In what is called "The Sweetest Place on Earth," the golf at Hershey (Pa.) Resort is enough to satisfy any player's sweet tooth. Hershey Resorts -- yes that Hershey -- features 72 holes of golf, including the highly rated West Course designed by Scotsman Maurice McCarthy in 1930 and the East Course, built in 1970 by George Fazio.
The West Course is a classic example of a traditional American-style layout as well as a great example of Milton Hershey's vision for the Hershey area, 15 minutes east of Harrisburg and two hours driving time from Philadelphia. An occasional golfer, Hershey wanted a course for his employees to play and hired his head engineer, Harry Herr, to design a course on Pat's Hill, north of Hershey. While Herr was very good at managing the town's railway and tunnel systems, he wasn't much of a golf course designer.
The hilly terrain on which Herr built the course proved nearly impossible for recreational golf, so Milton Hershey demolished the course and used the site to build the Hotel Hershey and hired McCarthy to design the 6,860-yard, par 73 golf course that exists today (farther south than the original site), including the 176-yard, par 3, fifth hole that uses the hotel as a spectacular backdrop.
The West Course is the site of Walter Hagen's last competitive PGA Championship. Then played as a match play event, the 48-year-old Hagen won his first two matches of the 1940 PGA Championship before losing to Harold "Jug" McSpadden. Byron Nelson, by the way, beat Sam Snead 1-up to win the Championship.
Fazio's East Course (7,061 yards, par 71) features elevated greens, man-made lakes, and more than 100 bunkers as it winds through and around the Central Pennsylvania countryside. Together the East Course and West Course make up the Hershey Country Club, which is open to resort guests and members.
In addition to the East and West Courses, Hershey Resorts features three other courses. In 1934, McCarthy built a nine-hole, par 34 course on the hotel grounds exclusively for guests. Today it's appropriately known as the Hotel Hershey Nine-Hole Course. That course, by the way, was the last golf course in town built by Milton Hershey
Hershey Resort guests also have access to the 75-year-old Parkview Golf Course (6,332 yards, par 71) and the unique Hershey Juvenile Course, the latter of which was designed by McCarthy as Milton Hershey's request for the children of country club members and the caddies of the other courses. The Juvenile Course's log cabin clubhouse is still in use today. Renamed the Spring Creek Golf Course in 1969, the course (2,318 yards, par 33) was opened to adults as well as children.
Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company is currently renovating the Hershey Country Club to include a new clubhouse, swimming pool, year-round pavilion and enhanced tennis facility. The project, estimated to cost $18 million, is scheduled for completion by April 2006.
The new clubhouse will be a 43,000-square-foot building that will include a new pro shop, men's and women's locker rooms and the Hogan Grill, while a 6,500-square-foot entertainment pavilion will overlook the finishing holes of the East and West Courses. The two-story clubhouse is the centerpiece of the renovation's second phase. While the existing structure will be demolished, the foundation will be preserved and Pennsylvania stone and bedrock will be used in the new clubhouse.
Like most major resorts these days, the Hotel Hershey has a spa. This one, of course, features treatments that are, not surprisingly, chocolate flavored. Among the newer treatments at the spa are three chocolate-based services -- a Sweet Hands manicure incorporating a cocoa bean exfoliation, a chocolate paraffin dip and a chocolate moisturizing massage; a Sweet Feet pedicure featuring chocolate sugar exfoliation, a chocolate paraffin dip and a chocolate moisturizing massage; and a Chocolate Sugar Scrub body treatment.
The 232-room Hotel Hershey itself is one of the country's great landmark hotels. Located on a hilltop overlooking the town of Hershey, the 23,500-square-foot hotel has been a major destination for more than 70 years. The hotel's Circular Dining Room is one of the Northeast's better dining experiences, topped off, naturally by a variety of chocolate desserts and the Iberian Lounge offers Chocolate Martinis.
The Hotel Hershey's sister resort -- the 665-room Hershey Lodge -- is Pennsylvania's largest convention resort.
In addition to the golf courses and Hotel Hershey, Milton Hershey opened Hersheypark in 1907 as a retreat for his chocolate factory workers. Today, Hersheypark (opening for the 2005 season in May) is one of the more popular family entertainment parks in the Northeast and Atlantic Coast, featuring more than 60 rides and attractions, 10 roller coasters, eight water rides, live entertainment, and more than 24 rides especially for children.
Nothing could be sweeter.
