Wisp Resort Lodestone Golf Course

Wisp Resort, located in McHenry, is situated in the Alleghany Mountains of Western Maryland. Wisp is Maryland’s premier year-round resort with skiing and snowboarding on 33 trails spread over 170 acres in the winter and a myriad of activities in the summer: escape games, a mountain coaster, miniature golf, indoor swimming pools, and a lot of other family-fun activities. It’s also the home of two championship golf courses, Fantasy Valley and Lodestone.

Lodestone Golf Course is located at the top of the mountain, a 10-minute drive from the hotel. PGA TOUR great Hale Irwin designed the course in collaboration with Todd Schoeder. Lodestone offers golfers 6 sets of tees and can be played anywhere from 5,185 to 7,475 yards.

The course has the look and feel of a mountain course with rolling terrain throughout. Each hole seems to be carved out from the surrounding forest and terrain. Unlike most mountain courses that feature heavily tree-lined fairways from tee to green, many of Lodestone’s fairways are wide and welcoming, allowing less skilled players to enjoy their round. The course is carpeted in Bentgrass from tee to green. The bunkering is rugged, the greens have quite a bit of undulation, and, as you would expect from a golf course at the top of a mountain, there are significant elevation changes. Lodestone is known for having some of the largest greens on the East Coast, and although they may not be the fastest, they will truly test your putting skills. Many of the tee boxes are elevated; when you’re playing a downhill hole, the ball seems to stay in the air forever.

As you play your way around the course, you’ll drive past stunning log cabin homes, although they never come into play, they provide a welcome distraction! Wildlife is abundant, including deer, rabbits, groundhogs, and bears. Although we didn’t see any of the latter, we did spot a lot of their “remnants,” which sufficiently answered that age-old question about what a bear does in the woods!

Lodestone has many memorable holes. The 9th hole was one of my favorites, a slight dogleg right that plays 391 yards from the Silver tees. It’s downhill all the way, with a fairway bunker on the left side of the landing zone and a lot of trees on the right. The approach shot into the green is visually stunning; a kidney-shaped green that slopes severely from back left to front right with a few ridges. Two deep, rugged-looking bunkers guard the left side, and there’s a 3rd in back. Anything right of the green is going down a steep bank, and any putt from above the hole is going to be extremely quick. If, for some reason, the pin is in front, pray!

As you approach the 13th tee, walk to the back of the tee box and take in the breathtaking views of Deep Creek Lake below.

Number 17 is another favorite, a par 3 which plays 167 yards from the Gray Tees. The hole has two sets of tees that provide completely different angles into the green. Regardless, you’re tee shot is all carry over a rock-faced gorge into a green that slopes front right to back left and is well-undulated. If it were up to me, I would name it “Rocky Top” and make it the signature hole!

The resort staff is very attentive and knowledgeable about the area. If you don’t have what you need, they’ll find it for you. Hotel General Manager, Freddie Harrison, has a golf background and can tell you everything about either course. Our room was a two-room suite that featured a living room area with a couch, an easy chair, a work desk, a big screen TV, and a Keurig coffee maker. The king-size bed was very comfortable; there was a 2nd TV in the bedroom, as well as a refrigerator and a safe. The bathroom was updated with a walk-in shower and a separate sink area. It was a great place to relax and unwind after a day on the golf course.

Wisp Resort offers guests several dining options, but none better than the Last Chair Bar + Bistro. Last Chair has a very laid-back atmosphere, and guests can warm up inside during the cold winter months or relax on the Beer Garden Deck during the summer. It’s not your typical Ski/golf clubhouse menu, with appetizers like Candied Bacon Brussels Sprouts and Sauteed Mussels. Dinner Entrees include a house-cut New York Strip and Blackened Pecan Salmon, and my wife’s new favorite, their Cajun Chicken Alfredo. For dessert, you can’t go wrong with the Blueberry White Chocolate Cheesecake or the Peanut Butter Brownie Tower. It’s all delicious!

With so many trees on both courses, as well as the magnificent views from a lot of the tee boxes, I can only imagine how colorful they are in the fall.