One of the new holes under construction at the Hancock Golf Course.
The layout for the new 9 holes of golf at the Hancock Golf Course along with building lots.Hancock Will Be 18-Holes In Two Years
Nine additional holes are being added to the present nine-hole Robert Trent Jones designed Hancock Golf Course which indeed has a very interesting history.
Clearing for the new 126-acre course which will also house 1.7 to 8 acre home sites started this year and the additional nine holes are anticipated being open for play in two years.
A Rochester architect has designed the new layout which is presently planned to be completed in about a years time but owners say they expect to let the course set for one year before opening it for play.
The present nine-hole course is leased (since 1971) and operated by the Buckley family, Alice "Cookie" Buckley is the Director of Operations, Julie Buckley Weyrauch is the General Manager, Eric Buckley is the Course Superintendent (GCSAA), Charles Buckley Sr. (GCSAA) is the retired Course Superintendent and Charles Buckley Jr. is the PGA Professional.
The new 9-hole addition to the Hancock Golf Course and the home sites is owned by the Buckley family.
The dream of every community to have it's own golf course started for Hancock in 1936 when resident Howard Merwin offered to donate a piece of land near Somerset Lake to the Town of Hancock for the purpose of developing a municipal golf course. Due to complications the project did not develop.
In 1940 another attempt to build a golf course came when the Town Board of Trade voted to solicit the services of Robert T. Jones of Thompson and Jones, architects of New York, as to the best location of a golf course.
A site north of the village was chosen for the eventual completion of a course of approximately 3,400 yards with a par 36. Robert Trent Jones described the land as "sufficiently rolling to provide interest, yet not difficult or tiresome and admirably adapted to a nine-hole course."
At that time, the Works Project Administration (WPA) had 65 men in the Town of Hancock on the government payroll and Delaware County WPA Construction Superintendent Olney Borden of Liberty, NY was working with the Board of Trade members regarding the possibility of the WPA becoming involved in a golf course project.
The Board of Trade voted to petition the Town Board to sponsor a municipal golf course in conjunction with the WPA and in June 1940 the board agreed to sponsor construction of a golf course with WPA aid. In December of 1940 the Federal Works Agency in Washington announced approval to construct a municipal golf course in the Town of Hancock.
The town was awarded a WPA allotment of $47,742 as sponsor of the golf course and the towns share was estimated at $10,000. It is interesting to note that the $10,000 contribution from the town took the form of the town providing machinery, other equipment and furnishing labor from the unemployment rolls of the town.
A local committee set a goal of $3,500 to purchase the land for the course and with surveys completed and deeds taken work was scheduled to begin in January 1941.
Architect Robert Trent Jones completed diagrams and surveys and assured the sponsors that the new course would be "one of the finest nine-hole courses in the Southern Tier unsurpassed for beauty and scenery and one not too hard on the middle-aged."
In March of 1941 ground was broken and in May of 1941 papers were filed in Albany for a Membership Corporation to be known as the Hancock Golf and Country Club which then elected officers and continued to solicit funds for the golf course.
Somewhere around the year 1942 about 50 percent of the course was completed under the WPA project when it was abandoned due to floods and the war. Sprinkler pipes which had been laid to the locations of the greens and certain areas of the fairways were all dug up with the medal to be used in the war effort. The land lay dormant and went back to nature.
In the late summer of 1945 work on the course produced new drainage and finishing of the greens and in June 1946 five holes were ready to play despite unfavorable wet, cold weather but with funds running low as a result of new machinery and equipment interest again waned and it is reported that the course again returned to grass, weeds, trees and abandonment.
The town again got involved in 1957 and the Hancock Golf and Country Club formed a committee to sell charter memberships and in 1959 Hancock finally had it public golf course.
The golf course lease changed hands several time since 1959 and in 1971 Lucille Howel leased the course to Charles Buckley who brought in equipment and proceeded to make substantial improvements to the course.
In 2001 Buckley constructed a new clubhouse which now houses locker rooms and Cookies On The Green restaurant which is open only during the golf season.
The course is open 7 days a week from April to November 1.
Tee times and any questions can be answered by calling 607-637-2480.
Next week will outline how to play this nine-hole Robert Trent Jones designed golf course.
The Golf Tip
By Robert Menges
The Importance of Wedges:
In today's ever-changing golf game, most players are under the influence that if they hit the ball longer they will play better.
Even though technology has increased how far the ball will travel, the scores are about the same. There is no doubt that if you hit the ball longer you should have less club to the green and be able to get the ball closer to the hole and make more putts.
I believe this to be true, but you better be able to hit the shots on the green close to the pin. In order to hit the ball close, I feel it is important to carry three wedges in your golf bag. Most people have a pitching wedge that comes with their set. This club has 47 to 49 degrees of loft. You have a choice to make for the other two wedges. A gap wedge comes with about 50 to 53 degrees of loft and a lob wedge is about 60 to 64 degrees of loft. I would choose between these two clubs depending on how far you hit the ball.
A lob wedge will save you shots around the green and a gap wedge will help you with the in between yardages in the fairway.
You should always carry a sand wedge that has 54 to 57 degrees of loft.
Some touring Professionals will carry 4 wedges in their bag.
The next time you play a round of golf, count how many shots you take from 100 yards in to the hole. I think you will find that this will total about 60 percent of your score.
When you are trying to improve your score, it is important to lower the number of shots you take close to the green . I think having three wedges in your bag will help you accomplish a lower score.
Robert Menges is the head golf professional at the Swan Lake Golf & Country Club, Mt. Hope Road, Swan Lake. He is available for private lessons and if you have a question or subject you would like covered, he can be reached by phone at 292-0323 or via email at menges@hughes.net
Ed's Oulook
The LPGA Golf Channel deal starting in 2010 can not come soon enough. There were 35 LPGA Tour events in 2008 and this year five are gone and the Tour is down to 29 events. Almost two-thirds of this years events (19) are in renewal discussions and the LPGA risks further shrinkage in 2010.....let's hope they can figure out a solution and that the golf channel deal will help.
This column is written by Ed Townsend, a consultant to the amateur and professional sport of golf and to several golf writers associations. If you have a topic that you feel would make good reading or have league scores and tournament information, Ed can be reached at 439-8177 or by email at bowlgolfect1@yahoo.com For a more expanded version of this golf column, please visit our web page at http://bght.blogspot.com/
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