The architect was selected for the complete restoration of the 95-year-old course, which is owned by the university in New Haven, Conn. and ranked as the top university course in the U.S., because of his experience with other projects involving original designs of Seth Raynor and Charles Blair Macdonald. Details of the cost and timetable for the project were not announced, but a source close to Yale athletics indicated $15 million would be put toward the renovation and another $10 million toward a maintenance endowment, with completion in time for an NCAA Division I regional competition that Yale is scheduled to host in May 2022.
Yale University announced that the historic Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Conn. will undergo a complete restoration directed by renowned golf course architect Gil Hanse, the New Haven Register reported.
The intent is to restore the 95-year-old course to the original design created by Seth Raynor and Charles Blair Macdonald, the Register reported.
Neither the cost nor timetable for the project were announced, the Register reported, but a source close to Yale athletics indicated that it will cost approximately $25 million, with $15 million put toward the renovation and $10 million toward a maintenance endowment.
The source said many golf course architects were interviewed by “members of the athletic department, golf course personnel and alumni,” the Register reported, with Hanse and his company, Hanse Golf Course Design, emerging as the choice by being “unique, due to his experience with C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor courses.”
Hanse’s work has also included designing the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Golf Course in Brazil, which hosted golf at the Summer Olympics in 2016, and restoration projects for courses at Merion Golf Club, Aronimink Golf Club and the Fishers Island Club.
While normally a project like this takes many months, and maybe even a full calendar year, the source indicated that Yale still plans to host a NCAA Division I regional competition, scheduled for May 2022, the Register reported.
The Yale Golf Course remained the No. 1 college university course ranked by Golfweek in October 2020. The course was closed in November 2019 and then reopened in September 2020 under new management (https://clubandresortbusiness.com/yale-golf-course-reopens-under-new-gm/).
The course will move to a daily-fee model once the restoration is completed, the Register reported.
“With our leadership team of General Manager Peter Palacios and superintendent Jeff Austin working closely with Gil Hanse, I am confident we will be able to give a golfing experience as exceptional as the university that bears its name,” Yale Athletic Director Vicki Chun said in a press release announcing the selection of Hanse.
“The restoration of Yale Golf Course is the most significant restoration opportunity we have been entrusted with,” Hanse added in that press release. “The tremendous history of the design, the original significance of the course, and the potential that exists within its landscape are truly staggering. Our hope is that when we are finished, we will paint the landscape in the same tones and dimensions that Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor created.”
Yale Golf Course was closed much of last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened last fall.
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