| The bentgrass greens at Mystic Rock are always kept fast. (Tim McDonald/WorldGolf.com) |
Mystic Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort: Living - and golfing - large
By FARMINGTON, Pa. - Mystic Rock is a big, bold golf course on top of a mountain that reflects the hugeness of the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.
Nemacolin Woodlands may not be the biggest golf resort in the world, but it is big enough to keep the family occupied for a long time while you play the superb Mystic Rock, one of the top resort golf courses in the U.S. and the world.
It's a Pete Dye design - who else would you hire to build a course like this? - and took three years to build.
Mystic Rock is a whopping 7,533 yards from the championship tees and has a big, big, big slope rating from back there - a chest-clutching 153.
Warning: Don't try it from back there. You might as well throw yourself in the lion's den. They have those here, too, by the way. Along with wolves, pot-bellied pigs and llamas.
Giant boulders are strewn around the grounds, taking up most of a par 3 in one instance. They're natural to the area, and naturally Dye, a landscape master, incorporated them into the design. It also has what the marketing brochures refer to as "Sahara-like" bunkers, and in this case, they aren't exaggerating. You'll need one of the resort's off-road driving lessons to get out of some of this sand.
Another good thing: They listen. Mystic Rock has changed drastically from its original design, based on feedback from PGA Tour players - the 84 Lumber Classic was played here for four years.
Mystic Rock: The verdict
Don't let all this "big" talk scare you off. This is a playable golf course if you can hit to the right spots, which is pretty much true of most of Dye's courses. In fact, Golf for Women magazine named it one of the 50 best golf courses for women in the U.S. If women can handle it, you can, too - big, strong stud that you are.
Still, Mystic Rock never dares to taking the driver out of your hands. There are some pretty scary carries off the tee even from the blue tees, at around 6,800 yards. Even so, a well-placed drive will take away some of its awkward approaches, over and around rocks, water, bunkers and other assorted hazards.
The conditioning is excellent, particularly for a public golf course, from the bentgrass fairways to the bentgrass greens. The fairways have excellent movement, tilting and undulating, and the greens are undulating with good slope and very fast - about a 12.5 on the stimpmeter the day I played - even if the PGA Tour doesn't stop here any more.
"It's always in good shape," said Troy Allen, a frequent Mystic Rock player. "You think the greens are fast now, you should have seen them when the tour stopped here."
The course has a forecaddie program, which is a particularly good thing for those who have never played Mystic Rock and even for those who have.
There is also a David Leadbetter school on the grounds. The John Daly practice area is one of the better practice areas in the state.
Mystic Rock has a long list of deserved accolades. Among them: Golfweek named it to its "America's 100 best resort golf courses," and Conde Nast called it one of the "top 50 golf operations in the world."
They've earned it. The course cost quite a bit to build - in the $50-$60 million range - because of the rocky soil. The builders actually had to use explosives, several times, to level the ground enough to build and to make renovations.
It was worth it.
Farmington lodging
The Nemacolin Woodlands Resort (www.nemacolin.com) is like a medium-sized city with ritzy amenities and enough activities to keep the family busy for months.
The resort takes up 3,000 mountain acres in the Laurel Highlands, sitting atop of the Allegheny Mountains of southwest Pennsylvania 70 miles from Pittsburgh. The resort has all sorts of lodging options, including three hotels - The Lodge, Chateau Lafayette and Falling Rock, a luxury boutique hotel - plus town homes and private homes. There are 335 total rooms.
They don't have bathtubs here, they have 200-gallon "soaking tubs" and "19-option pillow menus." For those who like complicated showers, they have those, too.
It's close to Ohiopyle State Park and excellent white-water rafting and kayaking.
The resort has two golf courses, a spa with 100 treatments and a full-service salon, fitness center, tennis courts and six swimming pools.
Still, that's not even half of it. Other activities include, but are not limited to, equestrian trails, a shooting academy, an off-road driving academy, fly-fishing, wine tastings and a special wildlife habitats for black bears, zebra, bison, moose, hyenas, pot-bellied pigs, lions, tigers and wolves, just to name a few critters. Oh yes, there's also a private airstrip.
Or you can stay in your room and watch cable TV.
September 18, 2008
Veteran golf writer Tim McDonald keeps one eye on the PGA Tour and another watching golf vacation hotspots and letting travelers in on the best place to vacation.
Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management.
Mystic Rock at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort: Living - and golfing - large
Mystic Rock is a big, bold golf course on top of a mountain that reflects the hugeness of the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. It's a whopping 7,533 yards from the championship tees. But don't let all this "big" talk scare you off. This is a playable course if you can hit to the right spots.
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