Yale: all that it is cracked up to be and more

[cary lichtenstein]

I had the pleasure of playing Yale today, finally, and it lives up to its hype, maybe even more so.

I play it again Wednesday, and will post on it in detail as soon as I have time, but for all of you who have not played it, it is a must, must play

[Phil Benedict]

Yale is one of the few courses talked about on this board that I have had the pleasure of playing.  It really is one of a kind, isn't it?

[cary lichtenstein]

It really is one of a kind.

Topography to die for, monster greens, variety thru out, the whole kitchen sink

[Geoffrey Childs]

Cary - we were up there earlier today as well.  Scott Ramsay continues to make progress and the course is as good as I've ever seen it.  We got lucky with the weather as well.

Did you like the pin location on #'s 7, 9, 10!!! and 13?

[Bill_McBride]

Geoff, was the pin down front on #10 as it was the day we played last summer?    Putting from rear to front via the great circle route was spectacularly fun!  Of course you could avoid all that by sticking your approach like Pat Mucci.  

[Patrick_Mucci]

Bill Mcbride,

Thanks.

I think the circuitous route, from the upper level to the lower level, via the ramps is one of golf's great features.

# 10 at Yale remains a classic hole for the ages.

And to think, that almost everything was dynamited to create this wonderful, man made golf course, makes you appreciate CBM's genius all the more.

It is a treasure and fun to play

[cary lichtenstein]

On #9, I hit 3 wood and wound up in the valley of the Biarritz and knocked in a 10 footer for my 3rd putt , and I was proud to make 4.

On 10, I stuffed a 6 iron to about 6 feet and missed the putt.

I'd like to take some of those greens back to Florida and put them on Admirals Cove's course since they are redoing it, but they would think I was nuts.

[Jason Blasberg]

10 played like a beast yesterday!  From the tips I played a 240 shot to the back pin with 3 wood and was about 20 feet below the hole.

[Phil Benedict]

How is the course draining with all this rain?

[Steve Lapper]

Cary & Jason,

  Oh stop it!!! 10 wasn't so tough..I nailed a 7 iron to inside 3 feet (ask Mike S. for the photo to prove it) and, like everyone else, failed to realize that the hole sat on a micro-spaced "pencil-ridge" (so aptly named by Neil Regan
) and missed the "should've been easy birdie." After making par, it took 4X tries to realize you needed to factor in a 4 inch lag break to make it

  More importantly, my first look at Yale left me simply in awe!   . The course is pure gem, the land, it's heaves and largesse magnificant, the Mac-Raynor architecture brillant and Scott Ramsey's efforts exceptional (especially after listening to its historic conditioning and care problems). While exhausted after a damp, long and arduous walk & carry, I just can't wait to drive the 2.5hrs up and play it again. The fun and test quotients were so well matched and presented that it's damn near tragic that time hasn't treated this gem to the public respect it so very well deserves.


I can't post a large enough thank you to Mike Sweeney for his through day of infectious enthusiasm and enjoyment. Any invitation anytime anywhere is worth taking with Mike! Meeting Uncle Bob, face-to-face and watching KBM look at every green and angle with the respect of a fellow artist was the icing on the cake!! Great Place, great company, great time!

[Michael Moore]

I played Yale for the first time last month. I found it to be unlike any other course.

After the round, at the insistence of my host, we went through the card hole by hole to review what I had just seen. The number of show-stoppingly good and original holes at Yale is way up there.

HOWEVER, my host did admit that the third hole and the eighteenth hole kind of stand apart and perhaps merit special consideration. A separate category. As in , "well everyone loves the course, that's a no-brainer, but what did you think of 3 and 18". I told him I had to think about it.

Upon further review I would say that 3 is tolerable and that 18 is an upsetting conclusion. Call me old fashioned, but I think that long holes should have fairways.

Dear reader, how do you like those two holes?

[Phil Benedict]

Michael,

Three is call blind for obvious reasons.  It's not my favorite but it's ok.

The first two times I played 18 I ended up in my pocket, which didn't exactly endear me to the hole. But last summer I made par hitting 3-wood, 3-wood,wedge.  With two well-executed shots I got past the ridge dividing the fairway.  There's plenty of room, but you need to hit two good shots.

Now that I know that there is a way to play the hole it doesn't bother me anymore.  And it certainly is unique.

I have yet to play from the elevated, back tee.  From there it would probably be a driver.

[George_Bahto]

HAH - you don't make putts on 10-green  

[mike_malone]

 # 10 reminded me of # 13 at Rolling Green. So, I layed up to the end of the fairway , hit wedge onto the slope, rolled back to a few feet, and made the putt.

  I thought it was more enjoyable than Merion.

 

[Phil Benedict]

To answer another question, the course actually did very well with the rain.  A little soft, but it did great.  Very little ponding, puddles or rivulets.

This is another miracle that Scott Ramsey has performed.  My first time at Yale it was a swamp.  Someone on another post said that clearing out brush has improved the drainage.  

[Chris Pike]

What?  No talk of #4?  

#4 is my favortie hole at Yale.  While not nearly as visually intimidating as #3, #9, #18, etc. (with the exception of the water on the right), it seems pretty straightforward.  However, as anyone who's played #4 knows, it is very difficult.  A fortunate, well-placed drive still leaves a long-iron into an elevated green (maybe an understatement) protected by a large, deep bunker (although not as deep as Raynor intended).  Truly a gem of a hole and a gem of a course!

P.S. We need to have those Yale pics under the "Courses By Country" section updated, as they do not justice to the present conditioning of the course.

