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Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Yale
« on: April 30, 2007, 07:38:49 PM »
I just read M. Hunt's poll rankings and saw Yale listed top 50 in the world by this panel.  Yale has intrigued me and climbed steadily up my wish list of places to play since joining GCA.com.  I know much has been written, but I think I joined this site in the middle of some major changes/renovation.  I have already looked at Ran's profile, does anybody plan on doing an updated in depth analysis of the course with pix or have I missed it?  

Ciao
« Last Edit: April 30, 2007, 07:39:04 PM by Sean Arble »
New plays planned for 2024: Nothing

Geoffrey Childs

Re:Yale
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2007, 07:53:32 PM »
Sean

There are some 2-3000 fewer trees at Yale since that review was revised after the first ever official GCA outing.  In addition, the greens are some 25% larger, fairways expanded, mowing patterns altered and bunker edges and surrounds maintained such that they ALMOST look presentable. WIthin the next few years my hops are that Scott Ramsay will fully restore the course and its intended playability- Scott hates water and intends firm and fast conditions.

I spoke with Ran last week and there are plans for updated photos and a revision sometime this year.

You have an invite to play should you invade this side of the pond.

Bill_McBride

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #2 on: April 30, 2007, 08:06:57 PM »
Sean, don't know if you've played or seen any of the MacDonald / Raynor courses, but Yale is like the others on steroids!  Only NGLA comes close of the ones I've seen, which also include Chicago, The Creek, Mid-Ocean and Mountain Lake.

Yale is just heroic in its scale, and you can imagine Raynor and maybe Steamshovel Banks out there with sticks of dynamite and lighted fuses clearing the rockpiles out of fairways.

Take Dr Chids up on his offer anytime you are in the USA and you won't be sorry........

Tim Gavrich

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #3 on: April 30, 2007, 08:44:16 PM »
Having had the pleasure of playin all of Yale a couple years ago and the front nine about a year ago, I'd say that the tree clearing has done wonders for the golf course, aesthetics- and conditions-wise.  I remember being upset that my team would not be able to play all 18 last year, because I was chomping at the bit to take on the 18th post-tree removal.

Also, Mr. Ramsay is not only a great Superintendent, but a great guy as well.  I was flattered that he introduced himself to me on the putting green at my home course last fall, and that he answered a couple of my queries about the work he's done on the course.  Makes me wish I'd studied harder over the past couple years and had gotten into Yale ::).

Cheers.

Tim Gavrich
Senior Writer, GolfPass

Pete Stankevich

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #4 on: April 30, 2007, 08:51:37 PM »
The recent Golf Digest insert with the 100 Greatest Courses and the best in each state makes me laugh.
Not only is Yale not in their top 100, but it's ranked 6th in Connecticut.
What a joke.

Pete Stankevich

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #5 on: April 30, 2007, 09:10:14 PM »
Both Lake of Isles courses and Great River ahead of Yale?
Egads, Mark!
Bow wow.

Patrick_Mucci

Re:Yale
« Reply #6 on: April 30, 2007, 09:58:34 PM »
Geoff Childs,

Any pictures showing the improvements that you could share with us would be appreciated.

Yale is a treat to play, it's quite unique.

Scott's to be complimented on his efforts .... and results.

Geoffrey Childs

Re:Yale
« Reply #7 on: April 30, 2007, 10:00:50 PM »
Geoff Childs,

Any pictures showing the improvements that you could share with us would be appreciated.

Yale is a treat to play, it's quite unique.

Scott's to be complimented on his efforts .... and results.

Pat - better yet come up and see for yourself.  I'd love to play with you and you should bring TEPaul along.

John Mayhugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #8 on: April 30, 2007, 10:11:30 PM »
I've been fortunate enough to play Yale seven or eight times, but none since the tree removal product.  I HAVE to get up there sometime this year.

This course, more than any other, has inspired my interest in GCA.  Pictures can't do it justice.  Bill's description of it as "heroic" is just perfect.

