McNeil
chosen to complete Comprehensive Master
Restoration/Renovation Plan at Milton Hoosic Club.
Robert McNeil, ASGCA has begun the task of developing a
long range Comprehensive Master Restoration/Renovation Plan at the Milton
Hoosic Club in Canton, Massachusetts.
The Milton Hoosic Club was established in 1891 making it
one of the oldest Clubs in the country.
It’s design pedigree trace back to Willie Park Jr. According
to a Club History Willie Park Jr, was engaged by the board of (at the time)
Hoosic-Whisick in 1916 to redesign what was a very informal layout developed in
1897. The Club was elected into the USGA
in 1897 and to the Massachusetts Golf Association in 1903 making it one of the
original 48 clubs and a charter member.
It
is also documented in the Clubs history that Parks design included cutting
through the pine forest to develop what are now holes 6, 7 and 8. Holes 2, 3 and 4 were also redesigned and
lengthened as directed by Park. The
redesign work took several years with a halt in construction during WWI. The
new holes and the layout as it is today were reopened in 1921.
It
is evident that Park Jr. left an imprint at Milton Hoosic. His crossing hazards can be found on the 5th
and 7th as well as a lost crossing bunker on the 9th seen
as recent as on the 1969 photo. The
routing of the golf course also takes on a very natural flow with seemingly
little earthmoving with green locations positioned so as to take advantage of
the given topography.
The
Master Plan will identify the value of the many historic elements either still
part of the course or that have been lost.
The work includes bunker renovation and restoration, establishing a
comprehensive tee program to give the course maximum flexibility, a tree
management program and recontouring and expansion of greens and fairways to
bring back the original strategic lines on the course.
