Mayday:
I, too had the fortune to play Yale and Stonewall in the past 7 weeks through the O-C. Played pretty good at both, with a sold sub 40 back nine at Stonewall even though my first trip, and cracked 80 at Yale last. Doaks Stonewall design really captures the feel of Chester Co. PA rolling terrain.
While I prefer my home club - Springdale - on a regular basis, I have really enjoyed getting to know Yale with 3 visits in just over a year, and my scores have come down each round. I am just getting a sense of where to hit a drive to catch one of the plateaus going up the hill on 18, or where to hit the approach on 10 to navigate the front and back slopes of the green properly.
The back nine at Yale is difficult to walk, and my strategy is to walk the front and catch a cart for the back, then try to walk the front again as a third nine. I have walked all 18, and I need a lighter trolley than the old tanks that they lease at Yale.
As you know, Springdale is the home course for Princeton U, and the difference between Yale could not be more diametrically opposed. The size of the greens, plot of land, fairways, in vs. out of town could not be more different. I like to Tease Colin Sheehan about Raynor being a Princeton Grad.
The P U Team rarely plays in the Yale events, knowing that home course advantage a Yale is magnified.
Would love to get to Yale again if the weather holds up this fall.
WmFlynnFan