Sorry I’m late to the party, Gents!
In Praise of Joe Hancock…what a terrific GCA thread. Well done and kudos to Peter Pallotta for getting the ball rolling.
This fall Mike DeVries and Joe will complete a greatly anticipated course renovation at Sunningdale Country Club that I’m announcing here will be very well received by both the GCA connoisseurs and what I like to call the unwashed golfing masses alike. (…but don’t quote me!)
The truth is our membership does not have the same golfing IQ on average as let’s say, Neil Regan’s club…Winged something? So bringing our golfers along on a course renovation equivalent of radical surgery has required unbelievable patience on Mike and Joe’s part. It will all be worth it.
As to their work – and I hope many of you will be able to see it – they have displayed the ability to lay out interesting strategies where the player is fully engaged in a manner that is restrained and at the same time beautiful. And for those of you who appreciate superior shaping, it’s all over the place. But my favorite story: Mike and Joe needed to do something with a collection of serious boulders they dug up to reestablish a semi-blind Alps/Punchbowl. Their solution was to use them to build a not insignificant land feature that ultimately blended perfectly with what was going on around it. The resulting ridge also functions as a kicker off the tee to move the ball left to right, which is the longer but safer route. It’s great fun. But when I pointed that brand new ridge (hummock?) out to one of our veteran golfers, he responded, “…no, you’re mistaken. That’s been here as long as I have.” That’s good shaping! And for those of us who have had a hand in this project, that land feature is affectionately referred to as Hancock Ridge!
Joe, you’ve been an unsung hero! Glad to know that moniker is becoming a thing of the past. Proud to call you a friend.