Western Pennsylvania: Where Golf Goes to Get Serious on the Penn-Ohio Golf Trail

If you want to argue that any state has more golf history per square mile than Western Pennsylvania, you better come prepared. This is the corner of America that produced Arnold Palmer in Latrobe. This is where Oakmont Country Club has hosted a record ten U.S. Open championships, more than any course in the country. This is where Western Pennsylvania has built itself into a region of more than 700 golf courses, and somewhere in the middle of all of it, a man named Frank Buhl decided in 1914 that golf should be free for everyone, built a course in Hermitage, and that course has been free ever since. The only completely free golf course in America is on the Penn-Ohio Golf Trail. Read that twice. Then keep reading.

The Western PA leg of the Trail runs from Mercer County down through Lawrence and Butler counties and right to the doorstep of Pittsburgh. Pine Lakes Resorts handles the booking through one phone call. You get courses ranked nationally, lodging that puts you walking distance from the Steel City, and an off-course menu that goes from Primanti's french-fries-on-the-sandwich to a 130,000-square-foot casino on the North Shore. This is the powerhouse stop on the Trail. Plan accordingly.

Where to Play

Olde Stonewall is the headliner and you start here. A Hurdzan and Fry design that opened in 1999 in Ellwood City, ranked Top 25 in Pennsylvania by Golf Digest in 2025-26 and consistently rated among America's 100 Greatest Public Courses. Built on 269 acres along the Connoquenessing Creek, the course uses 750,000 tons of limestone cubes lining tee boxes, cart paths, and water hazards. The thing is true to its name. Two distinct nines: a relatively flat front and a back that climbs into the foothills with dramatic elevation changes. The back nine is a par 34 that includes back-to-back par 3s and zero par 5s because the architects let the land make the decisions. The back-to-back par 3s on the back nine are among the toughest you will ever play, and the Golf Digest panel calls the back nine "one of the most challenging, and stimulating, par 34 back nines you will ever come across." The clubhouse looks like a Scottish castle. Lean into it. Order the Yuengling.

Castle Hills in New Castle is the next bucket-list pull. Opened in 1930, with 24 manicured fairway and greenside bunkers, lush rolling fairways, lakes, streams, and fast true greens. One of the most popular courses in Western PA and a regular ranked-public-course nominee in the state. It is the kind of older course where the fairways were carved into the land instead of bulldozed onto it, and you can feel the difference walking it.

Tam O'Shanter of Pennsylvania, in Hermitage, is the historical curiosity worth playing for the story alone. Rated four stars by Golf Digest and considered one of Pennsylvania's finest public courses, it carries one of the best name-drops in regional golf: Arnold Palmer played the greens here as a teenager, and Sam Snead set the course record nearly 85 years ago. You are walking the same fairways the King walked when he was still a kid from Latrobe figuring out his swing. Pine Grove, Green Meadows, Spring Valley, Stone Crest, and Oak Tree round out the Mercer County public lineup, all packaged through the Trail and all worth a Day Two or Day Three pairing with one of the headliners.

The Quarry Golf Club in Butler County is the wild-card play. Built on a quarry site dating to the 1800s, predominantly wooded, with natural waste areas, 100-foot cliffs, streams, and deep-water lakes. Looks nothing like the rest of the trip. That is exactly why you play it.

For private access through the Trail, Avalon Buhl is on the list. A traditional private club design, accessible only through the Trail's exclusive booking, sitting on the Pennsylvania side of the Avalon family that includes the LPGA-host Avalon Lakes across the line in Ohio.

Now the wild card. Buhl Park Golf Course in Hermitage. Established in 1914 when industrialist Frank Buhl decided his town deserved a free public golf course and made it happen. A century later, the place is still free. No green fees, ever. Anyone can play. Cart and pull cart rentals are available for the legs that need help. Donations are encouraged but not required. This is a 9-hole course with a fascinating history and a philosophy of golf access that does not exist anywhere else in the country. Add it to the trip not because it is going to crack a national ranking but because you will tell the story of the round at every dinner table for the next ten years. The Penn-Ohio Trail will literally drive you to the only free golf course in America. That is not a sentence that exists elsewhere in this industry.

Where to Stay

The Trail keeps a hotel cluster right off I-80 in West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, with easy access to the Mercer County and Lawrence County courses, plus an easy 90-minute drop down to Pittsburgh for the casino night. This is your buddies-trip base for Western PA. Off the interstate, clean, modern, walking distance to the Belmont Avenue dining strip and seven miles from the Ohio border for the rest of the Trail.

For the historic-mansion play, the Trail's four estate homes sit just over the line on the Ohio side near Youngstown, all within a 25-minute drive of the Western PA courses we just talked about. If your group is six or larger and wants something that does not exist anywhere else in the country, that is the move. We covered the mansions in detail in the Youngstown piece, but they apply equally well as a base for a Western PA-heavy trip.

