By Tom Cunneff
Maggie Hardy, the billionaire businesswoman and owner of 84 Lumber, has poured hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years into making Nemacolin the finest resort possible because the place means so much to her (her late father, Joseph, founded it in 1987).
The result is a resort with every amenity imaginable continuously upgraded and well worth the six-hour drive from the Met Area (or the hour-and-a-half flight to Pittsburgh and a drive of similar time; the resort also has its own landing strip, so you can also fly direct if you have access to a private plane).
The two challenging Pete Dye courses and first-rate golf academy are the centerpieces of the resort, but there is so much else to do at this whimsical retreat, it’s a bit mind-boggling. Nemacolin offers more than 300 activities, including gambling, fly fishing, sporting clays, combat paintball, art and cooking classes, zip lining, off-roading, cosmic bowling, beekeeping, and archery. There’s even a zoo, indoor axe throwing, and painting with ponies.
Located in southwestern Pennsylvania, the resort is situated on more than 2,200 acres in the rolling Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains, which is more Milky Way than streetlights, more trees than buildings. USA Today recently named it the second-best destination for fall foliage after Michigan’s UP, with colors peaking in mid-October and several fall festivals in the area.
Plush accommodations with butler service are available in four different choices: the elegant and recently renovated Chateau, modeled after The Ritz in Paris with 124 spacious and opulent rooms and suites; the sophisticated Falling Rock, designed in the manner of Frank Lloyd Wright with 42 rooms with balconies for guests 16 and older (Wirght’s organic masterpiece, Fallingwater, is only 20 minutes north); the woodsy Grand Lodge, a Tudor-style hotel that was also recently redone with 56 all-suite rooms that connect – perfect for families; and secluded homes ranging from two-bedroom townhomes to estates that sleep 22.
Both courses begin and end at Falling Rock and make great use of the rolling terrain. The former host of the PGA Tour’s 84 Lumber Classic, Mystic Rock continues to host professional and elite amateur events. At last July’s Falling Rock Classic, a Tri-State PGA Section event, Mike Van Sickle (son of longtime Sports Illustrated golf writer Gary Van Sickle) eagled all four par 5s in the final round to win the event for the second year in a row. It’s believed that that was the first time anyone accomplished the feat in a sanctioned event in the Pittsburgh area (which would include majors at Oakmont Country Club).
Scenically set among rock outcroppings, lakes, and fescue, Mystic Rock greets you with a “gentle handshake” at the dogleg-right first with its wide fairway before it starts to bare its teeth at the cape-style second, which has a lengthy carry over a rock ravine off the tee. The fairways seem to get narrower as the front nine progresses, especially on the long par-4 ninth, the No. 1 handicap hole with water left, trees right, and a blind approach. But it’s a Pete Dye course; what do you expect?
Whimsy is everywhere, even on the course. At the halfway house, Mulligans, golfers can test their accuracy by hitting at a floating green with old balls off a mat from the deck. (Be sure to place an order from your cart on the ninth tee; the grilled hot dogs are fantastic.)
The tee shot of the par-5 11th presents another blind shot (stay left) before golfers encounter another hole, the par-3 12th, with two greens (the other being the par-5 fifth); both greens at the 12th require a carry over water. Water also comes into play on the approach on the par-4 13th, par-5 16th, and par-3 17th, particularly so on the latter two with only rock walls separating the left side of the greens from the lake.
With a lot of credit going to Dye associate Tim Liddy, Shepherd’s Rock features more spacious fairways, more dramatic views, and more elevation change. But Dye’s devilish designs are still on full display, especially his penchant for coffin bunkers and visual intimidation. Just about every hole asks an interesting question, such as the par-5 fourth: Do I challenge the bunkers and penalty area right to reach the upper fairway for a better look at the green and the chance to get home in two, or do I play it safe to the lower fairway to the left?
With sloping fairways and beautiful native areas framing many of the holes, the back nine requires a little more precision. In perhaps a nod to Oakmont Country Club, two of the holes (11 and 17) feature church pew-like bunkering near the greens. The finisher is as good as it gets. The ample fairway offers plenty of room off the elevated tee, if you don’t get too greedy since the landing area narrows the farther you hit it. But with the green hard by a lake on the right, the approach had better be good, posing the age-old question once again: How aggressive do you want to be with your tee shot?
Playing Pete Dye courses can sometimes rob you of your confidence, but that can be easily fixed at the Nemacolin Golf Academy, where the staff can analyze every aspect of your game (indoors and out) with all the latest technology. I struggle with early extension in the downswing (raising up instead of staying down and rotating), and an instructor fixed it in five minutes with the use of $36,000 force plates that measure pressure in each foot during the swing. He could see that I wasn’t getting onto my left side, which meant I had nowhere to go but up to deliver the club to the ball.
With eight restaurants and six bars and lounges, you don’t have to go far to find a good meal or drink. Dining choices range from seafood at Falling Rock and a steakhouse at The Grand Lodge to Italian near the miniature golf course and casual fare at The Peak, the adventure park. (The resort’s signature restaurant, Lautrec, is undergoing a renovation and will reopen later this year.) There’s plenty to do after hours, too, at Nightcap, a cabaret-style club with live entertainment, and the casino, with 26 table games from which to choose, in addition to plenty of slot machines.
With all there is to do at Nemacolin, you’ll never be bored, but if you just want to chill, you can do that, too, at the spa or by taking a tour of some of the Hardy family art collection, which is comprised over more than 1,000 fine paintings, sculptures, antiques, glassworks, cars, planes, and historical artifacts from around the world. Or create something yourself in one of the many art classes, including candle and jewelry making, watercolor 101, and needle felting, or study with an artist in residence.
Or just sit back and watch the ponies paint. The resort is your oyster at Nemacolin.