The Homestead Cascades Course

The verdict

The Cascades is the course that proves mountain golf can be world class. William Flynn, the architect behind Shinnecock Hills and Cherry Hills, laid it out in 1923 through a narrow Allegheny valley above the historic spa village of Hot Springs, threading fairways along the slopes and using a tumbling mountain stream as a recurring hazard. The terrain gives the course its character, a procession of uphill and downhill shots, sidehill lies and elevated greens that demand imagination and a sure touch, and the result is consistently rated the best mountain course in the eastern United States.

For the traveling golfer this is the headline tee time of a stay at The Omni Homestead, one of America's grand old resorts, and a course with a championship pedigree few mountain layouts can match. It has staged a long list of USGA events, from the U.S. Women's Open to the U.S. Amateur and the Curtis Cup, and the test holds up beautifully today. The Cascades rewards the player who can flight the ball into mountain greens and read the slopes off the tee, and folded into a resort week with the resort's other golf it makes for a classic Virginia mountain golf trip.

The holes worth the trip

The Cascades is defined by its terrain, and the stream that gives the course its name is in play across the round, fronting greens and squeezing landing areas as it tumbles down the valley. There is almost no flat lie on the property, so the test is one of judgment as much as ball striking, reading how the slope will feed or repel a shot and committing to the line. Flynn's routing makes the most of every contour, and the variety of stances and elevations keeps the round fresh from the first tee to the last.

The par 3s are a highlight, played to greens cut into the hillside where club selection is complicated by the elevation change and the mountain air. The closing stretch climbs and falls through the trees toward the clubhouse, a finish that has decided championships and asks for precise distance control into firm, well defended greens. The mountain backdrop gives the golf a sense of seclusion that few resort courses can match.

From the back tees at about 6,870 yards the Cascades is a fair test for the strong player, but the multiple tees and the par 70 make it enjoyable for every standard. The defense is the land itself, the slopes, the stream and the elevated greens, rather than brute length, which is exactly why it has stood up to USGA championship golf for a century. Walk it where the legs allow and the routing reveals itself as a masterclass in fitting golf to difficult ground.

Where to stay nearby

The natural base is The Omni Homestead itself, one of the grand historic resorts of the American south, where the hotel, the spa and the famous warm springs sit within easy reach of both the Cascades and the resort's other golf. A stay here is as much about the setting and the service as the golf, and the resort makes an ideal anchor for a relaxed mountain trip.

Most visiting golfers build a Virginia mountain golf trip around the resort, given the remote and scenic setting. Pair the Cascades with the Blue Ridge mountain golf of the Primland Highland Course to the south and, if access allows, the C.B. Macdonald template holes of The Greenbrier Old White TPC just over the line in West Virginia for a tour of the great mountain courses of the region.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts near Hot Springs.