Rocky Gap

The Rocky Gap Casino and resort in the Western frontier of Maryland opened a golf course to offer outside entertainment to visitors during 2000, and they tapped Jack Nicklaus to handle the project (it is the only “signature design” from the Golden Bear in the state).

The course is the story of two nines. The front is the more hilly of the two, as golfers will make a significant drive between the second green and the third tee, to begin the most mountainous stretch of the course. This can perhaps best be summed up by holes Nos. 5 and 6; the former is a split-fairway par five that travels downward between rising slopes on both sides. The latter is a par three that drops dramatically, to the extent that players on the back tees must walk to the edge of the teebox to see the putting surface below them, before firing their tee shot.

The second nine is hardly a flatland, but its altitude changes seem much less dramatic than those on the front. The highlight may be a pair of par threes on the other side of the highway, with one taking advantage of another significant downslope, while the next heads right back up.