Within a day's drive or short flight of
Washington, DC,
are some of the world's finest golf resorts. Set in beautiful, unspoiled natural surroundings, these destinations cater to elite travelers used to luxurious accommodations and the best in service, international cuisine and recreational programs. In response to a trend, some offer organizational leadership courses. All this ensures you won't hunt for things to do. But if your goal is just to sit and relax, you might want to take high tea in the gracious lounge of the hotel or sip a mint julep after your round on the clubhouse patio overlooking the golf course.
The golf courses at these destinations are superlative. For sure, they will be among the best you will ever play. Some are ranked among the top one- or two-hundred in the World. All can be found on some award-winning list.
Maybe your game is not immediately up to the challenge of such courses. Then, consider taking lessons or attending the resort golf school serviced by outstanding practice facilities and some of the best instructors in the industry. Golf packages designed to accommodate widely varying needs, pocketbooks and time schedules are worth looking into.
The golf travel market can be a demanding one, but these destinations exceed the challenges with their extensive history and experience at the zenith of the resort universe. Is it time for a quick weekend getaway? An extended stay vacation? If so, pack your bags and golf clubs and get out of town.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa
Pete Dye is an elite name in golf course architecture. He has built hundreds of the most scenic, and some would say most difficult, courses in the world. The list of his signature designs includes
Sawgrass
in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., site of The Players Championship; the
Ocean Course
on Kiawah Island, SC., site of the '91 Ryder Cup matches; and
The Straits Course
at Whistling Straits, set to host the 2004 PGA Championship.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort can boast yet another Pete Dye creation,
Mystic Rock,
named after the natural rock outcropping visible on this course set in the beautiful
Laurel Highland Mountains in southwestern
Pennsylvania.
Mystic Rock has all the Dye trademarks of greatness and confounding obstacles - dramatic elevation changes and imaginatively designed holes shaped around water and rocks and among mature hardwood forests.
Mystic Rock is the signature course of this Laurel Highland Mountain resort named after a Delaware Indian chief who carved a trail through the mountains near here. The trail, which now forms part of state Route 40, was later used by George Washington during the French and Indian Wars.
In the 19th Century, the Laurel Highlands became the fashionable retreat of wealthy Pittsburghers including the famous retail Kaufmann family, which commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build Fallingwater as an escape from the city. The unique cantilevered house with a stream running through it is close to the resort.
A fish and hunting preserve before it became a resort, Nemacolin Woodlands under lumber industrialist Joseph A. Hardy Sr. was expanded in the late 1980's and 1990's to include a large conference center, a 125-room chateau-style hotel, an equestrian center with outdoor and indoor rings, a lake with fishing and other marine activities, a 55,000-square-foot shopping arcade, and a "Kidz Club" facility and a full-service spa. Accommodations also include a lodge and rental properties with golf views.
The resort has 36 holes. In addition to the Dye Course, the
Links Course
is a windswept Scottish style layout that also incorporates mountain vistas.
Located north of
Cumberland,
MD, off State Route 40, the resort is served by a private airfield close by. Landing reservations may be made
through the resort's security department. 
