The Third Green
diers are and once we thin the herd the rest really thrive .
AP : You did something a few years back that I thought was genius . There was a huge tree behind the 13th green , the Redan , and I know you wanted to take it down because of issues it was having with the turf . And it turned out when the tree was down — it was knocked down it didn ’ t have to be taken down , it turned out it was diseased , hollowed out — you left the stump there for a while so people could see you didn ’ t take down a healthy tree .
SR : Yeah and unfortunately 90 % of the trees that came down this month in those storms were completely rotted from the middle up . Most of them were either lightning damaged or environmentally challenged so … they ’ re getting old . I mean everything has a life span and a lot of the trees here are reaching that .
The Third Green
AP : The ultimate crowning part of the restoration at Yale would be to somehow restore the third green , which was a double punch bowl kind of thing we think . It may have disappeared or ultimately wasn ’ t built because of the rising level of the pond [ right of the green ] and because of the fact that the 4th tee has to play over edge of it . Is there ever any talk of restoring the third green ?
SR : There is a real lot of talk . I think that would be the primary project we would take on in the very near future . I don ’ t have any plans . We don ’ t have anything concrete , but I just sense that the way the economy is going the way Yale is , the way the members are , I just think there ’ s going to be a groundswell of activity for some more concerted efforts . I was just pretty much given $ 350,000 to finish the drainage plan . Part of this is to fix creek elevations , to drain the fairways to capture the sidehill steeps . I probably could use that money elsewhere but why would you without good drainage ?
AP : That green site borders a pond , so drainage there really matters .
Though Macdonald is credited , evidence shows Raynor was Yale ’ s primary architect
SR : Yes , basically what I see is that the reason the third green went out of service is that there are many punch bowls around the world that are agronomically just disasters so that if they ’ re not built right , if they ’ re just thrown in the wrong situation , they are just subject to fail . It ’ s a problem waiting to come to the surface . So basically what they did they just took the right half and front half of that green and bulldozed it up onto the back left corner , elevated one piece and put a pseudo-USGA greens mix on top of that and built what is today the third green .
AP : What year was that ?
SR : I ’ d like to say ’ 54 . Right in that range . It went a while and they just suffered with it for a while . So that ’ s one of the primary projects we ’ d like to take on as the tree program develops and the drainage is behind us .
AP : It ’ s amazing how the university has come to notice and give proper attention to the golf course . You ’ re hosting NCAA events now . A huge change from 2000 .
SR : Like everything in life there ’ s and ebb and a flow . We need to have a permanent solution and with the university knowing that it ’ s the No . 1 college golf course , that it is a museum piece and they treat it like a museum piece , we just have to take the next step .
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