What's Cobb's Creek?
This is definitely a good interview. Since I am a huge fan of Inniscrone, I thought it was interesting to read Hanse's comments on that course. I think he is selling himself short a bit on the quality of Inniscrone. Sure, he took some chances there, and the result is some holes that border on the extreme. However, nothing appears contrived or out of place. The 4th green is severe, sure, but it is just there, benched into the hillside without major earthmoving. 16's right-side landing could be softened, but my impression is that the right fairway is more of a layup area than anything else.
My take on Cobb's Creek: yes, it will be a difficult undertaking, and the course will need a plan to improve the maintenance as well as the golf course. However, I have all the confidence in the world in Gil's ability to restore a golf course. He has done great things with Country Club of Rochester over the past eight years. Like Cobb's Creek, Country Club of Rochester maintained most of its original greensites, but it was overtreed and littered with poor bunkering from the likes of Robert Trent Jones and Arthur Hills. Gil's master plan transformed the golf course, redoing all of the bunkers, adding plenty of new ones, cutting out trash trees to improve playability and vistas, and expanding greensites to original size. In the end, Country Club of Rochester has gone from an average private layout to a top 100 classic contender. From my perspective, he could make the same transformation at Cobb's Creek.
Of course, he needs to see Lederach in the meantime.