<p>The first preseason practice of Edinburgh’s 2016 boys golf season featured varying degrees of talent.</p>
<p>Bladen Hancock, who had never so much as swung a club, was at the bottom of the list.</p>
<p>“The first time I ever played golf was my first practice. I had never hit a ball before,” Hancock said. “I had a friend on the team, and he asked me if I would try out. I’m glad I did.”</p>
<p>So is Lancers coach Doug Weddle.</p>
<p>From that first shot — a short drive on the first hole at Timbergate Golf Course — to his most recent putt, the swift improvement in Hancock’s game can be attributed to daily sessions of practicing drives, putts and all things in between.</p>
<p>“The way he practices is just second to nobody,” said Hancock’s father, Paul. “He’ll hit 300 to 600 balls every day, and that’s not counting the time he spends on the putting green.”</p>
<p>To appreciate Hancock’s nine-hole stroke average of roughly 42 this spring, it’s important to look back at the beginning.</p>
<p>As a freshman in 2016, he scored two 11s on his way to a 128 at the Southport Sectional at the Legends Golf Course in Franklin. Compare that to the 88 Hancock carded at sectional last season at Hickory Stick.</p>
<p>Different golf courses and weather conditions, but 40 strokes is 40 strokes.</p>
<p>“From his freshman year he’s worked really hard on it,” Weddle said. “It’s kind of fun to watch that improvement. As Bladen’s matured, he keeps things under control on the course, and that’s made him a better player.”</p>
<p>If not for sustaining a concussion playing for the Lancers’ eighth-grade football team, Hancock might never have played golf. His ensuing dizzy spells eventually led to the discovery that he had aortic valve insufficiency, a leaking of the aortic valve of the heart.</p>
<p>“Within five minutes of walking in the door the doctor told Bladen he would never play football again,” Paul said. “Football was absolutely his sport. But he’s fallen in love with golf, and I’m thankful.”</p>
<p>The junior’s unusual first name is a combination of Blake and Braden. These were his parents’ top choices for names after the birth of their third child — with neither able to win out.</p>
<p>“I said, ‘How about Bladen?’ and it just stuck,” Paul said.</p>
<p>At Timbergate, Hancock hits golf balls or practices his putting seven days a week if weather conditions make it possible. He doesn’t play a lot of complete rounds, instead working on parts of his game that might not have been to his standards in Edinburgh’s most recent match.</p>
<p>Some days it’s his driver; other times it might be devoting time to his irons. Hancock said putting might be the most consistent part of his game.</p>
<p>In the postseason, Hancock could make a bit of history. The Lancers haven’t advanced a boys golfer to the regional since Cory Burton in 2012.</p>
<p>Hancock’s constant desire to improve might change that.</p>
