Rock Hollow Golf Club

Overview: Rock Hollow Golf Club is a public 18-hole course in Peru, Indiana, designed by Tim Liddy on reclaimed quarry ground. The old mining landscape is not hidden beneath a generic parkland treatment: rolling land, rock outcrops, wetlands and changes in elevation shape the routing and influence the line of play. The directory lists a par of 72 and 6,944 yards. That combination gives Rock Hollow a different identity from the flatter, tree-lined courses common in the region, with the property itself providing much of the visual and strategic interest.

History: Rock Hollow's official story begins in 1995, after Rock Industries had mined the limestone and other natural resources from the site. Terry and Rebecca Smith saw the mined-out property, hills and cattail wetlands as the basis for a golf course, and the Smith family has continued to own and operate the club since its opening. Tim Liddy, a Pete Dye associate, designed the course within the former quarry. The architect's own portfolio identifies the course as an abandoned gravel-quarry project and records its early national attention soon after opening.

Did You Know? Golf Digest ranked Rock Hollow eighth among America's best new public courses in 1996. The award is a useful piece of context for a layout whose defining feature is the conversion of industrial ground into a playable golf landscape.