NEW OWNER JIM JUSTICE HAS "AMERICA'S RESORT" THE HISTORIC GREENBRIER BACK ON
TRACK.

GONE are the owners whose first business is running a railroad. In is an owner that runs many companies,
but puts what is happening at the "Greenbrier" front and center on his plate.

Enter Jim Justice, a native West Virginian who cares about what is happening in his home state. In 1993
when Justice's father passed away, he took over the family business Bluestone Coal Corporation as
President and CEO. Justice expanded and grew the company, until he sold it in early 2009 to the Russian
firm Mechel, OAO, for 436 million dollars.

Shortly after Justice decided to get involved with the ongoing saga of West Virginia's first property the Greenbrier,
a big white house in White Sulphur Springs. With ownership and the resorts unions having problems, the famed
resort was headed towards bankruptcy court, where the Marriott Hotel chain was waiting to grab the resort
and take it over. Justice stepped in and beat them to it.


      JIM JUSTICE IN FRONT OF THE GREENBRIER

CLICK HERE TO PLAY RORY'S INTERVIEW WITH JIM JUSTICE

Download | Duration: 00:15:03

 

Jim C. Justice III is not a small man, he is 6'7" and is over 300 pounds. Like himself he does things
in a big way. Since he bought the Greenbrier on May 7th and was introduced as the resorts new owner,
a lot has changed.

If you have ever seen the Oscar Award winning movie Patton, you could compare the approach the
legendary american general has towards the enemy, to the approach Justice has taken with the
Greenbrier.

In the opening scene Patton looking larger than life, is standing against the back drop of an
american flag telling his troops how they will not be "holding anything". In fact they will be moving
forward and advancing through the enemy like "poop" through a goose.

Justice is taking a similar approach with the Greenbrier. He is not cutting budgets or laying off
employees, or holding off on projects the resort needs done. Justice has the Greenbrier advancing
through the current economic times, like Patton's armies did through Europe in World War II. 

During the start of what was called the "Cold War with the Soviet Union, the United States
government built a secret underground bunker at the Greenbrier. The bunker was designed to
house the members of the U.S. Senate and Congress, and allow them to run the country
while in hiding. The bunker operated until exposed in a story, by the Washington Post in the
early 1990's.

In front of the Greenbrier now stands another hole in the ground. It looks like what one would see
if they saw old photos from that secret government project. The resort staff swears Uncle Sam is
not back again building a secret hide-a-way, that the hole is not a bunker but the "Money Pit"
because it's where the new casino is going.

New casino you ask. Yes a new casino with a level of shops and stores to surround White Sulphur
springs, new little Las Vegas. To visit the casino one has to be a resort guest, or a member of the
Greenbrier Sporting Club.

Improvements don't start and stop with the casino, the Greenbrier is improving other amenities
and bringing the PGA Tour to town.


WVA GOV. JOE MANCHIN           JIM JUSTICE              RICK GEORGE PGA TOUR   TOM WATSON

The Greenbrier Classic will be played the last week of July and end on August 1st, it replaces the
Buick Classic on the PGA Tours schedule. As a result the Greenbriers golf facilities are undergoing
renovations, and so is the famed "Old White Course" where the tournament will be played.


                             VIEW FROM THE FIRST TEE BOX OF OLD WHITE
Old White is an old C.B. Mcdonald classic gem that opened in 1914. One of the first golfers to play
the Old White Course was none other than President Woodrow Wilson himself. The course was
renovated a few years back by Richmond Virginia architect Lester George. But that has not stopped
the resort from working on the courses greens, tee's, bunkers and fairways. Six new tee boxes will
be added, along with fairway bunkers on two holes. three greens will get modified as well.

Robert Harris the Greenbrier's Director of Sports and Recreation says the resort is "already hearing
from golf professionals that are thrilled to have a tour event on an old classic golf course.

One hole bound to get some comments from the pro's will be the par 3 225 yard third hole. It's
called Biarritz, after the third hole at the former Biarritz Golf Club in France. Front to back the green
measures 67 yards, it also has an eight foot dip in the middle of it. End up on the wrong tier and
good luck two-putting.  


                                      THE PAR 3 THIRD HOLE CALLED "BIARRITZ"

Harris also mentions the fescue grass, that has been added around the faces of the classic style
bunkers. "The bunkers pose two challenges," Harris said. "It's one thing to be in the sand and another
to be in the fescue grass around the sand, that can be very challenging and difficult."

What isn't very difficult is hitting the fairway on Old White. "The fairways are very generous about
35 yards wide," Harris said."But all of the greens have a favorite angle to come into them from, the
golfer might require a different club depending on what part of the fairway or rough they come in from.

The closing holes on Old White should lead to an exciting finish at the Greenbrier Classic. "Our last
seven holes offer some great challenges for the professional golfer," Harris said. "Especially 17
a par five and 18 is a par three, so the possibility of two eagles at the finish is real."

Old White is not the only course at the Greenbrier, sitting alongside of Old White is the Greenbrier
Course that Harris calls a Jack Nicklaus inspired course. The Golden Bear himself came in and
preped the course in advance of the 1979 Ryder Cup, the course along with the Nicklaus designed
Muirfield Village G.C. is the only course to hold both the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup (1994).

Harris says the Greenbrier Course is different from Old White because it is more wooded, while
also forcing the player to hit more forced carry shots into the green. Where Old White offers some
bump and run possibilities. The Greenbrier course has some history to it. During the 1959 Greenbrier
Open, Sam Snead shot a 59 on the course.

The resorts third course is the Meadows Course,which started out as a nine hole course. That course
grew to 18 holes in the early sixties, when there was some extra dirt available from the digging of the
bunker or "Project Greek Isle". The course was originally known as the Lakeside Course, then became
the Meadows Course after a minor renovation by Bob Cupp. The Meadows Course is home to the
longest hole on the property, the par 5 14th hole which is long and narrow. Harris says from the tee box
the hole, "looks a thousand yards long."

Part of the Greenbrier real estate group is the private course called, The Snead Club. Some resort
guests do get access to the Tom Fazio designed course that opened in 2004. The strength of the
course are the very undulated greens, that drives the clubs members a little crazy at times. All of the
courses 150 yard marker posts, have little Sam Snead pork-pie hats on top of them.

Two other big names in golf represent the Greenbrier and do drop in from time to time. Tom Watson
who stopped by just six weeks after almost winning the 2009 British Open. If one noticed Watson's
sweater at the British Open the Greenbrier was on the sleeve. In fact that sweater was made so popular
by Watson,the resort has had trouble keeping them in stock. Last years Solheim Cup Captain Beth
Daniel is another champion, golfers might find on the Greenbriers courses.

NBA star Jerry West is a West Virginia native who has a home nearby, he is also a part of the new look
Greenbrier. A new steakhouse, Prime 44 West has just opened at the resort.

America's Resort is on the move, Jim Justice is not sitting still like others in the resort business. He
wants not only both your fathers and your grandfathers business back , he want's your too. I'd give it
to him, the new Greenbrier is something else. But it still has what made it great in the first place.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE GREENBRIER "AMERICA'S RESORT" CALL 800-624-6070
OR VISIT THE RESORTS WEBSITE AT WWW.GREENBRIER.COM

TICKETS FOR THE 2010 GREENBRIER CLASSIC PGA TOUR EVENT ARE ALREADY ON SALE
THROUGH THE RESORTS WEBSITE.