If all those trips to Disney World and watching the newest iterations of Spider-Man movies have taught us anything, it’s that the only thing more exhilarating than pure imagination is the daring art of reimagination. With its recent $500 million investment in turning one of the world’s most intriguing and lavish resort destinations
into an even more luxurious, fun, and engaging experience, Nemacolin, the acclaimed resort set in the Southwest Pennsylvania’s scenic Laurel Highlands, elevates the concept of vacation travel one amazing amenity at a time.
Until you’ve experienced the eclectic wonders of this larger-than-life resort nestled in the Allegheny Mountains (about one hour southeast of Pittsburgh), it’s simply hard to describe. Imagine a wonderland where one could spend their days luxuriating with world-class spa treatments, relaxing with afternoon tea, admiring breathtaking works or fine art and maybe taking in a hands-on Italian Cooking Class. Then, another guest could play 36 holes a day of championship Pete Dye-designed golf and use their off time to zipline, go whitewater rafting, jeeping, or clay-target shooting. After all that, they can have a world-class dining experience followed by a visit to The Casino at Nemacolin or taking in a Broadway-caliber show at the property’s new entertainment venue, Nightcap.
At Nemacolin all of that good living is possible in one 2,200-acre footprint.
To serious golf enthusiasts, Nemacolin is the renowned home of Mystic Rock and Shepherd’s Rock, two imaginative championship courses designed by the legendary Pete Dye that take full advantage of the area’s vast, rugged topography, lush terrain and majestic sweeping vistas. Just down the road from architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s acclaimed masterpiece Fallingwater and Fort Necessity National Battlefield (site of the opening action of the French and Indian War in 1754), Nemacolin is making its own distinctive brand of history in those nature-rich Laurel Highlands.
This fantasyland is curated with a visionary panache by 84 Lumber CEO Maggie Hardy and her son, PJ Magerko Liquorice. Today’s immaculately revitalized Nemacolin has amenities and attractions to indulge every taste and most every whim, including a diverse and internationally acclaimed art collection, a cigar bar known as The Hardy Room, The Bleu Room, The Patisserie, Forbes Five-Star dining at Lautrec, the superb and satisfying Fawn & Fable, and luxe seafood at the ever-chic Aqueous. Then, unwind with luxury shopping boutiques, cocktail lounges, library spaces, and PJ’s 1950s-style ice cream parlor. Beyond golf, outdoor adventurers can enjoy target shooting, fly fishing or whitewater rafting at the resort’s Rod & Range Club facility; The Peak (complete with expansive pool areas, zip lines, and a climbing wall, combat paintball, and cosmic bowling); and jeep off-roading, as well as antique auto and aircraft collections. Your own personal Nemacolin is as relaxing or as adventurous as you choose it to be.
PUSHING PERFECTION
Nemacolin was already one of the country’s most luxurious resort destinations before recent improvements saw a complete and stylish refresh of the rooms and common spaces at The Chateau and The Grand Lodge, two of the property’s hotel offerings. Lavish, modern suites fashionably styled and decked out with the latest trends in comfort and technology await you, with the added touch of butler service. Across the resort, there are simply more finely appointed, inviting spaces now to indulge, to engage with friends and loved ones and to make Nemacolin incomparable experience all your own.
From the new Lobby Bar to the posh and lively Circle Bar to the elevated yet crowd-pleasing dining concept at the new Fawn & Fable restaurant, Nemacolin beams with fresh energy and a relaxed refinement that one simply has to experience for themself to adequately grasp. Take the new entertainment extravaganza at Nightcap, the Broadway-inspired showroom with near-nightly presentations of world-class jazz musicians, singers and actors. It’s a very roaring and memorable time with one of the most inventive cocktail and light bites menus anywhere and no cover charge for resort guests. Surprises abound around every corner at Nemacolin. No other resort hits you with the unexpected and the sublime quite as frequently as this cherished Pennsylvania escape.
