After almost three years of being under the knife, The Golf Course at Yale has been revived.
The 1926 Charles Blair Macdonald-Seth Raynor design is set to reopen April 28 after a comprehensive restoration by the architectural team of Gil Hanse and Jim Wagner just in time for its centennial celebration.
The focus of the restoration is to restore conditions and bring the course back to Macdonald-Raynor-like dimensions and sight lines lost over time.
Restoration highlights include expanding greens, tees, bunkers and fairways to their historic dimensions and rebuilding the signature No. 3 Double Punch Bowl green to its original 1926 design. The course's double fairway holes on Nos. 3 and 18 also were restored, as were two inverted bunkers on No. 6.
Other changes include:
- Regrassing and rebuilding greens to USGA specifications
- Installing state-of-the-art irrigation
- Restoring bunkers
- Expanding teeing areas
- Implementing a comprehensive tree removal program
- Moving championship tees to extend the course to more than 7,000 yards
The golf course experienced a comeback under Scott Ramsay, CGCS, who was superintendent at Yale for 17 years from 2003 to 2020. In that time, the course underwent a renaissance that placed it among the best university golf courses as well as on many Top 100 lists.
After Ramsay's departure, the course was closed for several months during the Covid pandemic followed by a period marked by declining conditions.
Reservations, when they reopen, will allow 14-day advance bookings for Yale students, faculty and affiliates, and 10-day advance bookings for outside play. Rates will be $150 for Yale students and faculty; $250 for university affiliates; and $350 for golfers with no school affiliation.
The university has produced a video series it will share throughout March and April highlighting key aspects of the restoration.