Spencer Oldham

Bedford, PA

The golf course at Omni Bedford Springs in Bedford, Pennsylvania, has one of the longest histories in American golf. Spencer Oldham laid out the first holes in the 1890s, A.W. Tillinghast added work in the following decades, and Donald Ross reworked the course in the 1920s, leaving a layout with three separate design hands in it. The routing follows a narrow mountain valley with Shober's Run crossing it repeatedly, so the golf is dictated by the creek, the hillsides and a set of small, firm greens. It plays as a par 71 and rewards accuracy over length. Forse Design completed a full restoration in 2007, recovering original green edges, bunkering and the Ross features that had been lost over decades of change. The course is open to resort guests.