WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — The president and managing director for the Greenbrier Resort is seeing year round effects on the resort from the Greenbrier Classic.
“We are seeing a definite halo effect of hosting a PGA Tour event,” said Jeff Kmiec.
But that wasn’t always the case. The PGA Tour FedEx Cup Event, which wrapped up Sunday, had a little less impact its first two years.
Kmiec said that was mainly due to the fact the event was taking place so late in the summer.
“What we noticed in the first two years was that the broadcast—while great and did a lot of wonderful things for promoting the state of West Virginia and the Greenbrier—was so late in the season that many people that watched it didn’t think about booking at the Greenbrier,” Kmiec said. “It’s already too late in the summer time and kids are already going back to school.”
So last year, the event moved to early July, which made a tremendous difference.
“Last year with the tournament moving to the early July date, the phones exploded and it filled the resort for the balance of July and August and into September,” said Kmiec.
“What really helps is just getting a more national presence for families to come and vacation here during the summertime.”
Sunday’s Greenbrier Classic conclusion marked the fourth year of the event at the Greenbrier Resort.