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FARMINGTON, Pa. - I'm about to swing when the unmistakable guttural moan of a tiger interrupts my concentration.
It's another not-so-subtle reminder of just how unusual a golf vacation can be at Nemacolin. The sprawling 2,200-acre resort 80 miles southeast of Pittsburgh is a fantasyland as much as it is a top-shelf golf retreat. The resort lives up to its ethos - Real Life Magic - wherever you go and whatever you do.
Nemacolin feels like fantasy because of its origin. It was created as a playground for founder Joseph A. Hardy III's daughter, Maggie, when she was a child in 1987. She now runs the place with her son, PJ Magerko Liquorice, after Hardy passed away on his 100th birthday in January 2023.
Always a luxurious escape, Nemacolin has leaned harder into providing an upscale lifestyle for its guests since the pandemic. Drastic renovations and enhancement projects have improved accommodations at The Chateau and the Grand Lodge, along with the many children's attractions and convention spaces. Just this summer a new Italian restaurant debuted.
To be honest, so much has changed since my last stay in 2016, I hardly recognized the place. But what hasn't changed is my desire to come back and experience more. You can never do it all in just one trip - or even two - to Nemacolin.
Playing golf at Nemacolin
During my last visit, I met Tim Liddy in the muddy tracks of what would eventually become Shepherd's Rock, a new golf course that debuted the following year in 2017. Liddy, a Pete Dye associate for years, was busy tearing up the original Links Course on site to create a complementary test of golf to pair with Mystic Rock, the Dye original that hosted the PGA Tour's 84 Lumber Classic from 2003-06.
Between the two courses, the rolling hills in the Laurel Highlands on the edge of the Allegheny Mountains provide the theater for three dozen memorable holes. Every design feature at Nemacolin seems oversized in scale: the climbing and falling fairways that twist like drunken serpents, the greens that roll like tsunami waves and the bunkers that sometimes feel like Liddy and Dye tried to dig to China. Dye's signature railroad ties lining the bunkers make a token appearance on the fourth hole at Shepherd's Rock.
One bad swing can lead to disaster on either course, but that's also why making par feels so darn satisfying. Mystic Rock certainly plays longer (7,526 yards to 7,290) with water lurking on twice as many holes. It's also home to more artwork, a staple throughout the resort. Statues stand guard at multiple tees at Mystic Rock and other surprises reveal themselves throughout the journey.
Anyone who can't handle the challenge at Mystic Rock or Shepherd's Rock has no excuses, considering the Nemacolin Golf Academy has matured into one of the best teaching facilities at any U.S. golf resort. Lessons, clinics and stay-and-play packages that revolve around instruction are all available.
Staying at Nemacolin
Looking for adventure or relaxation away from golf?
Nemacolin does both for all ages. Children will be wide-eyed with wonder wandering around the zoo or the 1950s-style P.J.'s Ice Cream Parlor. Finding fun isn't hard with a new ropes course, Fallingbrook mini-golf or the cosmic bowling alley among the favorites pastimes. Adults, meanwhile, can relax with their eyes shut in the perfect state of zen at the Woodland Spa. If you can dream it, Nemacolin and its staff will try to bring it to life.
The resort is so diverse that deciding what to skip will be your only stress. It's home to 18 restaurants, lounges and eateries. I still haven't found time for touring the airplane museum, The Woodlands Auto Toy Store, the casino or Nightcap, a late-night club known for lively entertainment. And I haven't dipped a toe in one of the seven pools, either, or gone horseback riding, fly fishing, off-roading, shooting sporting clays or other adventurous excursions. It's a playground with too many toys, if there is such a thing.
I stayed in a king room at Falling Rock, which is the fanciest hotel option and the most convenient for golfers. A butler who brings milk and cookies every night will quickly become your best friend.
Just off the lobby is Aqueous, a fine seafood restaurant home to the most decorative seafood tower you'll ever eat. Seven different kinds of underwater delectables from ahi tuna to lobster quickly disappeared from its elevated plates.
Nothing tops dinner at Fawn & Fable, though, the fine dining experience inside the Grand Lodge. Surf and turf is just one of the many wonderful choices on the menu. A drink in the stylish Circle Bar is required, pre- or post-meal.
Part of the fun of staying at Nemacolin is just exploring. Around every corner guests will stumble upon an interesting sculpture, art instillation or painting. Some of the artwork is on consignment for sale. When you need a break, go have a drink and a smoke in the Hardy room or try to find a hidden door near the lobby of The Chateau leading to the Bleu Room, an ultra-exclusive parlor that's entirely robin's-egg blue.
When I finally got the chance to check out the zoo one afternoon, I found my tiger friends snoozing in their enclosures. Billy Goat Mountain was much more active with furry little friends climbing everywhere.
It's too bad my golf game couldn't tap into any Tiger or G.O.A.T. skills while I was playing. I guess there is a little bit of reality to be found in fantasyland, too.
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