Bob_Huntley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #9 on: May 01, 2007, 12:23:38 AM »
Played there last year with the good Dr. Childs and cannot imagine that there are five better courses in Connecticut than Yale. The difference between my old MPCC Dunes course and Yale shows what Seth Raynor was able to accomplish in his ouevre. The Dunes, although difficult in any sort of wind, was a benign walk in the park compared to the muscularity of Yale.

Bob

Noel Freeman

Re:Yale
« Reply #10 on: May 01, 2007, 12:30:39 PM »
Let me add that Geoff and I have played the last three weekends and were quite surprised how the course has drained considering all the rain we've received.  It is still quite wet in spots but one thing is for sure, Scott is going to have the greens fast later this summer.

One caveat for anyone coming is that as of Aug 1, the 4th fairway will be undergoing a drainage project and could be out of commission for a month or so--I have to ask Scott this weekend when Geoff and I will see him (the membership is honoring him after our Opening Day tournament this Saturday).. I'm sure they'll turn the hole into a par 3 or something but the 4th is one of the top three holes at Yale and must be played to be appreciated.

The tree removal has restored the epic scale (that never really left) and even someone like me who has been known to spray it around can still have a fun round even when my C game is not on tap.

Geoff and I hopefully will host the MAESTRO later and if the picture taking is fine he'll be able to update the review but the sexy stuff will really be in 3-4 years if Scott's plan is finished to fruition and there is a double punchbowl on the 3rd hole.

Either way I plan on taking pictures this fall in the right lighting for the course.

Sean- Being a member at Yale now and at Deal means I have a ton of fun golf to play.. Yale is deserving of its lofty status although I bet you can guess where I would be if I had a single solitary round left in my life.


Geoffrey Childs

Re:Yale
« Reply #11 on: May 01, 2007, 12:39:47 PM »
Mark and Sean

I spoke with Ran this past week and he is intent on updating his course profile on Yale.  When the weather gets better and we ahve some good lighting I will attempt to help him with some good photos documenting the fantastic work that Scott Ramsay has done to expand out all the greens, remove as many as 3000 trees, create a real alternative fairway on 18, and restore width and firm conditions to the course. Ran's prose will certainly be better than any of my dry, caustic scientific style of writing so I'll do my best to help him if he wishes.

That said- There was a hole by hole review of Yale here in the past and it was the precursor of what we wish to do today.  That is, it documented all the abuses the course received rather then its tender loving care as seen presently. I hesitate to rehash old wounds but for the newer members of the discussion group below are some links to holes discussed in the past.  I hope that public airing of the abuse the Courses at Yale received has had something to do with its present improved state.

hole 1
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6624;start=msg127109#msg127109

hole2
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6867;start=0


Hole 4
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=6952;start=0

hole5
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7001;start=msg134352#msg134352


hole6
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7082;start=msg136251#msg136251

hole7
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7159;start=msg138277#msg138277

hole 17
http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forums2/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=7977


Mark_Rowlinson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #12 on: May 02, 2007, 07:26:02 AM »
If you do visit Yale in the summer don't do what I did.  I insisted on carrying my clubs.  After one hole I was done for, by the 4th I just longed for a nice, cool grave.  The estimable Dr Childs wondered if I might like to take a buggy at the turn.  It is to Dr Childs that you must address any complaints that I am still posting on this site and not becoming instead food the worms of Connecticut.

It was a fabulous experience and a memorable golf course.

Darren_Kilfara

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:Yale
« Reply #13 on: May 02, 2007, 08:35:48 AM »
If you do visit Yale in the summer don't do what I did.  I insisted on carrying my clubs.  After one hole I was done for, by the 4th I just longed for a nice, cool grave.  The estimable Dr Childs wondered if I might like to take a buggy at the turn.  It is to Dr Childs that you must address any complaints that I am still posting on this site and not becoming instead food the worms of Connecticut.

