http://thecourseatyale.org/I know much has been written about The Course at Yale. I played it for the first time today and thought I'd share my thoughts.
The course opens at 12p on Mondays. I made the first tee time, no one was there to join me, and I was off at 1140a. Finished up 3 hours later. Carried my own bag. 90 minutes from downtown Manhattan, no big deal.
I knew the course was going to be BIG. Indeed it was. But not just in the sense that the course covers 700 rolling acres with some tremendous greens. It was such a wide open course that even though it was not easy (rating around 72 for a par 70 and slope 135), I always felt that I could take a full swing without feeling constrained or fearful. With my game (12 index), this almost always means I play better and have more fun.
The course was unique in that there were so many blind shots, big hills, bells to ring, deep bunkers, aiming targets, etc. The course had a very old school feel (built in 1926). There was a lot of walking forward a good distance from my ball to figure out where to hit. All in all, this made for a very long walk, but a good day of exercise. I would describe the conditioning as "fair", but it didn't really negatively impact my round, or enjoyment at all.
There were many template holes (redan, biarritz, eden, alps, short). What I really liked is that I am at the point in my GCA education where when I saw "nose" as the name of a hole, I figured there would be a principal's nose bunker, which of course there was. 3 years ago I would have had no idea what that meant. A few years from now this will probably be no big deal. This reminds me of when I was starting to follow the Grateful Dead. At the beginning I had no idea what the songs were. At the end, unless I heard a certain grouping of songs I was disappointed. It was the middle, or the "sweet spot" that was the best. Hopefully the GCA sweet spot lasts longer than the Grateful Dead sweet spot.
Where was I.....
Holes to note -
# 3 (Blind) - A difficult hole to play for the first time, both to determine where to land your drive and then the blind shot to the green. I found the hazard on the right, but was able to play from the hazard and salvage a bogey.
# 5 (Short) - I really like the short template hole. My favorite one is at Sleepy Hollow. For some reason they never play as easy for me as they should. I thought this one looked great, except for my score (5).
# 7 (Lane) - Just a wide open hole to an elevated green. Fit my eye nicely.
# 9 (Biarritz) - This lived up to the hype. The shot across the water was much easier because there was no one in sight. Even the halfway house was closed. The pin was in the front, but I took a practice putt from way back and through the swale, which was fun. This swale was more extreme than the other Biarritz holes I have played at Greenbrier and Tamarack in CT.
#10 (Carries) - A blind tee shot with a second that that plays to a very elevated green. I added 25 yards to account for the elevation and some wind and still found the large front bunker. Not an easy start to the back 9.
# 14 (Knoll) - The only hole I kept driver in the bag, as I thought I would go through the fairway. This hole was a contrast with most of the other wide open holes and was a good change of pace.
# 15 (Eden) - Relatively easy par 3. 175 yards. I made birdie so it stood out.
# 17 (Nose) - I think the principal's nose is such a cool feature. So old school. Tough drive over a lake uphill to the fairway. Long second shot as well which carries the principals nose. I think this was the longest par 4 on the course.
# 18 (Home) - Par 5 with the first shot semi-blind and the second shot totally blind. Had to walk forward a good deal to get the line. Not my favorite finishing hole, but would be more fun after repeated play.
All in all a great day. I look forward to my next trip to New Haven and The Course at Yale.
Brian