Painted portrait of Arnold Haneke featured in the main entrance at Hillcrest Country Club.
By: Shane René, USGA P.J. Boatwright Intern
Just over a decade after its establishment in 1940, Arnold “Hank” Haneke arrived at Hillcrest Country Club when the golf course was just nine holes. Under his leadership, Hillcrest blossomed into one of Boise’s preeminent golf clubs — and one of the finest in the region — as Haneke became the figurehead of golf in Idaho for the better part of four decades.
Born and raised in Oregon, Haneke began his golf career as a caddie at La Grande Country Club and turned professional at 15 years old. In 1935, he became the head professional at La Grande, also serving as golf course superintendent, and there seemed little question that a long life in golf awaited him.
When World War II broke out, Haneke enlisted with the U.S. Navy and served on the USS Ranger through the end of the war. Then, Haneke found himself on the east coast, serving as head professional at clubs in Florida and Maryland before heading to Idaho where he would live and work until he passed away in 1994.
During his tenure at Hillcrest, Haneke’s reputation as a masterful teacher and authority on all things golf towered over his famously small frame. He worked with players of all abilities, including high-handicap members and budding superstars like Shirley Englehorn. He made passing down his rich understanding of the game to everyone willing to listen his life’s work. As a player, he battled through back injuries to qualify for and play the 1966 PGA Championship.
Haneke is also credited as an innovator in the pro-shop. A man driven by details on and off the golf course, his pro shop at Hillcrest was notoriously clutter-free, deploying his well-trained staff to hold the highest standards of professionalism. When members entered a spring-loaded door at the side of the pro shop, he insisted that his staff greet the member by name before the door snapped shut behind them. Haneke always encouraged his pro shop staff to play golf with members, a policy that helped tighten the fabric of his community and gave his staff opportunities to meet and learn from successful figures in the community. His commitment to those details, and that consistency, established the reputation that Hillcrest maintains to this day.
Haneke believed strongly in decorum; and those who knew him describe him as a man who commanded respect — but they are all careful to note that he never demanded it. At the 1990 Women’s Amateur at Quail Hollow — where Haneke was teaching lessons after his tenure at Hillcrest — the Quail Hollow Women’s Association asked Haneke to serve as the honorary starter and scorer for the final pairing. He arrive on a hot sunny day in slacks and a suit jacket and walked all 18 holes. Even while navigating Quail’s hilly terrain at 72 years old, Haneke refused to take a cart, insisting that officials at events of such magnitude should always walk the course.
Set behind his professionalism, but never hidden by it, Haneke was well known for his cheerful, friendly demeanor and was a champion of community above all else. Those who say they were fortunate enough to ask him questions about life and golf say those conversations would often reverse themselves, as he peppered them with a series of genuine questions about their own lives.
“I think about him every day,” said First Tee Utah Executive Director Paul Pugmire, who worked for Haneke while he played golf at Boise State. “I always want to treat people the way Mr. Haneke did.”
At Haneke’s funeral in 1994 — which required the closing of four city blocks for the procession — then-sitting-Governor Cecil D. Andrus arrived alone, without security or state representatives by his side, to pay his respects to the man who embodied the game we all love.
Accomplishment Highlights:
1987 RMSPGA Teacher and Coach of the Year
1988 RMSPGA Bill Strausbaugh Award Winner
Original figurehead of golf in Idaho
Head professional at Hillcrest CC from ‘54-82