It's time to check out the back nine at Rocky Gap, go here to see the front.
The tenth hole is a 560-yard par 5 that initially plays over open, flat ground. Three bunkers surround the otherwise-wide fairway, though the right-side bunker can be carried pretty easily. That's definitely the side to favor. Now, while I'm sure there are people who can get to this green in two, in practical terms no one is doing that. The green here is wide and shallow, and separated completely from the fairway by a stream running across the front. There is just no space available for a fairway wood to successfully hit and hold the green, particularly as you'll be hitting from a downhill lie. This is distinctly a three-shot hole, with the second a matter of keeping the ball in play and leaving yourself a good yardage. Even so, the third is also from a downhill lie and not exactly a walk in the park. I don't imagine a whole lot of birdies are made here.
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| The tenth hole. |
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| Approaching the tenth green. |
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| The tenth green. |
The eleventh hole is 420 yards, and while the tee is elevated, the hole plays otherwise uphill the entire way. The fairway is reasonably wide, but there's dense forest left and a couple of large trees right to keep the right side from being too obvious a bailout. A good drive will leave a short or mid iron uphill to a shallow, two-tiered green tucked behind a large bunker. It's better approached from the right side, but even so, the approach is a tough one.
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| The eleventh hole. |
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| Approaching the eleventh green. |
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| The eleventh green. |
The twelfth hole is 160 yards and plays slightly uphill to a large green with two flanking bunkers. The big thing with this particular green is that the front third or so is in a little amphitheater of sorts, with the back portion being much higher. It's a nice little collection area if the green is in front, but if you end up on the wrong level, two-putting will be tricky.
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| The twelfth hole. |
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| The twelfth green. |
The thirteenth hole is a very long par 5 at nearly 600 yards (they did not have the tees anywhere close to being that far back for my round), though the distance is certainly mitigated by the fact that the fairway tumbles downhill something like 50 feet from tee to green. There's tall grass and a road left, so right is the place to miss, even with a big fairway bunker on that side. This green is out of reach for most golfers, but even on the lay-up, you still need to think about the pond right; you can lay back and take it out of play completely, but then you'll have a hundred-plus yards on the third shot, and that's not a great feeling. The green itself is fairly narrow and curled around the pond, with a bunker short left and beyond.
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| The thirteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the thirteenth green. |
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| The thirteenth green. |
The fourteenth hole is a mid-length par 4 with a small stream cutting across the fairway about 275 yards out from the tee. There's enough brush and tall grass on either side to preclude clearing it, so this tee shot is a pretty straightforward lay-up where you want to avoid the two fairway bunkers right. A 3 wood will leave a short or mid iron to the green, which is medium sized and well protected by two large bunkers. It's not an easy second shot, with the front bunker pretty much necessitating a fully aerial approach.
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| The fourteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the fourteenth green. |
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| The fourteenth green. |
The fifteenth hole is technically the shortest of Rocky Gap's par 5s, being slightly shorter than the fifth. Of course, that hole played more than a hundred feet downhill, while this one plays slowly but surely uphill. It's a narrow fairway here as well, squeezed on both sides by trees and tall grass. The second is going to be a lay-up for most people anyway, but a large bunker cuts the fairway off about 75 yards from the green, and with precious little space between wood lines beyond it, the third shot will be a full wedge. There's just no good reason to play this hole any other way. The green is narrow, with a bunker left to protect slightly wayward shots from disappearing.
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| The fifteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the fifteenth green. |
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| The fifteenth green. |
The sixteenth hole is 190 yards and plays downhill to a shallow green sloped sharply from back to front protected by bunkers in front and to the left. It's not the greatest hole in the world, mostly because it's a bit too long for how little green there is to work with, particularly with that bunker in front.
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| The sixteenth hole. |
The seventeenth hole is also a par 3, playing 180 yards to a long, narrow green poking out into the forest. There are two bunkers, one short and one left, and the green is subtly undulating and tricky to putt. This is by far the better of the back-to-back par 3s, and it looks very good carved out of the hillside.
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| The seventeenth hole. |
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| The seventeenth green. |
The eighteenth hole is a long-ish par 4 at 430 yards, and while in isolation I think this is a solid hole, it doesn't really fit in with everything else we've seen. The fairway, while framed by bunkers, is wide open and virtually devoid of trees, and that feels like a strange choice on an otherwise very forested golf course. The green is well-bunkered and quite similar to the twelfth, with the front portion being in its own separate tier below the back half. It's not a terrible green design, though I'm not sure we needed to repeat it.
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| The eighteenth hole. |
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| Approaching the eighteenth green. |
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| The eighteenth green. |
All things considered, it would be pretty baffling if Rocky Gap weren't at least somewhat interesting, considering the abrupt, severe landscape. And it certainly has some memorable holes, particularly the fifth and sixth. But the property, of course, also holds Rocky Gap back. The land is too broken and mountainous for really good golf. Simply getting to 18 holes had to have been a challenge, and you can really tell the architect was struggling at the end with the back-to-back par 3s.
The course was in solid shape, and while it's not walkable (I'm sure you could, theoretically, but I didn't), the price was reasonable. $60 for 18 holes with a cart is really not too bad, and this is a better-than-average golf course. That price does come with a caveat, however: You have to play after 2 PM. The normal, non-twilight rate is over a hundred bucks, and that is way, way too much. So long as I can get that twilight rate, I would play here again. It's a reasonably fun and scenic golf course.
