Course History
The Magnificent Gift Of Nettie Marie Back in the mists of time when a stalwart Scotsman experienced considerable satisfaction by watching a round stone that he smote
with a sturdy stick sail through the air, little did he suspect that he was originating a new game - a tantalizing, humbling, challenging, frustrating, demoralizing, absorbing, diabolical, exhilarating, masochistic, fascinating game - GOLF! Talbot County's local playing field, Hog Neck Golf Course lacks the gorse, heather and boulders of it's
ancestors; its lush, rolling fairways are mowed uniformly, its greens trimmed to the smoothness of a wavy billiard table, its roughs, sand traps and lakes, seemingly left au natural, are cunningly arranged to receive regrettable
shots. The handsome course's only reminder of its earthy name -Hog Neck. 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.
First 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.
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."
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! Mark voices tremendous pride in the growth and popularity of Hog Neck since its ribbon cutting opening on July 17, 1976.
"Now it is one of the most popular courses in Md. in terms in terms of the number of people playing. Last year 31,000 played. This year it will probably be 35,000. This is particularly remarkable because surveys show that you need a
population of 100,000 within a 20 mile vicinity before you build a golf course and we only have 25,000 in that radius." Local interest in the course has been sparked by the junior program which runs for ten weeks in the summer for
youngsters from 6 to 15. "This is our fifth year" says Mark, who teaches the young hopefuls the rudiments of golf, "so now
we have some kids of 16 and 17 who are really good at it. A tournament with prizes completes the program at summer's end.
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. 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. "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.
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.
As for the Scottish ancestor who started the whole craze, dour though he may have been, he would have to shake his head in admiring disbelief of all 18 holes of his beautiful Hog Neck offspring.
by Pat Bryan
(as it appeared in the Tidewater Times, July, 1981)
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.
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.
Since most of the ladies who play regularly hold down full time jobs, they have organized themselves into a loosely structured group that meets late Wednesday afternoons. Senior men also meet informally every Tuesday.
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