[cary lichtenstein]

I played a litle after 10 yesterday

[mike_malone]

 This was my second Macdonald/Raynor course. I wonder whether their template holes are "archetypes".

   (The defintion speaks of "inherited ideas" that are derived from the experience of the race that are present in the unconscious of the individual.)

     It seems that Macdonald carried over from the British Isles holes that  affect the  core of golfers . They create a visual and playable feeling that seems connected to one's golf unconscious.


   This tranlates to an impression that "this is how a hole should look and play".
   

[mike_malone]

 Sorry to be such a threadkiller with my psychobabble!


     I thought that the scale of Yale was its  distinguishing feature.  I guess it was because of the difficulty of finding and creating greensites but the effect was that the playing field was massive. Jeff Siskind pointed out how amazing it must have been for its time. ( All I can remember from Jay Flemma was his excellently delivered joke while we waited for Billy V. to finish )

   Jim Keever was our historical guide throughout the course. He pointed out to us on several occasions rocks in the background from which the course was excavated. Mike Sweeney insisted that I look at the photos taken during the construction. I thought it was a Fazio site!

    I'm puzzled by the controversy associated with #3 and #18. I could use some clarification there. Those holes were thrilling to me.

[George_Bahto]

Mayday:

hole #3 - the green was moved considerably to the left - various reasons previously discussed but I would clarify for you if you'd like. The original green was right next to the water and the play from the fairway was stright thru, not over the left hill.  Notice how the present 3-green is the only flat (pancake) green on the course.

hole #10 - no controversy - just a great hole to many of us - very unique

I think people are beginning to "get it" about #18

unfortunately, a number of years ago a noted writer really panned the hole (not understanding it)

gb

[Steve Lapper]

Mayday:

hole #3 - the green was moved considerably to the left - various reasons previously discussed but I would clarify for you if you'd like. The original green was right next to the water and the play from the fairway was stright thru, not over the left hill.  Notice how the present 3-green is the only flat (pancake) green on the course.

hole #10 - no controversy - just a great hole to many of us - very unique

I think people are beginning to "get it" about #18

unfortunately, a number of years ago a noted writer really panned the hole (not understanding it)

gb

Uncle George,

    I handily "got" #3...loved it in fact. I also thought keenly of 10.... Golf's version of Coney Island's Cyclone perhaps?

 As for #18, what was quite interesting was that after hitting what Mike Sweeney described as a "perfect" 295yd tee shot from the tips, I was 25 feet behind a monsterous hairy mound that frightened me into hitting a 6 iron (instead of hybrid 19 deg..) After hitting my iron well-enough I began "moaning" to KBM & Sweeney about how there wasn't enough risk-reward, blah, blah... Mike let me hit another w/ the hybrid (pured it) and the result was 25yds short of the green. I immediately took my front left foot out of my mouth went back and hit my measly 7 iron from a nasty/wicked side-hill lie in the moderate rough....and trotted up to proclaim this an utterly fantastic work of epic heaving and blind strategy...brilliant!

 I only hope was that the quick change of heart was sufficiently recognized so that the god's of YGC allow me back for another tour and treat me kindly!

[Michael Moore]

I'm puzzled by the controversy associated with #3 and #18. I could use some clarification there.

Mike -

My host, a wise, objective and realistic chap who is not married to each blade of grass at Yale, has taken enough puzzled non-zealots through these holes to realize that they can be disturbing. Quite simply, both holes feature

1. A blind tee shot to a

2. Small spot of fairway and

3. A blind second shot

As evidenced by my devotion to the tenth hole, which has strangely been dragged into this discussion, I have no problem with an entirely blind hole. But not when the fairway has gone missing . . .

[Geoffrey Childs]

I'm puzzled by the controversy associated with #3 and #18. I could use some clarification there.

Mike -

My host, a wise, objective and realistic chap who is not married to each blade of grass at Yale, has taken enough puzzled non-zealots through these holes to realize that they can be disturbing. Quite simply, both holes feature

1. A blind tee shot to a

2. Small spot of fairway and

3. A blind second shot

As evidenced by my devotion to the tenth hole, which has strangely been dragged into this discussion, I have no problem with an entirely blind hole. But not when the fairway has gone missing . . .

Michael

The landing area for the drive on #3 must be 60 yards wide while #18 must be 70 to 80.  This is "a small spot of fairway"?

[Mike_Sweeney]

Traveling for a few days, so I can only post a few.



Jason Blasberg, Bill Vostinack, Jeffrey Siskind, Jay Flemma, Mike Whitaker, Steve Lapper, Mike Malone, Mike Sweeney, Bob Huntley, Jim Keever, David Green, Dan Taylor

In traffic, Noel Freeman, Geoff Childs, Neil Regan.

Taking the picture, Kelly Moran

On the course playing, Cary Lichtenstein.  

Kelly on #10 tee, notice the trees gone between 10 and 18


From Ran's review



Steve Lapper carried our group (me) all day and did stick this shot on #10 to the "Switchback Pin".



Day 2 on The Huntley Tour @ Fishers



Day 3, The Huntley Tour moves to Southampton, I head to kids camp in New Hampshire.

[Michael Moore]

The landing area for the drive on #3 must be 60 yards wide while #18 must be 70 to 80.  This is "a small spot of fairway"?

Geoff -

I've got the third fairway maxing out at 45 yards, then rapidly disappearing on the left.



And I've got the eighteenth fairway as an oval which is 45 yards wide for a very brief instant, and it's kind of not there at 260 yards.