Nemacolin offers guests luxuriously appointed guest rooms, suites, townhomes, and private upscale homes, including Falling Rock, a Forbes Five-Star and AAA Five-Diamond 42-room-and-suite boutique hotel with rooms overlooking the Mystic Rock course. The Grand Lodge has been completely reimagined to now feature a transformed grand Lobby space with a split staircase, fireplace, sumptuous furnishings, and upscale décor with distinctive flair. From the rooms to the common spaces, the finishes and ambience of The Chateau (home to 124 spacious rooms and suites, also recently renovated) and The Grand Lodge (where 56 breathtaking suites, complete with butler service, and personalized amenities can be found) deliver elevated, design-driven color palettes that embody the resort’s whimsical and woodsy charm. It’s the attention to details and fearless style that makes Nemacolin and its ownership’s flair for refined grandiosity so unforgettable.
GOLF ON A HIGHER SCALE
Walking the fairways of Mystic Rock, the realization that you’re playing a special golf course is inescapable. The hole designs are imaginative. They ask the golfer to use creativity, brawn sometimes, and problem-solving throughout. The everyday conditions on this layout, and its sister course Shepherd’s Rock, are pristine enough to hold a tour event at a moment’s notice.
Shepherd’s Rock is a different kind of enigma. It features more generous landing areas off the tee, but tougher approach shots and absolutely vexing greens. While Mystic Rock hits you with a gripping variety of holes a shot values, Shepherd’s does the same in a ruggedly beautiful natural setting with a quirkier flow and fun pace.
Before you take on Pete Dye’s challenges at Mystic Rock and Shepherd’s Rock you might consider a lesson or tune-up with all the state-of-the-art toys inside The Nemacolin Golf Academy. This golfer’s indoor dreamscape features four spacious, customized hitting bays which can open up to the 25-station driving range that sits adjacent to two short-game practice areas and a large putting green. The Golf Academy, which also features a dedicated, 1,000-square-foot putting room, is optimized for expert golf training and club fitting from Director of Instruction Michael LaBella and his team.
MYSTIC ROCK: ONE OF PETE DYE’S ENDURING MASTERPIECES
Teeing it up at Nemacolin means being ready to tackle the crafty Pete Dye and walk in the footsteps of the PGA Tour players who competed on the Mystic Rock course in the 84 Lumber Classic from 2003 to 2006, including champions like Vijay Singh Open Championship winner Ben Curtis.
Mystic Rock is a sterling example of a more subtle and cerebral side of Dye. He lets the rolling land dictate the routing and shot values here with ample landing areas, walkability, and serene sight lines. There are very few daunting forced carries, but endless risk-reward scenarios and plenty of ways to make the round more complicated than it needs to be. Positioning off the tee and hitting to the correct parts of the green comes into play routinely as Dye plays with angles, misdirection, false fronts, and greens that run off the sides or back if you mis-club.
There’s a great mix of short par fours like the first hole and the sneaky-long, uphill fourth — which is one of the few holes that asks for a tee shot to carry water — plus more humbling long holes like the daunting 476-yard ninth with water left off the tee and a narrow, sloping green.
You can gain momentum early in the round with manageable par fives at the fifth and eighth holes and a wedge-shot par three at number seven. However, the geometry Dye throws at you on holes like nine, the winding 439-yard par-four 10th, and the long, dogleg-right, uphill par-five 11th, will test even the most skilled players.
After a satisfying stretch of distinctive par fours at 13, 14 and 15, Mystic Rock closes with a fun risk-reward par five, a long and challenging par three, with water lurking left, and an uphill par four that demands solid strikes and respect of the angles of play. This golf course belongs in the conversation with some of Dye’s best work.
Nemacolin is the type of property that listens closely to its clientele, so when an opportunity came up in 2021 to make the famed Mystic Rock course more fun and playable under the supervision of Tim Liddy, that’s exactly what happened by strategically removing several waste areas and sand bunkers (40,000 square feet of bunker coverage, in all).
