[TEPaul]

There've been a few threads on this golf course in the last year or so.

It's about to reopen after a complete Forse Design rejuvenation of this original 19th century course, then a Tillinghast iteration, then a Ross itreration.

The entire historic old hotel (very large) and the golf course next to it set in a relatively narrow water course plain in a valley has been completely rejuvenated. The entire water course running down the length of the course has been restored to its original mid-19th century formation.

I highly recommend this course to any of you who are traveling down the PA Turnpike with some time to spare.

This course and hotel and setting will show you the aura of the way things used to be----the way golf and some architecture used to be.

It's one of the most peaceful settings with some very soothing views and sightlines up and down this narrow low valley.

The holes just look fun and a couple of them are pretty demanding. The par 3s are probably worth a trip to this course to see. Two of them are just so cute and the 4th is a must see.

It's so gratifying to see this old historic course and hotel rejuvenated like this.

Go play it---spend the night and play it again.

Ron and Jim:

My only recommendation is a little more fairway in a couple of spots, particularly melding the fairways around the rough grass mounds on #3 and #13 and #8 and #9.

The post and rail fence along the road is a nice addition to the look and feel of the course.

You guys did real justice to the greens of this course's three eras.

[Mike_Cirba]

Tom,

I think we should get some folks together and perhaps do a road trip this summer or fall.   I'm really excited to see it.

[Mark Bourgeois]

Tom,

This photo, "recently taken," on their website looks interesting.  Can you or anyone out there tell us what we're looking at? What's going on with the two greens in the pic?

Thanks,
Mark

[michael j fay]

I made a stop at Bedford last week. The grow in is nearly complete.

The restoration of the creek was the lynchpin to the reconstruction of the course. The excavation of the stream produced 60,000 cubic yards of material that Ron and Jim distributed over the course  to recreate holes originally designed by Spencer Oldham, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross.

The work is masterful. The course flows nearly uninterrupted from first tee through eighteen green. The fairways are wide and offer multiple lines of play. The features on the Ross holes are easily defined as are the Tilly features on the Tilly holes. In all, the course is a wonderful, sensible venue that will be enjoyed by players of all abilities.

The hotel dates back to 1798 and has been the beneficiary of $ 120,000.000. renovation plan. The offical opening is set for August 22.

Congratulations are due to Ron Forse, Jim Nagle, Superintendent Dave Swartzel and Greg French of Benchmark Golf for bringing this wonderful timepiece into the modern era with flair and panache.

[TEPaul]

Mark:

I don't know that I can tell you much about that photo. It may be taken from off to the right of the 2nd green and looking down the valley to the south or southeast away from the hotel.

The thing that interests me so much about the Forse project on this course is how they preserved and maintained the greens and the architectural features of the three separate "eras" or "iterations" of this golf course that began in the late 19th century and proceeded through Tillinghast and then Ross. The course apparently went from an original 18 back to nine and then back to 18.

That includes preserving the remaining original 19th century greens of a man Jim Nagle calls Olden or Oldan (he must have been the original local 19th century course layout guy). I think those greens include #1, #2, #3 and perhaps #13, #16 and #18 (Jim Nagle or Ron can tell us with certainty). Those greens are small little natural landform greens and fairly bland of surface contour (as most all 19th century greens were since there wasn't much architectural construction on a larger scale going on in that early era).

Then there's the interesting little short par 3 14th with its Tillinghast "dolomites" around it called "Tiny Tim".

I believe greens #4-#12 are Ross's and they definitely show it---eg some are pretty small and very interestingly contoured. For most, the standouts will probably be the Ross #4 green that plays from a tee at 223 yds uphill to a natural ridge protrusion that looks something like the prow of a ship with a two tier green that falls way off on three sides. The other is the cute little shallow two tier 10th that plays from a high natural knob tee to a green 124 yards away set into the hillside across a deep narrow cut. If you look backwards from this tee you can see all the way back down the valley and down the length of the holes to the hotel. There are numerous vantages on this course where one can look up and down this soothing water-course plain set in a low valley.

Most to all of the original mound fairway and green architectural features have been preserved and used.

Some who aren't aware of the "three era" history of this course may think some of the greens and such are out of character with one another but that's failing to understand the history of the course and its architecture of three eras and three different architects.

I mentioned a year or more ago that they should basically provide a walking architectural history tour with this course and its features and that's exactly what they have done----and I think to great effect and historic interest.

And not even to mention the signifcant history of the whole town, the hotel and even the history of the water course that runs through the golf course from the way it was naturally in the 18th or early 19th century to the way it was used (the valley the course sits in) for a milling operation. Basically that milling operation flooded the valley from time to time and created huge amounts of "back-up" silt or sediment that has been either removed or remanaged to recreate the original natural water course foundation and configuration.

