October 15, 2007

PERU, IN — When golfers think of "the" places to play golf, the city of Peru doesn't generally spring to mind. However, this small town of Peru is home to one of America's best public courses.

Rock Hollow Golf Club is located just 2 miles from downtown Peru. It is currently the 11th Best Bargain in America by Golf Magazine and currently in the top 1.2 percent of 17,000 public golf courses by Golf Digest.

All of the notoriety comes as no surprise to those who have watched the course develop since the first nine holes opened in 1994. First-timers, however, may be taken back not only by the striking beauty of this one-time rock quarry, but also by the punishing nature of the course. The course architect, Tim Liddy, is a protégé of Pete Dye, and Rock Hollow was his first solo effort.

"Some of the tee shots look a lot longer and tighter than they really are," says Tom Fowble after his round in late-July. "The deception does place a heavy burden on your mind as you stare down each hole."

More intimidating yet are the numerous natural hazards throughout the wetlands, woods, rock pits, ponds, and lakes. So while the fairways are for the most part generous, if you should stray at all from the short grass, it is possible that you will not find your ball.

Many of the fairways even fall off on both sides two to three feet down into the fatally thick rough and underbrush.  

There are 51 sand bunkers at Rock Hollow Golf Club. Some bunkers are deep pot bunkers and some are waste bunkers with depth greater than 100 yards.

"Rock Hollow has something in common with the Grande, Neuse, and Mountain Valley," says Greg Long, Chairman of the Captains Club. "The course is clearly something to share with the tournament field and an excellent selection for hosting a national championship."

The course features bentgrass from tee to green, and everything is in super shape. The greens are as a rule very large (with a few exceptions) and undulating. Any putt over three feet will have at least one break in it. The outstanding greens crew has them rolling true and extremely fast, even under soggy early spring conditions.

"I have never seen a public golf course that suckers golfers into trouble like Rock Hollow," says Long. "Tim Liddy provides generous fairways to a certain yardage, but then tightens each fairway quickly using waste bunkers, pot bunkers, brush, water, or forest. The longest hitters will be thinking like never before in tournament history."

If there is a weakness of the facility, it is the clubhouse, which does not represent the golf course very well. However, one might want to consider this a strength, since it means that money that would have otherwise gone into a palatial clubhouse was instead put into the course itself. This level of dedication to the course and the game of golf is evident on each and every hole.

"Somehow Tim Liddy was able to take a course with water in play on a dozen holes and make it feel like the average player could get around without losing a ball," said Long. "Mostly this was accomplished by providing large hole corridors and keeping the water to the side of play."

The 2008 Carl Spackler Open Championship will be held in Peru, IN. An announcement regarding the required tournament fee is expected on November 1.