WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS - When the PGA Tour released its 2016-17 schedule and listed the Greenbrier Classic in its usual slot during the Fourth of July week, it seemed way too optimistic.
That schedule came out June 27, 2016, four days after the usually placid stream known as Howard's Creek swelled to unfathomable levels, leaving a tragically deep gash in the town of White Sulphur Springs. As The Greenbrier resort opened its doors to flood victims, the 2016 Classic was canceled and golf became an afterthought.
As the recovery continued, the condition of the resort's renowned courses eventually was addressed. The damage was beyond imagination.
"There was an area over here [points toward course] we had the high-water mark, which I believe was from 1925," said Burt Baine, the resort's director of golf. "And that mark was probably under water by 6 or 8 feet. There were literally riding lawn mowers and ATVs, refrigerators and washers and dryers deposited out on the golf course."
All of the resort's courses were substantially damaged, but the Old White TPC, the 102-year-old home of the Greenbrier Classic, was brought to its knees. Sixteen holes, give or take, were damaged to some degree, whether by immersion in the silt-laden water or by debris coming down the mountainside.
You couldn't just take a water hose to it.
Old White superintendent Josh Pope, who took the job on October 2014, faced the task of his life. Much of his handiwork - and that of dozens of Greenbrier workers, a few contractors and a course architect - has come to green-tinted life.
In some areas of the course, it almost looks as if nothing happened.
There will be a 2017 Greenbrier Classic, and PGA Tour members from a dozen-plus countries will begin their practice rounds on July 3.
"There's no concern at all for the Classic," Baine said. "That's July 3; that's a long time from now. Right now, what we're doing is finishing up a lot of bunker work on the Old White, and we've got some cart paths to put in.
"If you look out there, there are areas that are still dirt. They'll be sodded, so that area will go from what you see today to grass in four days. And then it's a matter of having enough time to grow everything.
"What we're trying to do on the Old White is get out of construction mode and into maintenance. And I think we'll be in maintenance mode in three weeks."
The height and force of the floodwaters were incredible. The creek overtopped the 14th green, which is 10 feet or more above the low-water level. The creek reached well into the 12th fairway, which is beyond the waterside 17th fairway. The 16th and 17th were completely under water.
The 15th green had a hole in it. Several bunkers were stripped to their drainage pipes. The No. 2 tee box was washed out completely. The driving range field? Unrecognizable.
The silt was caked on, baked on and deep. Reseeding was necessary, but crews first had to get rid of the mud.
"We shipped it off," Pope said. "Where we had spots of silt, we used a thing called a fraze mower, which is really big down south for Bermuda grass. It kind of strips the top off, allows southern grasses to regenerate themselves.
"We kind of took our silt areas [off]. It strips it and pulverizes it."
Pope said the reconstruction began July 27. The greens had to be rebuilt and the course had to be reseeded by roughly Sept. 15, when the weather starts turning toward fall in the Greenbrier Valley.
The greens' reseeding was finished on Sept. 16, Pope said, with the fairways done earlier in the month. That reseeding took well heading into the winter, which was milder than usual.
That result provided the big shot of optimism, a knowledge that success was just about assured. With the Classic a full two months away, the course is about 98 percent playable.
The biggest rebuilding project remaining appears to be the ground heading up the hill beyond a smaller creek to the 12th green. The line of pine trees to the right of that green also was damaged; only three remain.
Pope said restoration of the bunkers is nearing conclusion. For instance, fairway bunkers on the 17th have their new fabric liners over top of the drainage system, and are nearly ready to have new sand poured.
While the course was being reconstructed, architect Keith Foster was hired to tweak some areas, with an eye toward keeping the classic quality of C.B. Macdonald's 1914 design.
For instance, the "dragon's teeth" mounds were smoothed a bit on No. 5 and eliminated on No. 17. Behind the 17th green, the closely cut collection area was eliminated in favor of rough and a new bunker. The "horseshoe" hump on the 18th green has been reshaped into a thumb print of sorts.
Several greens were recontoured, and will allow for a faster tournament speed and more hole placement areas.
Tour caddies will have to scout the greens all over again.
"A change might not be as recognizable to an 18-handicap golfer," Baine said. "But you change a green contour and the best players in the world will notice."
The grass has been altered, as well. Pope said the fairways, which were a hodgepodge of poa, bentgrass and bluegrass, now consists of T-1 creeping bentgrass. The greens have switched from Tyee bentgrass, installed in 2011, to V8 bentgrass.
And that famed (or infamous) high grass on the lips of bunkers? That fine fescue has been replaced with a tall fescue, a variety that isn't as punitive.
"The tall fescue on those faces, we felt wasn't the right choice," Baine said. "It leaps over and can quickly become unplayable. ... [The new grass] will actually cause the ball to bounce into the sand."
Work continues on the two adjacent courses, the Greenbrier and the Meadows. Baine expects a composite 18-hole layout, using holes from each course, to open by June 1.
The Greenbrier course, host of the 1979 Ryder Cup, has a bright new future. Phil Mickelson has agreed to lead a redesign of that layout.
The public gets its chance to play Old White after the Tour pros are finished. At that point, about 12 1/2 months will have passed since the flood.
When golf fans across the nation and in several other countries tune in, they probably won't appreciate the labor put into the course's restoration, under difficult circumstances. And really, they can't.
"I couldn't be prouder of my team, the effort they put forth," Baine said. "They put their lives on hold to bring these golf courses back for our guests and for the tournament players, and for The Greenbrier. They've worked beyond everything that's expected."
Contact Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsmock@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @dougsmock and read his blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/dougsmock/.