Hog Neck Golf Course
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Hog Neck Golf Courses is a 27 hole Golf Course in Easton, MD
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[edit] The beginning
Choosing its name is only part of the story that began in 1972 with two leading characters, Nettie Marie Jones (Mrs. W. Alton Jones), the great and generous donor of many gifts to Talbot County and Bill Corkran, the town engineer of the town of Easton at the time. "When we were building the YMCA we got to be real friends," he recalls. "She loved building and one day when we were putting little room models together she turned to me and said 'Do you play golf?' 'No' 'Why don't you?' She was always very forthright. I said I had never had an opportunity to learn. She said 'Your kids know how to play, don't they?' I told her yes and I hoped that someday we could build a course were we could teach the young people of the area to at least be exposed to golf. That's where we dropped it."
After the "Y" was finished, Bill received the most surprising phone call of his life from Mrs. Jones. Without any preliminaries she asked "What would you like to do most for Talbot County?
You've got to pick one thing." While his head spun with a dozen different possibilities Bill hedged for time, but finally Mrs. Jones reminded him of his dream of a golf course. In a few minutes he found himself being driven by Mrs. Jones and her companion, Mary Struaghn to Hog Neck Farm. After he had tramped all over it and reported that he was immensely impressed by it, she announced abruptly, "I'm going to give it to you and you can decide what you want to do with it!" "But Mrs. Jones, I don't know beans about building a golf course," he protested feelingly. "But you know somebody who knows something about it." That silenced him and that's the way it began.
[edit] The proposition
irst of all, bursting with excitement, he took his news to the County Commissioners. "I have a proposition. I want to give you a golf course!" Then he sat back and savored their reaction. Total disbelief was followed by tentative approval until he should come up with some detailed plans.
Next he called an old classmate who headed up the golf program of the University of Md. Bill smiles at the memory. I told him my problem. His comeback was "You have a problem? Other people would give their right arm to have your problem!" Through him, Harry Eckhoff, past president of the Nat'l Golf Foundation came to Easton to discuss "the problem". Happily, Mr. Eckhoff had been an old friend of the late W. Alton Jones, an avid golfer in his day. A playing partner of President Eisenhower, Mr. Jones had been one of the moving forces in the development of the Augusta National Golf Club along with two other Jones - unrelated - Bobbie and Charlie. He had belonged to over 100 clubs and had kept golfing equipment at all of them for his friends and himself. On his death, Mrs. Jones who also played in her younger days, had given the entire lot to the Nat'l Golf Foundation and Harry Eckhoff had handled the transaction for her.
When the list of course architects the Harry Eckhoff gave Bill had been sifted down to seven, he received sage advice from Mrs. Jones. "The choice is your problem, but my husband used to tell me 'always put your money on a young person because he doesn't know he can't do it! Then back him up with a man of experience.' "So young Lindsey Ervin who had never built a course on his own, became the architect and 75 year old Charles Maddox with probably more experience then anyone in the country became the builder. By August, 1974 Ben Stagg was hired as Superintendent of Hog Neck Golf Course - a very impressive title considering that tees, greens and fairways had not reached the drawing board stage. His first encounter with nature was to clear a 40 acre pine forest of honeysuckle.
Nine months earlier, the County Commissioners, who were always kept informed of the progress of plans, appointed a special three person Park Board, Bill Corkran, Chairman; Norman Moore, Sup't of Schools in Talbot County and Emory Slaughter, retired banker, to oversee the building and operation of the course. The same Board is functioning to this day. "Its been a fantastic Board to work with," says Bill. The three dedicated members found themselves involved in an appalling variety of concerns. In the course of more than 100 meetings during the next four years, they made decisions, for example, on fencing, lakes and bridges, club house design, wells, tee markers, disposable cups, landscaping, sewerage treatment, uniforms for the work crew, a choice of grasses, a vending machine, the number and type of entrance roads, maintenance of heavy equipment, the height of the flagpole and the best carpeting for the club house!
Mrs. Jones often attended the meetings and listened with absorption. Bill enjoys quoting her on one occasion. "There was discussion over removing a sand trap on the 15th hole. I listened to everybody, then, without asking for other Board members as I was supposed to, I said 'that trap is going to stay.' She burst out laughing and remarked to me as we walked of the meeting, 'I'll say one thing. You're not inhibited by any knowledge of the subject!' " Mark Herrmann, the present pro at Hog Neck approves of Bill's decision. "That trap makes it a good golf hole. It's perfectly placed for good golfers - 240 yards from the tee."
