Yale Golf Course facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Yale Golf Course

The 9th hole
Club information
Location	New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
Established	Surveyed 1923, constructed 1924-1925, opened for play April, 1926
Type	Private
Owned by	Yale University
Total holes	18
Tournaments hosted	Connecticut Open, New Haven Open
Designed by	Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor
Par	70
Length	6,825 yards (6.241 km)
Course rating	72.9
Slope rating	135
Course record	60, Li Wang (2016 Macdonald Cup)

The Yale Golf Course is a famous golf course in New Haven, Connecticut. It is owned and run by Yale University. This course is home to Yale's men's and women's golf teams. It also hosts three big college golf events every year. The course is mainly for Yale students, former students (alumni), and others connected to the university.

How the Yale Golf Course Was Built

In the early 1900s, Yale students who wanted to play golf had to travel far. They went to Race Brook Country Club in Orange, Connecticut. This was not very handy for them.

A Big Idea for a New Golf Course

In 1922, a person named George Adee had an idea. He saw that students loved golf but had no easy place to play. He wrote a plan to the Yale Athletic Association. Other big universities like Princeton already had their own golf courses. Harvard was also thinking about building one.

Adee's plan was to ask Sarah Wey Tompkins for help. She was the wife of Ray Tompkins. Ray Tompkins was a former Yale football captain. He had become very rich as a bank president. When he passed away in 1918, he left a lot of money. His will said that after his wife passed, the rest of his money would go to Yale. It was meant to help students play sports.

A Generous Gift of Land

In 1923, Yale asked Sarah Tompkins if she would buy some land for a golf course. This land was called the Greist Estate. She agreed right away! The 720 acres (290 ha) (about 291 hectares) of land was bought for $375,000. She then gave it to Yale University.

Choosing the Best Designers

After Sarah Tompkins donated the land, a special committee was formed. George Adee was in charge. They contacted a famous golf course designer, Charles Blair Macdonald. He looked at the land and saw its great potential. Macdonald agreed to help as a guide.

Macdonald suggested hiring Seth Raynor. Raynor had worked with Macdonald before. Raynor was paid $7,500 to design the course. He started mapping out the land in the summer of 1923.

Funding the Course's Construction

To pay for building the golf course, Yale asked former students for help. They could become a "patron," a "founder," or a "member" of the Yale Golf Club.

• Patrons paid $1,000. They could use the golf course for their whole lives.
• Founders paid $500 or $750, depending on how close they lived to Yale. They also got to use the course for life.
• Members paid a $250 fee and yearly dues. They could use the course too, but with some limits.

Many former students supported the project. This helped raise the money needed to build the course.

Building a Golf Course from Wild Land

Work on the Greist Estate began in the summer of 1923. The crew had a huge job. They had to clear the land, which was mostly swampy and wild. They had to blast rocks, dig, and drain the wet areas.

Macdonald described the challenge: "The land was high, heavily wooded, hilly, and no part of it had been cultivated for over forty years. It was a true wilderness when given to Yale."

About 120 acres (48.5 hectares) of the estate were used for the course. Heavy construction started in April 1924. The team grew from 60 workers to 150 at its busiest time. They faced problems with water pipes. They needed 35,000 feet (11 km) of pipes to fix the issues. The project also cost more than planned.

A view from the 1st tee at Yale Golf Course during construction

The Yale Golf Course officially opened on April 15, 1926. It was a 6,552-yard (5,991-meter) course with a par of 71. The final cost was $400,000, which was a lot of money back then. A famous sportswriter, Herbert Warren Wind, said the course was "a back-breaking job over an untouched plot of rugged land." He also said its features were like something "Michelangelo" would create.

A National Treasure

In 1983, famous golfer Ben Crenshaw called the course a "national treasure."

By 1994, the course was not in good shape. Yale hired a new Athletic Director, Tom Beckett. He was "shocked" by its condition. Beckett worked to improve the course's money situation. This included getting investments and support from former students. With more money, Yale made the course much better. They removed trees, improved the water system, and got advice from golf experts. More staff also helped a lot. By 2004, the course was "restored and beautiful."

In 2006, the Yale Golf Course was voted the best university golf course in the country. In 2019, it was ranked #53 among the top 200 classic courses by Golfweek. It was also named the Best Campus Course in 2019. USA Today often calls it the #1 pick.

Major Golf Tournaments Hosted

The Yale Golf Course has hosted many important golf tournaments.

Amateur and College Events

It has held big amateur events like the U.S. Junior Amateur Golf Championship and the Connecticut Amateur. Many college tournaments have also taken place here. These include the NCAA Regional Championships, the Macdonald Cup, and the Yale Spring Invitational.

Professional Tournaments

The course has also hosted professional events. It held the Connecticut Open in 1931 and 1981. In the early 1990s, it hosted a Ben Hogan Tour event called the New Haven Open.

David Patterson, who coached the Yale Bulldogs golf team for many years, helped bring more big tournaments to Yale. These included the 1988 USGA National Junior Championship and the 1995 World Special Olympics Golf Championship.

Club Championship

Like many golf courses, Yale has its own club championship. Reverend William T. Lee, who won the Connecticut Amateur three times, has won the Yale club championship 11 times.

In 2004, the course hosted the NCAA Eastern Regional tournament. Bill Haas, from Wake Forest University, won that event.

Scorecard Details

A 1926 Yale Golf Course Scorecard