On the southwestern outskirts of Winchester, Virginia in the northern Shenandoah valley lies the scenic treasure known as the Rock Harbor Golf Course. A visit to the property will very quickly uncover the basis for its name. Both Par-72 Championship courses are strewn with huge boulders used to line the cart paths, create archways, directional markers, and even placed on many holes for aesthetic value and in some cases, they are used strategically as hazards! You must see it to believe it. Those monster stones, some weighing 30 tons or more, were each cut and excavated from the quarry adjacent to the course. The 8th tee on the Boulder course offers an elevated and unobstructed view of the currently working mine.
Denny Perry, President of Stuart M. Perry, Inc., was the mastermind behind Rock Harbor. His love for the game created a drive that led him to learn all he could about course design and architecture. After countless hours of research and thought, the vision of a golf course and the unique design that could be achieved with the use of the quarry began to evolve. To build a golf course, you need lots of dirt, stone, water, heavy equipment…. turns out it was all right there.
Denny and his dad, the late Mickey Perry, had contemplated using a portion of the family farm along with some surrounding property they hoped they might access. Then before any groundbreaking took place, the property that Rock Harbor currently occupies became available for purchase. The newly available land would act as a much-needed buffer zone to protect the neighboring communities from the ongoing mining operations at the quarry and it was the perfect piece of property to sculpt Denny’s vision of Rock Harbor. And hey, it was right next to the needed dirt, stone, water, heavy equipment…. Perfect!
So, with the land acquired, in the perfect location the dream was now a mere 5 million yards of earth from completion. They say the way to eat an elephant is 1 bite at a time. Well, building a golf course is a lot like that. Denny began to clear and shape the land into the jewel it now is. Be it on a dozer, excavator, rock truck, front end loader, or setting dynamite charges Denny and his trusted sidekicks from the quarry built 36 of the most beautiful golf holes you may ever see in one spot. Each rock you see on the course was carried individually from the quarry to its current location and then individually placed. The ponds were created to act as the typical hazards but also add to the immense beauty of the course. And as a bonus, they allow for the retention of millions of gallons of water used almost daily to keep the courses lush and green.
It’s all here, length, beauty, challenge, unique terrain and a perfectly manicured facility that will rival any you may visit. Denny built two courses where every hole demands that you take the situation at hand into account prior to each shot. Once you play the courses a time or two you will begin to realize that these courses require a bit more game than just a good swing. To score at Rock Harbor, you need to plan your way around. Sometimes you may face a water carry or an island green. The next hole may have 2 separate greens, each of which require a different path. Multitiered greens that require different approaches depending on pin placement. Several times during a round you may face a shot over or around a “BOULDER FIELD”! A what? Rock Harbor is thrilling, challenging, wonderful, beautiful, and humbling. Just the way Denny built it.
ROCK HARBOR IS FOR GOLF LOVERS.