If you were in that state by the turn, Mark, I suspect the climb to the 10th green (after the climb and descent into the 10th fairway) would have killed you! :)

FWIW, through no fault of my own I seem to have singlehandedly changed the character of Golf Digest's corporate membership at Yale. When I was an intern there I was told that we were encouraged to get out and play as much golf as we could (or words to that effect), and that we had playing privileges at Yale. Naturally, Yale being what it is, I played there as often as I could, often nipping out for nine holes during the summer evenings, not realising that our membership had an overall cap on the number of rounds we were allowed. Eventually I got called into the principal's office and told that henceforth I - and everyone else - could play there a maximum of twice a week. (Gary Van Sickle, who as a Golf World writer was also affected by the new limit, cited this incident when he bashed me and my book in a "review", to use the term loosely, he wrote for CNNSI.com.)

I would someday love to see the new Yale, but the old Yale (pre-Rulewich, admittedly) was itself a real treat regardless of conditioning. Mind you, Yale was the least favorite course of many of my college golf teammates by a distance, which only goes to show how certain architectural features rub people in entirely different ways!

Cheers,
Darren

Rick Lane

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #14 on: June 05, 2020, 07:49:00 AM »
Bumping an old thread re Yale.  See recent CT Post article on condition, note comment about 18 inch growth in fairways?   Can this be??


https://www.ctpost.com/sports/article/Yale-Golf-Course-closed-through-end-of-July-15315145.php

Jaeger Kovich

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #15 on: June 05, 2020, 08:06:09 AM »
Yikes.

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #16 on: June 05, 2020, 08:31:28 AM »
It’s the only golf course in Connecticut not open at this time. ::)

Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #17 on: June 05, 2020, 08:34:47 AM »
Oh no. Maybe Colin Sheehan can update us on the plan. Don't want to see this go off the rails.
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

William_G

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #18 on: June 05, 2020, 10:21:06 AM »
wow
It's all about the golf!

Bret Lawrence

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #19 on: June 05, 2020, 11:05:24 AM »
Yale has been dragging their feet all year, even before the pandemic hit. Earlier in the year when they announced Scott and Peter we’re leaving in successive weeks you could tell something was amiss.  Golf is up 10% in Connecticut the last two months year over year.  Why wouldn’t a golf course be open?  I don’t have as much faith in a master gardener taking care of the golf course as the Athletic Director does. At the very least, show him where the fairway mowers are and give him the keys.


This quote sums up the urgency of the situation: “Chun said a new superintendent will be hired at some point.” 



John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #20 on: June 05, 2020, 11:36:31 AM »
With students suing for tuition reimbursement I wouldn’t open the course until I opened the classrooms.

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #21 on: June 08, 2020, 04:49:11 PM »
Shack has a story on his website today.



John Blain

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #22 on: June 09, 2020, 10:05:28 AM »
Shack has a story on his website today.
Hanover CC which is owned and operated by Dartmouth College is "closed for the season." Apparently the eggheads who make the decisions at these Ivy league schools never got the memo that playing golf is one of the safest activities there is during this pandemic. I feel bad for the people in New Haven and Hanover who belong to these clubs as they will have to find another place to play this year.   

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #23 on: June 09, 2020, 11:05:24 AM »
Shack has a story on his website today.
Hanover CC which is owned and operated by Dartmouth College is "closed for the season." Apparently the eggheads who make the decisions at these Ivy league schools never got the memo that playing golf is one of the safest activities there is during this pandemic. I feel bad for the people in New Haven and Hanover who belong to these clubs as they will have to find another place to play this year.


JP-For Yale the amount of upheaval has been considerable with both the long time superintendent and Head Golf Professional becoming collateral damage. Really a shame as both made a difference in a positive way.

Joe Bausch

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Yale
« Reply #24 on: June 09, 2020, 11:27:22 AM »
For those that haven't had the pleasure of playing Yale Golf Course, you might like my photo tour based upon a handful of visits (usually with Tim Martin!):

http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/joseph.bausch/images/albums/YaleGC/index.html
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection