DUBLIN, Ohio - Last June, Florida Panhandle native Bubba Watson had his first experience with West Virginia flash flooding, and it left a deep impression.
The two-time Masters champ and his family came to his Greenbrier Sporting Club property after the U.S. Open. The timing was perfect - get away from the crowds for a couple of weeks, then take the short flight to Akron for the Bridgestone Invitational and return for the Greenbrier Classic.
Four days after the U.S. Open, Watson gave the world its first look at what Howard's Creek can do after 9 inches of rain in about five hours. The two videos of the Old White TPC were shocking, especially to those who have walked the scenic layout dozens of times.
Even before he realized how tragic the situation really was, he was struck by how quickly it happened.
"We had some friends in town, and you know, there's that bunker tour at the resort," he said after a round at the Memorial Tournament. "Our friends left; it started raining, but they left, and all that [the forecast] said was a thunderstorm. Nothing to it, just a thunderstorm.
"So they left to go to the bunker tour; bunker tour's what? Forty-five minutes? So 45 minutes later, they got done and they called me and they said, 'Hey, we're not allowed to leave the hotel.' And I said, 'What?' I looked out at my back yard and I saw the golf courses completely flooded."
He kept mentioning that number, 45. His hometown of Pensacola is susceptible to large amounts of rain and flooding, but not that suddenly.
"It happened so fast, 45 minutes," he said. "By the time my pictures got out, it was already done, the disaster already happened. The water raised a little bit more after my photos got out, but yeah, it was destruction in less than an hour. It was just so fast.
"And nobody thought that. It wasn't like they said, 'Hey, we're expecting "x" amount of rain.' Just said a thunderstorm's coming, be careful. That was it. It wasn't like a major disaster was coming, or we didn't think one was coming. Forty-five minutes later, it happened."
I recall thinking, "Hey, it's The Greenbrier. Those guys cleaned up after the derecho in 48 hours, they can do it here." If I remember correctly, Watson hash -tagged his first video with "#hopeitdriesout."
But the news coming out of White Sulphur became horribly worse by the minute. Watson shifted from vacation to flood relief mode.
"I was there for a few days," he said. "My truck and my Jeep, we can get to a lot of terrain; we used our vehicles to get water to people and try to help people, because power was out, houses were gone and destroyed.
"So the next morning, I was in Jim Justice's office with some military relief, fire chief, police chief, and I don't know why I was there but I was there. Sitting in that board room trying to figure out how we're going to help and what we're going to do.
"It was just overwhelming for me, as a golfer, and everybody else. It just happened so fast."
He will return to West Virginia later this month and see the 103-year-old Old White returned to its full glory, with some changes to decipher. I took a tour on May 2, and the reconstruction work was about 98 percent complete.
The restoration is being hailed as miraculous in the golf course industry, but frankly, I expected a successful mission. It's The Greenbrier, for cryin' out loud!
The man with the pink driver is impressed.
"It's looking great," he said. "It's going to take time when you re-sod it, take out all the bunkers, redo the bunkers, redo the greens. Obviously, the golf course looks pristine again."
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In case you missed it, there was a classic Bubba moment in the third round of the Memorial.
On the 18th hole, some moron let him have it as he walked the fairway. Bear in mind that this par-4 is the toughest at Muirfield Village, and Watson had to pull off a bunker shot from 178 yards out.
He hit it to 19 feet. As he walked toward the hole, he told caddy Ted Scott to keep an eye on the gallery, as he expected the intoxicated bum to let loose when Watson first stood over the ball.
That indeed happened and Scott rushed off the green to point out the culprit. (Hilarious note: Scott pointed out the wrong person. Fortunately, the other patrons helped him out.) Security personnel arrived to rid the course of the miscreant.
As that process began, Watson proceeded to bury the putt. He then turned around, faced his exiting tormentor and bowed.
He might have said, "You're welcome," but the crowd was laughing too loudly.
Who said golf doesn't have any characters?
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As you may know, not everybody gets into the Memorial. Few who can make the field don't turn down the chance.
With that in mind, here is a decent stat: Of the 76 who played Sunday, 50 have appeared at the Greenbrier, with a combined 157 visits. I figure many of those have come to the Old White TPC out of choice more than need.
(Can you tell the Memorial had two weather delays Sunday, and I'm a numbers nerd?)
Alas, the two top names on the leaderboard, winner Jason Dufner and Rickie Fowler are members of my Never-Coming team. Can't always get what you want, I guess.
Monday is the Classic's media day, and officials are expected to unveil an initial list of commitments. The formal entry deadline is Friday, June 30.
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/.