[Mark Bourgeois]

Of the approximate 800 Digest raters less than 100 would even break 80 on their first time out at Yale when playing from the back tees.

John, prove it. Do the math...if you know how to.

[Mike Sweeney]

Mark,

You have no clue what a scratch golfer or more specifically a Golf Digest rater skill level is. Of the approximate 800 Digest raters less than 100 would even break 80 on their first time out at Yale when playing from the back tees. That number is only that high because of the number of + handicaps on the panel. Scratch golfers shoot their handicaps far less often than other golfers. When is the last time you saw a scratch win a member guest?

Just a point to chew on, at this years Macdonald Cup, there were a few scores in the 80's but the last place golfer (#75) shot 159 for the two rounds.

http://www.golfstat.com/live/final/DM3161.htm

It is very rare to see low rounds at Yale, and it is rare to see high high rounds. NCAA Regional in 2010 had a similar range from memory with better teams playing.

On the conditioning issue, Yale will never have a second cut of rough and it will never have fast green speeds. This seems to be important on Golf Digest, which used to have a corporate membership at Yale (they may still have one). The slopes on the greens can't handle more than 10 (a guess) and the course gets too much play to ramp up green speeds. Scott has cleaned up almost every drainage issue over the last few years.

Personally, I have no interest in seeing Yale "merioned" with narrow fairways and flattened greens to get on the Golf Digest list.

[John Kavanaugh]

http://thecourseatyale.org/

The above says that in 1988 Golf Magazine ranked Yale as the 71st hardest course in the world.

[Mark Bourgeois]

http://thecourseatyale.org/

The above says that in 1988 Golf Magazine ranked Yale as the 71st hardest course in the world.

That's your...math?

But thanks, anyway, for the link. The web page states that back in the days of persimmon and balata Yale hosted the 1991 NCAA Men's Eastern Regionals: "only 21 subpar rounds were recorded of the 360 played during the three days." 6 percent of the 1991 rounds were subpar.

That's a benchmark, so I looked up the scoring for the 2010 NCAA Men's Eastern Regionals: 51 subpar rounds were recorded of the 225 played during the three days. 23 percent of the 2010 rounds were subpar.

For college golfers in tournament conditions, the 2010 Yale course yielded 283 percent more subpar rounds than the 1991 course.

[Ben Sims]

John is absolutely correct. I know quite a few folks that have confided that they got into the ratings gig to "promote the good architecture" and "get it right."  What this causes is a tendency to rate a course (score it) and then reassess that rating.  This is just human nature to readjust the rating once you see that the course you just played falls above or below certain benchmarks on the list.   Because you want to "get it right."

This tendency causes groupthink and bias to enter the equation. That means that it is statistically irrelevant from an objective standpoint.  If you approach the ratings as a subjective identifier of good golf, where individual courses could theoretically be moved massively by fractions of a point, then I think you're approaching this smartly.

[Mark Pearce]

On the conditioning issue, Yale will never have a second cut of rough and it will never have fast green speeds. This seems to be important on Golf Digest, which used to have a corporate membership at Yale (they may still have one). The slopes on the greens can't handle more than 10 (a guess) and the course gets too much play to ramp up green speeds. Scott has cleaned up almost every drainage issue over the last few years.

I played Yale in 2010,the day after the NCAA event.  The greens were as fast as any greens I have ever putted on.  I recall seeing a notice on the NCAA scoreboard giving a speed of between 12 and 13.  It was the back 9 before I two-putted.  Far, far too fast for me on those contours but the NCAA players seemed to have managed just fine!  That was my only round at Yale but I loved it and wit sits very high in the relatively short list of US courses I have played.

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