The Travesty of Yale – Hole 7
The seventh hole at Yale is another excellent short par 4 with one of my favorite greens on the course. The hole was literally created by dynamiting a huge rocky hillside leaving a natural greensite up on top of the hill. By doing this, Raynor solved a routing problem that allowed using the fantastic land on which the 8th hole sits. The green itself has the most back to front pitch of any of the greens at Yale but it is the complex internal contours, shelves and irregularities that created magnificent pin locations. There are probably more intricate and varied putts on this green then ANY other on the course. The uphill nature of the approach and the depth of the green make the short approach very exacting.
Given the blasting that created this hole, there was little topsoil to grow turf on the fairway and consequently, drainage was very poor. One of the highlights of this past golf season at Yale was the very successful drainage work on this fairway. It now remains MUCH dryer then previously and consequently plays much better.
The relative position of hole number 7 to hole number 8 can be seen in this 1940 aerial view. Its clear how hole 8 and therefore the return to the pond for #9 was made possible by creation of the devilish 7th hole. I'd also like to point out the detail around the first green and the front left bunker.
An old photo showing the approach shot to this green is shown next (Thanks to George Bahto). Note the size of the greenside bunker which is about as large as the green. It featured a large lip on the front.
Aerial enlargement of the 7th green from 1940 confirm the placement of this bunker and its size.
Now let’s take a look at hole #7 today.
I have not bothered to photograph a closeup image of the Roger Rulewich bunker. Needless to saw you can see enough from the images below. It is another of his peanut shaped entities created with complete disregard to the originals. It is MUCH smaller then the original. It is totally a different shape. It is placed down the hillside and not up at the green as was the original. It does not have the lip of the original. Other then that it is a perfect match. DUH Yet we can go back to his quote PUBLISHED IN GOLFWEEK “The bunker renovation started in 1998
after reviewing hundreds of construction pictures and several aerial photos of the entire course taken since 1934” and “All of the other sand bunkers have now been repaired with improved drainage and new sand. The style of flat sand areas and grass banks have been preserved. The grass slopes have not been softened - they were left undisturbed in most every case when the bunker repair was done. The steepness is not gone and depths have not been compromised.” and “The bunkers at Yale hardly suffer from an overdose of Valium as Klein suggests. They are wonderfully varied, from shallow to deep, small to large and in varied configurations. Where are the "amoeba-like" shapes he seems to have found?”
We can also see from the photo taken in the landing area of the fairway another bit of the idiotic stuff members had to contend with during the two years the athletic department decided not to hire a superintendent. Peter Pulaski, director of golf was in charge and this little patch of rough was grown in the freekin primary landing area for a perfect drive. It extends more then halfway into the width of the fairway. It was nicknamed (NOT BY ME but others who obviously saw the folly in this move) “Peter’s Patch” HAH
I trust that our new superintendent will rid us of this folly ASAP.
So I ask once again- Is this a satisfactory restoration. Has the history and greatness of the course at Yale been given its proper due? I remind you again of Roger Rulewich’s concluding remark published in Golfweek “Klein’s caustic review does an injustice to all of us who are working on the course and to the perseverance of the University and it’s benefactors in their dedicated efforts to bring back the glory of an inspired design. The bunker program has gone a long way toward that goal. Other improvements are underway and under consideration to make the course more beautiful, playable, and challenging for all the golfers who enjoy it. Its reputation is intact and I have no fear that the greatness of this classic and historic course will ever be diminished.” In keeping with the season, HUMBUG!