This place, by the way was President James Buchanan's "summer White House" and it also happens to be the only place outside the US Capitol of Washington that the US Supreme Court met.

Two of the par 5s are over 600 yards and for those who aren't aware of it this type of thing was not uncommon on some of the very old courses. If they thought of par at all those kinds of old holes were probably some of those old unusual par 6s.

We've been thinking about perhaps scheduling a Pa Golf Association championship on this course and it occurs to me it may be a perfect place for the State Match Play Championship. Match play tournaments were traditionally pretty communal affairs in the old days and one here would be again as the players could all be together in the hotel next to the course.

When done in a few months this old fashioned historic resort spot will definitely give visitors the feeling they're stepping back in time and back into early American history, and I love that kind of thing. It may even inspire Ran Morrissett to give up his new super high tech equipment, put on some plus fours and return again to hickories.

[Jonathan Cummings]

Tom -

The same company that restored BS is restoring Avenel.  Can we expect the same success?

JC

[TEPaul]

Jonathan:

I don't know. Yesterday I ran into and spoke to a guy (Andy) from Land Studies (?), the company who restored the water course of BS and he did mention they were doing Avenel. But I have no idea if there's any similarity.

[Jonathan Cummings]

The lead at Avenel for Land Studies is Ward Oppenhouser.  It's actually quite a story.  It turns out that 100 years ago there were 5 active gold mines on the Avenel property.  Over the years of the active mining destroyed the creek system sterilizing its ability to handle high water - flooding has  always been catostrphic to the 21-year old Avenel golf course.  Land Studies is replacing the entire system at Avenel with a wider version that will allow for lower creek draining velocities (less damage during high water) and more linear rise and fall of creek levels.  The creek will be built up with a gravel base replacing the base nature laid down prior to the mining operations scouring the creek beds.

JC  

[Mark Bourgeois]

Tom Paul,

This month's T&L Golf (not yet up on website) has a piece on this place and mentions many of the same things as you.  The Washington link is very interesting; wonder how Buchanan chose it. (He was from Ohio, I think!)

Two things the article mentions:
1. It competed with The Homestead and Greenbriar;
2. Volcano hole.  You know, it would be great if the new website technology allowed "catalog" threads where we could post all our photos by type; e.g., "volcano holes."

Jonathan, sounds like hydraulic mining.  John McPhee wrote about this technique in "Assembling California."  Amazing -- basically, jets of water that scoured entire mountains!

Mark

[TEPaul]

Mark:

I just couldn't think of the name of that 223 yard uphill par 3 4th hole of Ross's that looks like it's up to the prow of a ship. The Volcano Hole it is. That particular hole is definitely one any golfer playing BS will never forget. But it's not the only one.

As for what Land Studies did at BS, it sounds very similar to Avenel. The look of it compared to what it used to look like is the same very broad and peaceful looking water course (that's apparently at Avenel) and I believe the very width of it (with the vegetative growth within it) makes the golf holes look like they take second place and therefore fit in on that plain very gracefully. The high grass on the old architectural mounds between the holes blends the whole thing together even more.

[JNagle]

Tom -

Your comment about preservation and character of the "original greens" is very gratifying.  Why?  All the greens have been rebuilt.  Nearly every green with the exception of #1, #2 and #8 were raised anywhere from 6" to over 1'.  Many of the original (1923 routing) were low in profile and void of interesting features.  We built upon what was there, patterned new greens after other Ross courses and threw in our own flair for others (specifically 3 and 15).

The photo posted above is from the players left of #7 looking beyond the the 9th.  The seventh is the only hole on the course without bunkers and the green, which can be seen at other Ross courses, is surrounded by ridges and berms that begin 20-30 from the green and extend into the putting surface.  The mound heights are varied.  The 9th green was more of an enhancement of existing features with multiple plateau's and center diagonal swale and a single mound flanking the right and a berm along the left leading into the green.  

Land Studies work at BS was the icing on the top of a very large cake.  Ron and I were about to approach the project and Shobers Run as many in the industry do, put a band-aid on it.  That fix would have saved money but never solved the functional problems - heavy erosion, water logged fairways and continuous floods.  I worked with and knew of Land Studies from my time prior to joining Ron and he had some opportunites to become familiar with them from other projects.  They were the obvious cog we needed.  When the Owner met Mark Gutshall and heard his take on the situation, and more improtantly his take on "band-aid" approaches the choice was obvious.  The great thing about Land Studies is that these guys are not golfers, yet they understand the importance of water courses within the play of a hole and therefore do not force the stream restoration upon the golf course and how a hole plays.  

