Omni Bedford Springs Resort
Designed by A. W. Tillinghast
History
Long before golf arrived at Bedford Springs, the property had already made its name as a gathering place for the powerful and the recuperating. The springs themselves drew visitors back to the eighteenth century, and by the time the resort’s ownership turned its attention to golf, Bedford Springs had already hosted presidents seeking rest in the Allegheny highlands. Golf was the next natural offering for a resort built on the idea that its guests deserved diversion equal to the setting.
A. W. Tillinghast took on the course design, arriving at Bedford Springs during the years when his reputation was building toward the heights he’d later reach at Winged Foot and Baltusrol. Tillinghast’s name at a resort of this stature was no small matter, and his work here reflects the same instincts he brought to his more famous commissions — an insistence that the land itself dictate the routing, rather than forcing a template onto it. For Bedford Springs, this meant a course shaped by the mountain terrain rather than fighting against it.
The resort and its course have passed through long stretches of change since Tillinghast’s original work, including periods of closure and disrepair before a substantial restoration returned Bedford Springs — both the historic hotel and the golf course — to active use in the mid-2000s. That restoration effort aimed to recover Tillinghast’s original design intentions rather than reinvent them, and the course reopened as part of the resort’s broader revival, allowing a golf course that had gone quiet for years to return to the rotation of serious Pennsylvania golf destinations.
Playing Notes
Before you head out, know that specific hole-by-hole data isn't available here, so come prepared to adjust on the fly rather than plan your round around a printed yardage book. The Bedford County setting means rolling terrain is a near-certainty, so expect elevation changes that affect club selection more than flat-course habits would suggest, and pack a rangefinder if you have one. Given the resort's mountain valley location, mornings can carry a chill and afternoon winds tend to pick up, so dress in layers and check conditions before you tee off. Without confirmed details on cart policy or walkability, call the pro shop ahead of time to find out whether walking is permitted and to get a read on current green speeds and bunker conditions, since those specifics will shape how aggressively you can play toward pins.