The Course at Yale

About the club

Charles Blair Macdonald created the course at Yale University, descriptively known as The Course at Yale, in 1926 with a little help from Seth Raynor and Charles Banks. The land was a bequest to the university by the wife of an alumnus a couple years earlier. Carved out of stony ground, the layout has earned a reputation for difficulty, featuring such challenges as forced water carries and blind shots, and in particular some difficult stepped greens where players will have to work hard to avoid three-putt situations. Memorable holes include the 160-yard, par 3 9th, which plays to a broad green cut through by an indentation. The clubhouse is nothing special (though it does contain interesting memorabilia of the university's team), but the setting is quite lovely, particularly when the leaves change colors. Students play for a quite reduced fee, and their guests get half off the normal price.