PEBBLE BEACH, CALIF. (Feb. 13, 2014) — Cole Handley has been named head golf professional at Poppy Hills Golf Course, golf’s newest destination inside Pebble Beach’s Del Monte Forest. The unveiling and first day of public play at the reinvented Poppy Hills Golf Course is on April 4.
If anyone knows Poppy Hills inside and out, it’s Handley, who was part of the Frontier Golf construction team for the renovation, which started in March of 2013.
“I had the opportunity to be exposed to all aspects of golf course construction,” said Handley, a PGA Class A Pro. “I was literally building my dream out there.”
Handley operated bulldozers and giant dump trucks, surveyed slopes of greens and tees, installed drainage, built bunkers, seeded greens, and much more. He also joined the Poppy Hills maintenance staff in November and helped groom the course to its current specs: firm and fast.
“My favorite part was mowing the greens that I helped create, and seeing the sand and mix turn green,” Handley said.
Handley has worked in the golf business since he was a cart boy in Oregon at the age of 15. He helped the Taft (Oregon) High School golf team win the 2000 3A State Championship.
Handley joined Poppy Hills in 2008, but his journey also included traveling to nearly every national park in the U.S., as well as adventures throughout Asia. On the other side of the globe, Handley still gave free lessons to locals in Thailand.
Now Handley is designing the course markers and signage, scorecards, yardage books, and more to fit the theme of the stunning Del Monte Forest around Poppy Hills.
“It’s amazing to rebuild a place I love, and help make it the place I’ve always wanted it to be,” Handley said. “Its an unbelievable experience to be able to take a life long dream and make it a reality.”
For further information about Poppy Hills, access the web site at www.PoppyHillsGolf.com.
About Poppy Hills
Poppy Hills underwent an extensive renovation in March of 2013 centered around water conservation, primarily by improving irrigation and drainage. Original architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. returned to Poppy Hills to create a firm, fast and fun course that unfolds seamlessly through the stunning Del Monte Forest in Pebble Beach.
Jones reinvented the course architecturally, restoring each hole to its natural elevation along the forest floor, softening doglegs and contours, rebuilding all 18 greens with bentgrass, eliminating rough and introducing native waste areas that reduce irrigated turf by nearly 25%.
The headquarters of the Northern California Golf Association co-hosted the PGA Tour’s AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am from 1991 through 2009, as well as the Spalding Pebble Beach Invitational (1989-1991) and 1991 NCAA Men’s Championships. Poppy Hills is also the tournament home to many of the NCGA’s major amateur championships.
Visit PoppyHillsGolf.com for updates on the renovation.
About the Northern California Golf Association
The NCGA is one of the largest regional golf associations in the country, with more than 150,000 members throughout Northern California and into Nevada. The NCGA is the only golf association in the country to own two courses – Poppy Hills in Pebble Beach and Poppy Ridge in Livermore.
Since 1901, it has been the NCGA’s mission to support and promote the game of golf in Northern California. The NCGA provides official handicap indexes, conducts more than 50 championships annually, rates courses throughout Northern California, publishes NCGA Golf magazine and operates a Foundation to support deserving youth. The NCGA Foundation’s Youth on Course program allows juniors to play more than 100 courses in Northern California for just $5.
Contact:
Karen Moraghan
Hunter Public Relations
(908) 876-5100
kmoraghan@hunter-pr.com
Scott Seward
Northern California Golf Association
(831) 625-4653
sseward@ncga.org
