Jim Justice, chairman and owner of The Greenbrier, said the tournament will “go off without a hitch” despite some 70 to 80 trees that were damaged on the golf course as a result of the violent storm that rolled through the East Coast on Friday night.
“The storms that have left millions of people without power from Indiana to New Jersey and south through West Virginia to Virginia, took their toll on The Greenbrier Friday night,” Justice said in a statement Sunday. “There were 70 to 80 trees damaged on The Old White Course with more than 200 hit if you include The Meadows and The Greenbrier courses.
“We have had hundreds of volunteers and tournament vendors working with our staff in the clean up effort as we get ready for The Greenbrier to be thrust onto the national stage for The Greenbrier Classic. It fills me with pride to know that the people of West Virginia are donating their precious time to the tournament, while many of them are without power and dealing with damage of their own.”
“The Greenbrier Classic 2012 will start on schedule this Monday and go off without a hitch,” continued Justice. “It’s really special to see how everyone has come together over the past 48 hours. While we have a golf tournament to put on, our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the wide spread damage and power outages the storms have caused throughout the Virginia’s and our beautiful region. We hope that The Greenbrier Classic can help serve as a positive diversion during these difficult times.”
The tournament runs Thursday thru Sunday and will be televised by Golf Channel and CBS.