC. I thought we might get lucky that the maintenance would be done at different times for different courses at the resort. Unfortunately, it was a similar mix of plugged and unplugged fairways and more aerated greens. Nothing affected play all that much, and the greens on the Meadows course actually seemed smoother and faster. Thankfully, the rough was cut down and not much of an issue.

For the $75 replay rate I’m glad we checked out the Meadows course. From what I’ve read the course is much better to play these days compared to before all the flooding. If you are playing one round, then the Old White TPC is the only choice! If you have the whole day then a replay on the Meadows course makes for a good combo.

#1 (368 yard par 4):

#2 (372 yard par 4):

#3 (162 yard par 3):

#4 (529 yard par 5):

#5 (206 yard par 3):

#6 (408 yard par 4):

#7 (407 yard par 4):

#8 (504 yard par 5):

#9 (414 yard par 4):

#10 (208 yard par 3):

#11 (352 yard par 4):

#12 (162 yard par 3):

#13 (524 yard par 5):

#14 (412 yard par 4):

#15 (235 yard par 3):

#16 (442 yard par 4):

#17 (462 yard par 4):

#18 (435 yard par 4):