'The King' Visits Bedford Springs

Arnold Palmer played the recently unveiled Bedford Springs Old Course. "The King" played the course during the 1960s and recently heard from his sister, Sandy, that it had been restored to meet the design integrity of original architects Spencer Oldham, A.W. Tillinghast and Donald Ross. Palmer even called himself to book a tee time.

Palmer has actually visited Bedford Springs Resort twice - first when his sister was a guest visiting on a golf package, and then returning with his own foursome a couple of weeks later. "He was very gracious," said Bedford Springs head pro Ron Leporati, who played in a group behind the Palmer foursome. "He toured the whole property and was very intrigued by the golf course and the history of the resort. And he said he would be back."

The Old Course is part of a revival of the circa-1796 Bedford Springs Resort, which re-opened in July following the completion of a $120-million restoration and expansion. In its glory days, Bedford Springs, which had been closed for 21 years, played host to U.S. presidents, heads of state and countless celebrities, and was where the first Trans Atlantic cable was received by President James Buchanan from Great Britain's Queen Victoria in 1858. The resort also served as Buchanan's summer White House.

The course now retraces the steps of early American golf architecture, with designs originally contributed by Oldham (1895), Tillinghast (1912) and Ross (1923). The unique collaboration - with holes thought to be among some of America's oldest - stretches between ridges of the Allegheny Mountains along Shobers Run creek, a tributary of the Juniata River, weaving amid the 200-year-old oaks, meadows and marshes of Bedford Springs Valley.

The course is open to the public, with preferred tee times reserved for resort guests. For information or reservations, call 866/623-8168 or visit www.bedfordspringsresort.com.