[Mike Sweeney]

By the way, does anyone know what's being built in the woods to the right of the entrance road?

Mark,

Last I heard, a practice center for the teams separate from the current range.

[Sean_A]

Joel

For cost reasons, it's pretty far down the list I think.  (If forced to choose I would vote for 16 green being restored first.  16 is the worst hole on the course.)  For a sense of expansiveness -- not to mention the awesome bunkering between 1 and 8 greens -- check out the 10:10 mark of this video of the 1931 Connecticut Open.  (Another cool bunker, between 1 and 2 and NLE, is at 3:35.) http://research.yale.edu/wwkelly/Yale-golf/videos/Yale%20Golf.rm

It should be noted that the property was heavily wooded from the very beginning -- in contrast to many Golden Age courses, which saw their previous roles as farms, much of what we see today at Yale is not dramatically different from 75 years ago. It could use more, certainly, but today it's far closer to what it was.

For example, the corridor of the 12th under construction isn't that much different from today:


The 10th, 1925 vs 2005, followed by Ran's recent pic, followed by mine:




The trees don't impinge on play the way they used to.  Here's a before and after looking up the 18th -- unfortunately they're not from the same angle.

Before, from the Tiger tee:


After, from the middle tee:


Not saying they couldn't do with more...

Mark

Mark

I would say the 10th looks like it has been narrowed considerably by trees - perhaps 5-7 yards or more.  The left side of the green is not visible as before it clearly was and the right side is encroaching as well.  5-7 yards may not seem much, but on a hilly site it could mean a world of difference. 

Yale looks to be such a cool course and it would be a shame if it were to go the way of Beau Desert.

Ciao

[Mark Bourgeois]

Sean

My understanding is continued tree removal is on the winter agenda.  Re 10, if you look in my winter photo you can see a gap between green and woods on the left.  This gap is wider than in Ran's photo -- not sure if that's just a leaves on vs leaves off visual trickeration, but it doesn't look like it.

Additionally, look at the width of the gap in the trees to the right of the green (that's 11 tee) in the series of pictures.  Clearly 2005 was narrower than 1925, and clearly 2008 / 2009 is wider than 2005.

Don't know if more cutting down the left (or right) on 10 is on the agenda.

Mark

[Wayne Freeman]

My daughter was in the tercentennial class at Yale and I started playing the course during my first visits there in 2001.  Initially I was struck by the incredible terrain and variety of holes-    I was particularly impressed with the set of par 4's which I feel may represent one of the very best on the planet.  That being said,  I couldn't believe that such a treasure could be in such terrible condition.  I found it interesting that the university had just finished a new boathouse for something like $15 million,  but couldn't get this top 100 course in any kind of decent condition.  I applaude the efforts of those who are recreating this masterpiece and feel incredibly privileged to have experienced this great golf course. 

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