THE MOUNTAINEER STATE  JEFF THORESON
   In a quiet year for golf news, West Virginia still managed to hit it big. Although the Mountaineer State isn’t opening another spectacular mountain course or making upgrades at one of its fine resort or state park courses, it did manage to land a PGA Tour event.
    The PGA Tour and The Greenbrier have a six-year agreement, through 2015, for the historic West Virginia resort to sponsor The Greenbrier Classic as part of the FedExCup. The first event is coming up – July 26 to August 1. The tournament will be held on the Old White Course, The Greenbrier's original of four golf courses, dating back to 1914.
    And as excited as West Virginia officials are about the PGA Tour coming to the state, they are even more thrilled over the exposure four days of coverage on The Golf Channel and CBS will bring. In a state that doesn’t generate a lot of golf news, the Tour coming to The Greenbrier is the biggest thing to happen in West Virginia since 1979 when national and international media descended on The Greenbrier to cover the Ryder Cup.
    Marketing the state along with the tournament won’t be difficult. The state’s great resorts and unparalleled park system give it a variety of golf few other states can match. In a state ideal for mountain course settings, the Raven Golf Club at Snowshoe Mountain may be the most dramatic and scenic. With the Allegheny Mountains serving as a spectacular backdrop, the Raven is as challenging a course as there is in West Virginia - or the Middle Atlantic for that matter.
    Architect Gary Player proved his hall of fame credentials as a player transported with him as a designer. Routed through virgin forest, meadows, rock outcroppings and mountains, the Raven is a thoroughly entertaining ride. Elevation changes, rolling grassy knolls, ponds, streams, dry-laid stone walls and drop dead gorgeous views are all part of the Raven — not to mention a 142 slope.
    Stonewall Resort has a great Arnold Palmer design in its secluded setting in the center of the state. Long and intimidating from the back tees, Stonewall slowly softens as the six sets of tees move forward. Each set presents a different look and different set of shot values. An excellent blend of rolling hills and sprawling valleys, Stonewall borders Stonewall Jackson Lake on the front nine and communes with nature on the back side.
    When the course opened in 2003, it made many lists of the best new courses in the country.
    In a state full of golf resorts, Glade Springs stands out for several reasons, chief among them is the golf. The George Cobb course, designed in 1974, has hung around the top of West Virginia’s best of list for decades and features eight lakes, 48 bunkers and several large, inviting greens.
    Glade Springs has two other championship course, the Stonehaven Course and Woodhaven. Looping a 69-acre lake, Stonehaven features elevation changes, limestone waste bunkers, vistas, natural rock outcroppings and some of West Virginia most spectacular holes.
    In Morgantown, Lakeview Resort is known for its setting, deluxe accommodations, conference space and, of course, its golf – 36 holes of it. The Mountainview Course snakes through the heart of the Allegheny Mountains while the Lakeview Course skirts the mountains but still offers tree-lined fairways that play in the shadows of the mountains.
    Of course, any golf promotion in the state wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the queen of West Virginia golf and one of the world’s outstanding resorts - The Greenbrier.
    The Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup have been held all over the world, but the only resort to host them both is The Greenbrier. That may tell you all you need to know about its golf, which is as first-rate as everything else at the resort in White Sulphur Springs.
    In addition to golf, there are more than 50 activities to enjoy at The Greenbrier, which has been entertaining guests for more than 200 years. The golf there is not quite that old, but it has aged well. Three 18-hole championship courses grace the resort nestled in the Allegheny Mountains where the famous layout is the Greenbrier Course.
    Jack Nicklaus redesigned it in 1977, two years before the 1979 Ryder Cup (which was the only year Nicklaus didn’t make the squad as a player between 1969 and 1981). The new Old White Course is where the Tour pros will test their game, and The Meadows Course received a much-needed facelift from Bob Cupp several years ago and the change has been dramatic.
    The resort recently enlarged its spa to world-class proportions with 45,000-square-feet of the finest body care anywhere.
    West Virginia is unique in that many of the parks include championship golf courses. Not just run-of-the-mill, state-run, run-down golf courses, but well maintained designs by some of the most respected architects like Robert Trent Jones, Arnold Palmer, Geoffrey Cornish and George Cobb.
    The backbone of West Virginia golf, the park courses make the state an attractive golf destination by themselves for one unique feature - they are underutilized courses with fabulous scenery and they have value priced lodging at each one. In fact, a round of golf and an overnight stay at a West Virginia park can cost about the same as playing an upscale, daily-fee course near a major metropolitan area.
    Canaan Valley, Cacapon, Pipestem, Stonewall, Twin Falls and Hawks Nest each has golf as one of the many outdoor activities. Hawks Nest is a nine-hole course but the other five are big league layouts and some of the more scenic courses in the Middle Atlantic.
    Twin Falls is probably the least heralded but is still a strong Cobb and Cornish design that barely reaches 6,400 yards. The other four park courses are routinely ranked among West Virginia’s top 10 public courses.
    Cacapon is located in West Virginia’s Panhandle, which often markets itself as a destination unto itself. The Robert Trent Jones layout near the Potomac River and the state’s northern border with Maryland has remained a timeless classic while other new Panhandle courses like the Woods Resort, Locust Hill, Stonebridge and the private Cress Creek courses helped draw golfers from all over the Middle Atlantic.
    The Woods has a pair of challenging courses – the championship Mountain View Course and the executive-length Stony Lick Course. Both are fun and fair and designed to offer shot making decisions and to entertain them with daring changes in elevation, water, doglegs and plenty of woods. The golf community at the Woods also offers some excellent lodging and real estate opportunities.