And he is getting the results.
He played seven rounds in five days over the past week and very successfully too.
The Otago Boys' High School year 10 pupil won the under-15 grade at the New Zealand age-group championships in Nelson last week.
Playing over three rounds, the 14-year-old finished four shots clear of the second place-getter and was 12th overall at the championships, which attracted more than 150 golfers.
He then got into the car - driven by dad Gary - on Friday, straight after the prizegiving, and the duo drove all the way to Cromwell, a trip of more than nine hours.
They caught a few hours of sleep and then got up about 6am and drove through to Queenstown, where Joseph played in the 72-hole Queenstown Open.
He scored 305 gross to finish 19th overall in that tournament and tallied the second-best nett score.
Hancock admitted he was tired on Sunday night when he had to drive back home but it was all worth it. He enjoyed the camaraderie of the sport.
His handicap of 4.4 is set to go down to 1.9 tomorrow after his impressive rounds of late.
Hancock first played golf when he was 7 and still practises a couple of times a week as well as playing at the weekend, both at the Otago Golf Club and at his home club at Waikouaiti.
Many golfers may wait their whole lives for a hole in one but Hancock has two to his name - one at Chisholm Park this year and another at Cambridge last year.
Coached by Wanaka professional Alan Rose, Hancock said his game had been improving lately, thanks to plenty of hard work and improved wedge play. His dream was to get a golf scholarship in the United States.
But for now it is more practice and more road trips. The next big aim is to defend the title the Otago team won at the national junior tournament in Cambridge, which is contested later this month.
Also at the tournament in Nelson, Liam Judkins (12), of Queenstown, took out the silver medal in the under-13 championship with rounds of 78 and 82 for the first two rounds.
Judkins is one of the youngest members of the recently formed Wakatipu Junior Club and he, along with older brother Callum, has a bright future in the game.
Judkins will join Hancock in the under-16 Otago team to defend the national junior title in Cambridge.
