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Lyle Slovick Instructor, Level I Affiliate Member United States Golf Teachers Federation Good Golf For Life.com ©2005 |
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Oakhurst Links What follows is a fanciful article written by yours truly, based on a real golf course. The only fiction is my character Mr. Hardy Graves (borrowed I think subconsciously from The Legend of Bagger Vance). The rest is the true story. Golfers on Elysian Fields White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia --- In the quiet mountains of Greenbrier County lies a golfing Shangri-La, where pilgrims arrive at first light to play the game they love. Oakhurst Links was founded in 1884 by a group of sporting gentlemen, and named in honor of the estate of its designer, Russell Montague. Golf was played here into the 1930s, but with the growth of neighboring golf resorts, it gradually lost its appeal and was abandoned. In 1959, at the urging local legend and friend Sam Snead, Lewis Keller bought the estate as a summer home, aware of its historical significance. From the beginning, Keller had intentions of restoring the 9-hole course to its former glory, but his dream was deferred until 1994, when Bob Cupp offered to reclaim the fairways and greens from the quiet pastures that had swallowed them up years earlier. What resulted is a quaint 2,235 yard layout that has as much charm as the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland. Golf at Oakhurst is played the way it used to be – in your great-grandfather’s day - with hickory shafted clubs and gutta percha balls. For the record, hickory shafts went out of vogue in the 1930s and gutta balls about 1900. This is old school golf folks. Located off Interstate 64 in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Oakhurst is less than a six-hour drive for two-thirds of the U.S. population, and indeed people from all over the world flock to it. Greens fees are $75 for nine, $95 for eighteen, and power carts are not available. Golfers in 1884 walked. Many visitors embrace the atmosphere of the place wholeheartedly, and rent old fashioned golfing outfits to play in, for a modest $15 fee. “Of course we never imagined the place would be such a success when we opened,” explains general manger Hardy Graves. “I think there is something magical in the place that attracts people, as if the spirits of the great champions live on in the grass and the air here.” Graves said that he was involved with Lewis Keller as early as 1990 in getting the restoration project off the ground, and their desire from the start was to make the place as it was in 1884. “We hit from sand tees with guttie balls here, and use replica equipment made in St. Andrews,” he told me. “It’s all included in your greens fee, but we only supply you with two golf balls, so if you think these might not last you the entire round, you better buy more in the clubhouse.” At $5.95 each, the golfer who plays Oakhurst hopes to keep the ball in play. “After all,” Hardy quipped, “if you hit one into the woods and go looking for it, you never know who you might run into. Maybe Bobby Jones or Old Tom Morris looking for their own lost ball.” For the serious golfer, Oakhurst Links is well worth the effort and expense to play, and who knows, maybe you’ll even experience a bit of magic in the process.
To go to the course's website, click here |