Praise must be given to Frontier Golf Course Contractors out of Western PA.  Not only did they do a great job on the course, they opted (somewhat blind) to take on the reconstruction of the stream under the field direction of Land Studies.  

[TEPaul]

Jim:

If the green contours in those greens at BS are all yours (or even enhancements of what was there or what you know of those architects) then you guys really are good. You showed a lot of restraint. Some are pretty mild and some complex enough, as it should be for those three iterations. For internal contours the best on the course, in my opinon, is #9. But wherever those green contours came from the idea is to "keep the con" Jimbo and Ronald Mcdonald.  

[Steve Wilson]

I played there once in 2002 before there was any restoration work done to either the course or the nearby resort hotel.  My memory may fail me, but I think the course had six par 3s, six par 4s, and naturally six par 5s.  The course condition was not particularly good and there had been a hard rain the day before.  I remember a short par 3 that was surrounded by a ravine, a long volcano type par 3 on the back nine, and the first hole was one of Ross' short par fours that was intended to be a friendly opening hole.  

A GCA get together would be a lot of fun.  I wish I had clearer memories or some photographs to share.

[JNagle]

Ron Forse here
Tom:
That 9th green at BSR happens to be a mirror-image of DJ Ross' 11th at Manchester (NH) CC #11, with its triangular rear and slde plateaus, (MCC has it on the right; BSR on the left). Of all the many Ross crss we have seen, only these two tracks possess this green, and both were opened in 1923. The exact same thing is true for BSR #7, which can be seen in the above photo. MCC #8 is the same concept & surface configuration as BSR #7 , with the surrounding mounds reachiing into the green and not a bunker on the hole. VERY intresting that both  crs opening dates coincide and these greensites are (apparently) found only on them.
The feedback we have recieved is indeed gratifying. Conceptually planning, designing and field-executing the greens at BSR was a particular joy for both of us.

[JNagle]

Ron , again:
BTW Both BSR #7 & #9 greensites were there, built by Ross. As Jim alluded to, we enhanced them, raising their elevations for visual and slope practicalities (original greens were 3 - 7 % ).
The only greens that are totally rethought are #1, 3, 16 & 17. This last one was completely plowed-under in the 1970's for a range and is "ours" but, we had a huge mural photo it in the 1923 pro shop to go by, taken from the 18th .  (The mural lives, the pro shop doesn't.)

[TEPaul]

"Ron Forse here"

If that really is you Ron then why are you posting under Jim Nagle's name? And why do you leave msgs on my answering machine calling yourself Franky Valano, or Burt MacCutcheon, or Yap Letterhosen, a tractor salesman from New Holland, Pa?

Furthermore, why in the world do you call that pissboy Morrison on his cell phone when you know perfectly well you should be talking to the chairman of the company who's sitting in the car right next to him?

In any case, whoever you really are you did a great job on BS. That's Bedford Springs, by the way.

[TEPaul]

Ron and Jim:

I'm shocked that you'd actually admit that you even remotely reworked any of those greens. I thought we all agreed over a year ago to lie about that and pretend they are the exact originals. It's probably too late, at this point, to delete the posts on here admitting that.

Damn it to Hell, I wanted to hold the con for years, particularly to see what these guys on here would say.

As Eddie Murphy said to the LA police Chief and the two detectives in Beverly Hills Cops:

"Well, maybe it was a lie but it could've worked."

[Agman]

Mark --
      Buchanan was a Pennsylvanian through and through. He began going to Bedford Springs in 1816, and spent at least parts of more than 40 summers there. Given the lenght of his summer visits, Bedford Springs was essentially the first summer White House. Presidents Polk, Taylor, Harrison, Garfield and Tyler also stayed at the resort; Reagan visited during his presidency and  I think Ike stopped in after his White House years, and even played a round of golf. The Supreme Court met there informally one summer to escape the bug infestation -- pre-Watergate style -- in DC.
      Aaron Burr tested the waters in 1804, and during WWII, the place was used as an interment camp for Japanese diplomats who'd been stationed in Washington. There was such an outcry when folks found out they were staying in such a fine place that their food was brought in from Army bases rather than prepared by the resort's chefs. They were also prohibited from the golf course, not that any of them had brought clubs...

js

[astavrides]

played the course yesterday.  imo best public course in PA.  fun, challenging, scenic, good condition, $70 2pm twlight (included cart, range balls, yardage guide), some old school architecture like the volcano hole....

[Tommy Williamsen]

A friend of mine played the course a cople of weeks ago and could only rave about the entire place.  I am anxious to see it.

[George Pazin]

Woe be the GCA poster who comes within 2 hours of the Burgh and doesn't contact me....

I'll try to get out there and snap some photos one of these days. I was supposed to meet another gca'er back in August, but he had health issues.

Or so he told me.

 

 

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