Yale course closed through July

The Yale Golf Course will remain closed through at least the end of July, according to the course’s website and correspondence sent to the course members last week.

“As COVID-19 guidelines regarding the opening of facilities at Yale University are established, the Yale Golf Course will remain closed through July 31, 2020. We will provide an update as soon as additional information becomes available to us. Should the Yale Golf Course re-open after July 31, detailed information on policies and procedures for golfers coming to play will be provided,” the course’s website reads.

The Yale Golf Course, also known as the Course at Yale, has not been open since last November. The gate leading to the course’s entry on Conrad Drive in New Haven is closed with a sign saying, “The Yale Golf Course is closed for the season.”

How long the course will remain closed is anyone’s guess.

“I’m hopeful the course will re-open later this summer,” Yale athletic director Vicky Chun said. “We are currently closed through July 31, but I will be working with our staff in the coming weeks to determine our plan of action for a possible re-opening.”

Yale is currently without a course superintendent. Scott Ramsay left on March 5 after 17 years. He is now in the same position at Country Club of Farmington.

Ramsay believes the pandemic is the reason that the course has remained closed despite most of the other courses in the state being open.

“That golf course runs as a university facility, not as a golf course,” Ramsay said. “This is a complete and utter guess, but if the campus opens for the fall (semester), I think the golf course would probably follow along.”

Chun said a new superintendent will be hired at some point. She said the university is currently under a hiring freeze due to COVID-19 and has a limited staff to work on the course.

“In the meantime, I have great faith in Matt Golino, our master gardener, and our staff,” Chun said.

Although the tees and greens have been kept up, some of the grass greenside has been overgrown, as have the fairways.

“It looks like a field, (fairways) about 18 inches and really growing fast now,” said Dr. Jeffrey Lustman, a doctor of psychiatry at Yale since 1972 and a member at the golf course since 1955. “It’s horrible. I’m used to seeing it not in pristine condition, but very good condition,”

Gerry Mullally, a member for 16 years, said he put together a video of the course conditions earlier this week.

“I think the golf course is an afterthought, Yale has been resistant to invest money in it. The condition of the course has been questionable for a long time, especially the last 6-7 years,” Mullally said.

Mullally is in the business of making nutrition products for golf, including the Par Bar. He said the members at Yale were not updated about the course until that email was sent out last week.

“I don’t believe Yale has an appreciation for what they have,” Mullally said. “The course getting accolades from a design perspective is warranted, but we’ve had issues with its general maintenance for a long time. To see it looking almost abandoned, it’s disappointing, but not a huge surprise.”

Dr. Lustman said his season membership dues were returned in May. Chun confirmed that all members received their dues back since the course is closed.

Ramsay isn’t the only key departure. Chun confirmed that Peter Pulaski, the director of golf, is leaving in early June after two decades in that post. Chun said that the school is “evaluating the best path forward for the new leadership structure of the course.”

Golfweek ranked Yale as the No. 1 collegiate golf course in the country last year. It was ranked 83rd in the world in Golf Magazine’s top 100 last November. The semi-private course opened in 1926.