With origins that predate the Declaration of Independence, the Omni Homestead Resort has long been the place where historical figures stay and play.
Courtesy Omni Homestead Resort
with Presidents Cup approaching, we are reminded of the connection between the game we love and the highest office in our country.
The connection runs deep.
William Taft was the OG of golfers in the Oval Office. Elected to the post in 1908, Taft played golf so often that his predecessor and political mentor, Theodore Roosevelt, asked his protégé to put away his clubs.
Taft refused.
Among his favorite climbing spots was a venerable retreat in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia that began life as the Homestead and is known today as Omni Homestead Resort. Many of Taft’s successors followed in his footsteps. In the past century plus, 24 US presidents have stayed at the Omni Homestead. A good number of them, including Gerald Ford, Bill Clinton and both Bushes, have stayed AND played.
VIPs of other lines have also been constant. Of all the big names, few loom larger around the property than local boy, Sam Snead. Born in nearby Ashwood, Va., Snead began boxing at the resort at age 7, later serving as assistant pro and becoming head pro in 1934.
By then, Omni Homestead was well established as one of the nation’s marquee golf destinations. Its first course, which opened in 1891 and was later redesigned by Donald Ross, is aptly named the Old Course, and is said to have the longest continuously operating facility in the US.
She also has a younger brother, Cascades Course, who is old enough to go back to the Golden Age. It was designed by William Flynn, in the early 1920s, and has hosted eight USGA national championships, including the US Women’s Open.
Courtesy photo
Last year, Cascades celebrated its centennial. But around the resort, much of what was old is new again, thanks to a recently completed $150 million renovation that included updates and restorations of everything from guest rooms and the famed Great Hall to the spas of the property’s hot spring pools. Meanwhile, fresh history is often being made. In 2025, the Cascades course will host the 2025 US Senior Women’s Amateur, followed by the 2029 US Senior Amateur.
Just last month, another milestone occurred at the property, when maintenance workers clearing trees from the Old Course arrived. an amazing find: embedded in the trunk of a splintered oak tree was a rubber-covered golf ball with an inverted dimple pattern that appeared to date to the early 1900s.
Although the origin of the ball has yet to be determined, it is possible that it once belonged to a POTUS.
As Omni Director of Golf Mark Fry told GOLF.com: “You can let your imagination run wild to all kinds of possibilities. Maybe this ball was hit by President Taft.”
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