Spook Rock Still a Top Value
Among City's Municipal Courses
By Tom Robinson,
Contributor
SUFFERN, N.Y. - Throughout the 1990s, Spook Rock frequented Golf
Digest lists of the best public golf courses in the United States.
As new upscale public courses keep popping up around the country,
it might be hard for the Rockland County course to maintain some
of those lofty ratings. Nothing, however, has changed about the
quality of the course.
Built in 1969 and 1970, Spook Rock, which is run by the Town of
Ramapo Department of Parks and Recreation, features a classic design.
All of the holes are tree-lined, some tighter than others. Spook
Rock has its share of doglegs, rough, and sand traps that keep the
large greens well protected. The greens feature plenty of slopes,
but none to the extreme of being considered too tricky.
Water comes into play six times. Twice the hazards are positioned
to try to make sure par-5s play as three-shot holes. Two of the
water holes are par-3s where there is plenty of room to clear the
hazards, even if a shot falls short of the green. The other two
small ponds are only factors on shots that are off-line on a pair
of short par-4s.
The package combines to gain Spook Rock a ranking of 22nd in Golf
Digest's 1990 list of the Top 75 Public Golf Courses in the United
States. In 1996, Golf Digest listed Spook Rock as the 10th best
public course in New York state and placed it 52nd among America's
Top 75 Affordable Courses.
Spook Rock still ranks as a relative bargain. The course, located
minutes from Exit 14B of the New York State Thruway, provides local
residents with an affordable quality round of golf. Since the course
is very walkable for many players, it can be played for $18 without
a cart or for as little as $13 for its popular twilight rate. The
resident senior rate is $11.
The price is significantly higher for non-residents at $45 to
walk or $59 to ride before dropping to $25.50 for twilight. But,
compared to what one might expect to pay for a round at a nationally
recognized course 30 miles from New York City, the price matches
up well with other top courses around the nation.
Spook Rock is the kind of course where you carry your own clubs
in from the parking lot. But for a municipal course, it is impeccably
maintained. The only bad spots you will find on the greens or fairways
are the occasional reminder that even a diligent staff can not make
every one of the hundreds of players each day properly repair ballmarks
or divots.
The quiet, wooded setting makes for a pleasant day on the golf
course. There are not any condos to be seen and golfers on other
fairways are often only noticed by peering through the trees.
Rangers and the regular players do their best to try to maintain
a good pace despite the heavy play.
A strict set of rules for reservations allows registered residents
the first shot at tee times and they even end up in a lottery to
fill the prime Friday to Sunday spots. Visitors are more likely
to get a chance at the course during times that are not traditionally
the busiest.
It does not take long for Spook Rock to show a new golfer what
it is all about. The front nine begins and ends with two of the
five dogleg, par-4s. The first hole plays 385 yards from the white
tees (400 from the blues) with the last 175 yards coming after the
hole turns to the left. Two fairway traps guard the corner and another
protects the right side of the fairway to make it difficult for
big hitters to attempt to get much closer than 150 yards from the
green. Two more of the course's 70 traps sit on each side of the
first half of the green.
The ninth hole is 352 yards, but plays much longer because it is slightly
uphill from the tee to the corner and more sharply uphill the rest
of the way, with a carry over a trap to get to the right side of the
green.
Like many northeastern courses, play in the summer of 2000 has
seen conditions toughened by almost daily rain. That makes the rough
thicker, including around the greens where a pitch from the rough
over a bunker has gone from being delicate to becoming a true trouble
shot.
Each side plays to par 36 with a pair of par-3s and a pair of
par-5s. The course is 6,807 yards from the blue tees, 6,271 yards
from the whites, 5,715 yards from the golds and 4,923 yards from
the reds. The slope ranges as high as 127 and plays 123 from the
whites and 120 for women from the reds.
The number-1 handicap hole is 6, a 484-yard par-5. The landing
area for a solid drive is one of the tightest on the course between
a trap in the left rough and two more along the edge of the right
rough. The pro's tip, which is part of the yardage book that comes
attached to every scorecard, reminds players to try to stay on the
right side of the fairway on their second shots.
Such a position can just about eliminate a 35-yard wide pond that
protects the left front and makes it tough to run a long second
shot into the green.
A similar setup is in place at 11, a 480-yard par-5. The tight
fairway is free of traps, but heavy woods and out-of-bounds are
left. A long, narrow pond protects the last 75 yards on the left
of the down-hill hole. The right side is protected by a trap 77
yards from the green, a large tree, and another trap near the front
of the green.
All four par-3s require a healthy iron shot. Each is at least
160 yards (they average 197 from the blue) and three of the four
are at least slightly uphill.
As a package, Spook Rock demands from a player a little bit of
distance, a little bit more accuracy and an ability to deal with
some rough and sand. The consistent way these tests are presented
has established the course as one of New York state's top public
options.
Spook Rock
Spook Rock Road
Suffern, New York
914-357-6466
Greens fees
$18 for residents
$11 for resident seniors
$45 for non-residents
Twilight rates
$13 for residents
$25.50 for non-residents
Cart fees
$28 for two players
$16 for twilight
$16 for singles |
