Hancock Golf Course

I've played Hancock since the early 1980's and this was by far the worst shape this course has been in that I can recall. I worked downtown Austin for 20+ years and highly enjoyed taking an early afternoon break and getting in 18 holes and then back to the office for a few hours work. Great location and many good eating places within a
Short drive. Gotta be able to hit ball straight and control your short game as it is somewhat challenging for suffers. Bring a good supply of balls. Great history with the course as well. I highly recommend playing this great little jewel once all the greens are back in shape.

I paid $35 for two people to ride and play 9 holes on this course. It is easily in the worst shape of all courses I've EVER played and I've been playing Austin golf courses for over 20 years. My advice: Consider playing ANY other courses in Austin first.

Fairways were great but the greens were sandy. Enough hazards later holes to keep you focused.

The greens on the course contained very poor condition and the maintenance team has poured sand all over them.

I usually enjoy playing a low-stress round at Hancock but the greens were basically sand traps.

I love Hancock. It's a great little nine hole course that will put your ball striking to test. If you're a decent player, you can leave the driver in the bag all day (I haven't hit driver since the first round I played here). But just because it's short doesn't mean the tee shots are easy. You have to be on the correct side of the fairway (and in the fairway for that matter) if you want to attack these pins. You have to be very accurate hitting into these small greens. Typically, the greens are a bit bumpy, but overall fair (they have sanded the greens recently, so they will be pretty much unplayable for the next few weeks).

Nice little 9 hole course that you can always walk on to. Mostly short par 4s but a couple of challenging holes as well. Usually in good condition and a super friendly staff.

Friendly staff, great location. I recommend this course if you are a beginner looking for an economical place to learn.

Nice course to walk for the exercise. Course plays fairly easy and pace was no problem on this day.

This course suprised me with its layout. I thought it was going to be a boring 9 hole course but it has some flair. It is an enjoyable course that is easy to walk. It is in pretty good condition and the greens aren't bad. Pace of play could be an issue. It draws a lot of college kids that sometimes care more about having a good time and no concern for who is behind them.

When, I pilled up into the parking lot of Handcock. I was not impressed at all. but for $11 green fee. I shouldn't expect much. But that all changed once, I got to the 1st tee box. I was very impressed with how green the fairway was. The 1st green was also in very good shape. The other 8 holes were equally in great shape.
I played this course in about an hour and half.
This little 9 hole course has it ALL, evaluation, decent, and blind shots.
This is a MUST PLAY COURSE. Its a real gem and to think its in the center of Austin.

I have played this course around once a month for the last 5-6 years and it has done nothing but improved over that time.

Tees:
Tee boxes are very green and fresh. Many holes have multiple tee box locations.
#5 Placed on the left hand side of the top of the hill.
#6 Moved back, requiring a low trajectory tee shot, thus making it play more like a par 5.

Cart Paths: Non-existent

Fairways:
Shown in the picture (tee box #1), the fairways are green, with a distinct fairway and rough which is a huge improvement for this course. They continue to improve even in the winter.

Greens:
These greens have been notoriously slow in the past but with the improved watering system they were able to grow out and are now being cut shorter and shorter, improving the roll and bumpiness of the greens.

The landing areas short of the greens on holes has drastically improved.

Bunkers:
There are not many bunkers on this course and are usually not well maintained. However, the bunker I played out of on #3 and the rest I peeked into, had fluffy sand as opposed to the usual porcelain sand I was used to. The grounds crew has done a wonderful job improving these bunkers.

The grounds crew has found subtle ways to improve the course over the years. This course continues to show more promise and in a few years and some improvements may be on par with lions/MW as viable central austin golfing options.

Keep it up Hancock!

Hole 7...green messed up...still enjoyable for a unique quirky course

Been going to Hancock every time I'm near the area and need to play a quick 9 (or 18) with the gang.

Course is okay and staff are really friendly.

The pace of play is horrible!!!! And that's a shame because it could be a fun little nine hole course.

I hate giving low star numbers on my course reviews; we feel guilty, right!? But, I need to be honest. It's nothing personal.

Being a 9-hole course, this will not likely make your regular list of courses to play. It's a short course with a mix of players. Just be prepared for a few more hackers than usual and take it easy on this casual course.

Sometime back, they rearranged the holes. That's fine and all, but they haven't bothered to print new scorecards; they're using up the old ones first, I guess. So for now, #1 is actually #6 on the scorecard. Of course that doesn't really matter much since a) they have nice tee box signs and b) most of us are using GPS and smartphone apps for yardages.

The course has a nice sized practice green but it's on a bit of a slope. There's no driving range -- no room for it. Being nine holes and more of an old school course, you'll see a lot of walkers carrying bags or using pull carts. As needed, I believe you can rent a pull cart at the course. And, of course, they have electric carts as well. Walking will certainly give you some exercise -- especially with various up/down climbs you'll be doing. There are concrete paths for about half of the course. The rest is simply walking down the fairway.

Note -- if using GolfNow to book your tee time, carts are not automatically included. In fact, they're rarely part of the deal. Just be prepared accordingly.

The fairways on my recent outing were in pretty good shape. You'll get a couple different types of grasses and all but it's certainly playable. Get off in the rough and you'll find more clover, dead grass, and/or plain dirt. There were a few burned out spots on some tee boxes and greens. Then again, it's hard to keep that from happening in the dry heat of summer. The bunkers were in good shape -- the two I found had nice, soft sand. And finally, the greens were the slowest that I've played on in a very, very long time. I guess they do this to keep them from drying out and burning up. It'll affect your score, but that's not really why you're playing Hancock.

I loved this place! I played at noon when it was 100F and it was still loads of fun! Course is real easy and some fun risk reward tee shots (250 yard par 4) just absolutely fun! And I only paid $10 for 9 holes. Definitely worth it

Thanks for a great experience. I took my 11 year old for his gold experience and he loved it also.

Hancock is an interesting golf course. The conditions are better than ever since they installed irrigation, but they still are average at best, and the greens are too slow. They don't marshal the course well, and there is no starter, so it can be a free-for-all if you play when it is busy. Of the six par 4's, three are very straight forward and wide open from the tee. That said, there are a lot of interesting and quirky shots on this course. There are holes here that are quite unlike anything you will find in the Austin area. It is an old course, and it feels like an old course; short, quirky, and fun.

Course was somewhat easy to play with only one (1) par 5 out of the nine (9) holes on the course and two (2) par 3's.

I'm so glad we finally checked his place out after a couple years playing in Austin. It fun and well kept. Can't wait to go again.