[edit] The name
The Board and everyone else involved had mulled over many names, but were always turned off by "cutesy" or stereotype names. Finally Bill called Mrs. Jones with the suggestion "Why don't we just call it Hog Neck?" After a long silence on the other end of the line she said, "I'd love it, but why do you want it?" Bill Replied, "People will probably dislike it the first time they hear it, but we're going to couple that name with outstanding quality. It's an easy name to remember."
They were absolutely right. There can't be another Hog Neck Golf Course in the country! Furthermore, the farm was originally called Golgatha Heights and any name is a step in the right direction from that!
[edit] The pro
One of the major decisions that the board faced was the selection of a club pro. John Medved, who had accumulated wide experience during some 30 years in the golf game was their choice. He served Hog Neck splendidly for four years until illness forced his resignation. Upon his untimely death, his young assistant, Mark Herrmann, a native of Annapolis and a 1974 graduate of the University of Md. was appointed to take his place. Becoming a Class A PGA Golf Professional (Mark's status) challenges the skill and patience of the most enthusiastic amateur. You are required to serve as an assistant pro for 4 years. During that time you must attend two business schools and pass PGA exams that cover the business end of the job and take playing and teaching tests. After 3-1/2 years, you take a final exam on the rules of golf, finance, marketing, operating a golf shop and managing golfing programs. The last rung of the ladder is an oral interview and you finally emerge a Class A PGA Golf Professional.
[edit] The executive course
The beautifully laid out Executive Course, tucked neatly along the inner periphery of the full length course is designed to attract beginners, short hitters or golfers with limited playing time. An hour usually suffices. Mark has never heard of another club that provides such an accommodating extra attraction.
[edit] Top 50
All of those who had poured their dreams, time and energies into creating an outstanding golf course savored their finest hour when Hog Neck then four years old, was chosen on of the top 50 public golf course in the country by prestigious Golf Digest Magazine. How did it gain a place on this elite list to which only two other mid-Atlantic courses, Pine Ridge in Lutherville, Md. and Hershey in Hershey, Pa. were admitted? "It started by word of mouth," explains Mark Herrmann. "There are 39 PGA sections in the country. In our mid-Atlantic area the 250 pros were asked to rate one or two courses in the section as among the finest public facilities in the nation. The list was turned in to the magazine and they sent a panel to play the course. Then Syl Wagasky of the National Golf Foundation made a report on us and they were kind enough to rank us in the top 50. It was a great honor.
[edit] Out of towners
As soon as the word got out I received a lot of calls from New York and all over. Eighty percent of the play this year has been from other than Talbot County. We are getting a lot of people who like to come here and stay a day or two. Their wives often come and go shopping or sightseeing and the guys play golf all day. On a summer weekend we can get anywhere from 100 to 300 out-of-towners. You never know." Mark is modest when he only mentions New York. Golfers from Europe, South Africa and Australia have enjoyed the course as well.
[edit] Exactly as planned
Everything is turning out exactly as Mrs. Jones and Bill Corkran had hoped. "The course was designed to be self supporting," he says. "We thought the way to do that was to create something of high quality that people would want to keep coming. This is what has happened. Mrs. Jones gave all the land - 250 acres and money to build the buildings and buy the initial equipment. Now nobody gives us any money. One of the primary concerns is that it never be a drain on the taxpayers of Talbot County. As it is, we more than pay our way." Nettie Marie Jones is no longer a resident of Talbot County. Bill suspects that she misses it "but she's the kind of lady that doesn't look back." He phones her every couple of weeks, keeps her up to date about the course and her other philanthropies and occasionally drives down to Charlottesville, Va. to visit her. At the age of 90 she is still possessed of extraordinary keeness. "She has a memory like an elephant," says Bill. "She knows precisely what was spent on the course and when. Still reads the minutes of all our meetings." She has never seen the course since it was completed, but between her phenomenal memory of its beginnings and the fine pictures of it she often receives, she knows that her extraordinary gift to Talbot County and its golfing visitors has developed just as she anticipated back in 1972.
[edit] Now
Now the Golf Pro is Mike Kaminskas and Superintendent is Bob Raley
[edit] External links
Hog Neck Golf Course Offical Site
