Yale Golf Course

Overview: Yale Golf Course, located in the rolling, rocky forests of New Haven, Connecticut, is widely celebrated as the finest collegiate course in the world and a golden-age masterpiece designed by C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor. Set on an incredibly grand scale, the course features massive, deep bunkers, severe rock outcroppings, and huge, undulating greens. It is a highly strategic parkland layout that incorporates Macdonald’s classic template holes, offering a stern yet incredibly rewarding test of golf that requires bold, well-executed shots to navigate the dramatic topography.

History: Opened in 1926, the construction of Yale was a monumental feat of engineering, costing over $400,000,an astronomical sum for the era. Raynor and his crew had to use dynamite to blast through Connecticut's dense trap rock and drain extensive swamps to execute Macdonald's ambitious plans. In recent years, the course has undergone a comprehensive restoration by Gil Hanse to clear out overgrown trees, restore the original green dimensions, and recover the bold, geometric scale of the bunkers.

Did You Know? The dramatic par-3 9th hole features a massive, notable "Biarritz" green that is divided by a deep, 5-foot central swale and plays entirely over a wide pond. It is widely considered by golf historians to be the finest and most dramatic example of the Biarritz template in the world, requiring a long, precise wood or long-iron to hold the green.