There were a number of instances where the fairways were pinched on both sides and recreational players had a challenging time finding their landing areas. The golf course has become much simpler to navigate with more interesting angles into greens and even a few improved pin placements that just weren’t viable previously.
Liddy also made two of Mystic Rock’s par fives better and more scorable. The 16th hole is the one instance in which he removed a greenside bunker from the right side of the green. With water all down the left, it didn’t make sense to guard the green so tightly. It’s a more fun hole now with more opened-up pin placements on the entire rear third of the green where it just wasn’t fair to pin it before. By opening up the right side of the fairway on the par-five fifth hole, Liddy gave players more room to shape their shots and lay up their second shots now that the landing area isn’t squeezed by the fairway bunker on the right and the lake that remains on the left side.
The fairways on holes eight and 10 are also more generous now that waste areas to the left of each fairway have been removed in favor of
more manageable fescue. The holes move more quickly, allowing for
more strategy and forgiveness off the tee.
SHEPHERD’S ROCK: BUILT FOR FUN AND STRATEGIZING
At Shepherd’s Rock, the mischievous side of Pete Dye and his associate Tim Liddy come out to play. You’ll find yourself playing shots 40 feet from the hole to allow Dye’s slopes to (hopefully) do their work, and you’ll come to respect false fronts that can send even well-struck shots that look pin high back down the front edge of the green and toward the man who hit it. What you probably won’t figure out on the first try is the wildly sloping greens or the ideal angles into those greens. You might see putts roll by the hole and on to the fringe, down the wrong side of slopes, and farther from the hole than they began due to sneaky-swift speeds.
That said, there’s a great collection of beautiful holes that climb hills and plunge down valleys. The crafty and postcard-worthy 11th is one of the handsomest holes on the property while views from fifth, seventh, 16th, and 17th holes are extraordinary places to enjoy the nature around you. The 18th hole is a terrific and memorable par four that demands a strong drive that is safe from ponds and marshes right and trees left. The waterfalls and majestic setting near the green will inspire a return for another challenge.
SEIZE THE DAY
Every visit to Nemacolin is an opportunity for individuals, couples, or families to enjoy a bucket list day. Start with world-class golf on Mystic Rock or Shepherd’s Rock while the rest of the family enjoys the pools, zip-lining, or cosmic bowling at The Peak. Then continue your day with spa treatments, Safari tours, or fly fishing, and close it out with an extraordinary meal at one of several acclaimed restaurants. The resort’s entertainment and adventure offerings are so creative, you can’t help but feel the Hardy family’s personal touches all over the grounds. It’s like they’ve invited you to hang out at their estate and let your hair down for as long as you like.
THE MOST THRILLING MEMBERSHIP OFFERING IN THE COUNTRY
Nemacolin offers one of the country’s most exclusive, amenities- and service-laden membership opportunities with the freshly curated private club offering called The Woodlands Club.
The Woodlands Club membership takes superb advantage of the of the award-winning 2,200-acre, four-season resort’s unparalleled recreational, dining, adventure, and leisure amenities plus around-the-clock concierge service and access to private aviation.
With interest and inquiries already coming in from all over the U.S., The Woodlands Club comprises an elevated luxury membership model available in three tiers.
Regardless of the tier chosen, all members enjoy 24/7 concierge service. Think babysitting, pet care, or someone to make dinner and spa reservations for you — anything you need. Select accommodations also come with a butler who can draw a bath after a long day, hang up dresses and suits, steam, or iron clothing, make coffee — anything to pamper guests during their stay. Also included: Assistance with private jet travel via the on-property private airfield, which accommodates private jets, helicopters, and even jet-sharing services.
Set in a secluded region steeped in rich American, architectural, and agricultural history, Nemacolin is carving out its own distinctive legacy in the nature-rich Laurel Highlands. To learn more about this one-of-a-kind destination, visit nemacolin.com.