For couples or a higher-end weekend, Pittsburgh is closer than people realize. Ellwood City and Olde Stonewall sit roughly 40 minutes north of downtown. Cranberry Township is a comfortable suburb with the kind of hotel lineup that handles a date weekend without anyone losing sleep. Stay in Cranberry, play Olde Stonewall and Castle Hills during the day, drive into Pittsburgh for dinner, drive back. That is a real itinerary.

What to Do Along the Way

This is where Western PA stretches its legs.

Start with Pittsburgh, because you should. Rivers Casino on the North Shore is the gambling and nightlife base. 130,000 square feet of casino floor, 2,708 slot machines, 128 table games, 55 hybrid gaming seats, a 30-table live poker room, a state-of-the-art high limits area, nine restaurants and bars, and live entertainment most nights. Open 24-7. Down the street from Acrisure Stadium, where the Steelers play, and PNC Park, where the Pirates play. If your trip lines up with a home game, you have the kind of buddies-trip night nobody else on the Trail can offer. The Yard, Bridges and Bourbon, North Shore Tavern, and Jason Aldean's Kitchen and Bar all sit within a few blocks of the casino. Southern Tier Brewery on North Shore Drive handles the craft-beer requirement. You can park once and walk the whole night.

Grove City Premium Outlets is the spouse-and-daughter card you play if anyone in the group has a non-golfing partner along, or if your wife agreed to the trip on the condition that some shopping was happening. Western Pennsylvania's premier shopping destination, more than 120 stores including Coach, Kate Spade, J. Crew, The North Face, Under Armour, Michael Kors, Nike, and Vera Bradley, with 25 to 65 percent savings off retail. The hidden bonus: Pennsylvania does not tax most clothing or shoes. The actual savings are real, and the open-air mall sits right off I-79 just south of I-80, which means it is easy to fold into a trip without a long detour.

For dinner, the Trail's Western PA list is the cheat sheet. In Hermitage and the Mercer County base, Muscarella's Cafe Italia in Sharpsville handles old-school red-sauce Italian, Combine Brothers in Hermitage is the buddies-trip pick, and Hickory Grille covers steaks done right. In Mercer itself, J. Hicks on the Square and Talbot's Taproom and Terrace are the upscale-but-not-stuffy picks. Iron Bridge Inn on Perry Highway is the local institution.

Grove City turns into a dinner cluster on its own around the outlets. Fat Eddy's Bar-BQ, Hoss's Steak and Sea House, and Primanti Bros. all sit on Leesburg Grove City Road. Yes, that Primanti's. You will get the sandwich with the fries and the slaw on the sandwich, you will tell yourself it is too much food, and you will eat the entire thing. Compadres handles the Mexican-and-margarita night every trip needs.

In Cranberry Township, The Turn Club and Primanti's again handle the dinner. New Castle has Edward's Restaurant and Mangino's Pizzeria. Butler has The Brick House and 11th Frame Bar and Grille. Rachel's Roadhouse on Perry Highway in Mercer is the buddies-trip diner-and-grill.

The historical detour is Latrobe. Arnold Palmer's hometown sits about 90 minutes southeast of Olde Stonewall. The Latrobe Country Club, where Arnie's father was the head pro and where Arnie himself played as a kid, is the golf pilgrimage on its own. The Arnold Palmer Regional Airport carries his name. If you are a Palmer fan, building a half-day around Latrobe is worth it. You can pair it with a round at Latrobe Country Club through the Trail's network if a connection lines up. Even if not, just being in the town is its own kind of nod to the King.

For a rainy day or the second night when nobody wants to drive, Five Iron Golf has a Pittsburgh location with simulator technology, a locally-inspired food menu, and craft cocktails. Custom group packages.

The Pitch

Western Pennsylvania is the Penn-Ohio Trail stop where the golf history runs the deepest. The state with more than 700 courses. The home of Oakmont and its ten U.S. Opens. The town that produced Arnold Palmer. The course where a 14-year-old Arnie played and Sam Snead set the record. The only free golf course in America, courtesy of an industrialist who decided in 1914 that the game belonged to everyone. A Hurdzan and Fry top-25-in-the-state public course that uses 750,000 tons of stone. A casino in Pittsburgh that runs 24-7. An outlet mall with no clothing tax. And every Primanti's location you could ever want. Pine Lakes Resorts handles the booking. One call, one package, courses, lodging, schedule. 877-534-6789.

Book it. Bring extra sleeves for Olde Stonewall. Sign in at Buhl Park, leave a donation, and tip your hat to Frank Buhl on the way to the first tee. Then drive 90 minutes south, walk through Latrobe, and tip another one to the King.