BEDFORD SPRINGS, Pennsylvania — One hundred and thirty years ago, the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote about the very ancient sport of golf. It was being played, of all places, on the grounds of Bedford Springs Resort’s newly designed course, which was reported as “the home of the finest golf course in the United States.”
Stories about the course were abundant at the turn of the 20th century, with the outlet writing, “Golf continues the rage and leads all other games.”
While golf originated hundreds of years before the course in Bedford Springs opened in 1895, the game and rules we know today didn’t migrate to the United States until the 18th century, coinciding with the migration of the Scots.
In 1895, Spencer Oldham was the architect of the Bedford Springs course. Seventeen years later, as the roaring ’20s overtook American culture, a young A.J. Tillinghast reworked the course from 18 holes to nine. He became one of the sport’s premier architects, designing 11 U.S. Open courses.
Donald Ross then reworked the course again, taking it back to 18 holes and leaving three holes from the original Oldham course and 4 holes designed by Tillinghast as a tribute. Today, the course is consistently considered one of the best in the country, with Golf Digest writing, “Every hole at Bedford Springs is quirky and delightful, even the final two fashioned from the previous driving range.”
Jim Woods, director of golf at the Old Course, has been a pro at three different courses and has operated his own golf school. Now, he is the golf coach for a local high school team, the Bedford Bisons.
“I started playing when I was about four years old, so I have firsthand experience of how it shaped me. It was also a bonding experience in my family,” he said.
Woods said his entire family played golf, including his mother, father, and twin brother.
“We had the perfect foursome of my mom, my dad, myself, and my brother. So when we were younger, my dad moved us to Endicott New York, which used to be home of the BC Open, which is a PGA tour stop, and now it’s the Dick’s Open for the Champions Tour. So the tournament still exists and my parents still live on the first hole there,” he said with a smile.
Woods said there is an assumption that golf isn’t for everyone — it is just for the elites or the wealthy. However, he said he sees it differently, especially in the middle of rural Pennsylvania. Yes, the course is located at a resort. Yet, Woods said he also sees a flurry of plumbers, contractors, salesmen and women, physicians, trade union members, union welders, and truckers whose take-home pay is wildly different from the image of the C-suite golfers.
“This is a sport of connection, concentration, of making hard decisions and making new friends all done on friendly terms in a beautiful setting,” he said.
Woods said golf has definitely evolved over the years.
“I was fortunate. I grew up in the game in the ’80s. Then it was more of a … you have to be a member of a country club. It was a high-priced experience and not everybody could do it,” he said.
To put it in perspective, Woods told a story about the ribbing he got in high school for his sport of choice.
“When I was in high school, all the football players and baseball players used to bust my chops because I was on the golf team. And then once I got out of college, all the football and baseball players that I was friends with were like, man, I wish I played on the golf team,” he said.
“As far as growing the game to the masses now, there are so many ways that you can golf, especially with off-course options such as Top Golf or simulator golf. The National Golf Foundation just put out a study that shows a large percentage of golfers right now are non-course related,” he said.
“So you’ve got people that don’t have the time to put into a full 18-hole round, which can take four to four-and-a-half hours. So they’re going to simulator golf and top golf and just use the driving range and play the games that are set up on those simulators and have fun with that,” he said.
It is that kind of experience that young people can take to the course as they head toward adulthood, strengthening relationships, forming new ones, and making the occasional business deal.
Woods said when COVID-19 hit in 2020, he saw a spike in interest in the sport because it requires being outdoors.
“And what can you do outdoors? You can play golf. And so we were packed. I mean the rounds increased during COVID were off the charts, and it is a trend that has continued here at Bedford Springs,” he said.
Woods said last year, Bedford Springs had its best year ever, “Not just in terms of the number of people on the course, but also the number of rounds and just overall guest experience.”
Woods said people love to come to one of the oldest courses in the country.
“It was built in 1895, and it was actually the first 6,000-yard course, so it was the longest course in the country at the time,” he said.
“What makes Bedford Springs unique is we have a little bit of everything from those original designers, and a lot of the original architecture was kept in the redesign, which was done in 2007 by Ron Fort and Jim Nagle,” he added.
The course maintains much of the integrity of the historic course.
“But we brought it up to modern standards with all bent grass greens, fairways, and tees, and it is just immaculate all the time,” he said.
Woods said one of the things people are really surprised about with the course, the first time they come here, is just how tricky it is.
“There’s a lot of hidden breaks. There are a lot of double breaks for a golfer, which makes it hard to read them,” he said.
Woods said the ceiling views also catch golfers by surprise.
“When we look at a round of golf here, we don’t portray it as a round of golf. We call it a golf experience. We teach the guests about the history, what to look for on the course, some of the original architecture that still remains out there, and some tips on certain holes that can be tricky. And then we have a couple of signature holes, number four, which is a 223-yard par three uphill called the Volcano,” he said, laughing.
Woods said he is excited to get young people on the greens.
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“We’re really making a push to grow the game here through teaching, family golf, and junior golf. Growing the membership here has been one of my goals,” he said, adding that he is encouraged by the number of young people who have joined the team.
“We are going to have about 20 to 21 junior players this year, so we will have our first junior club championship ever here in 2025, which we’re really excited about. Junior golf is the future of our game,” he said.