By Rebecca Downing
Before our Robert Trent Jones–designed course was completed, Colgate’s golf course went through several iterations — and a move across the road.
1958
Seven Oaks Golf Course, June 2015
Colgate’s Seven Oaks has been operating as an 18-hole golf course since 1965 — but its history goes back much further, to another location: the original nine holes above West and East halls now known as the “Old Golf Course.”
Originally called the Hamilton Golf Club, the first iteration of the course opened in 1916. It was renamed Seven Oaks in 1928 in honor of the Colgate family estate, Filston Farm, near the community of Sevenoaks, in Kent, England.
With a planned relocation to the Payne Farm across Hamilton Street from the campus in mind, Robert Trent Jones Sr. was hired to create a design for the course in 1934. His approach followed British and American Open title holder Gene Sarazen’s vision to create an “Augusta of the North.” Major world events, including the Great Depression and World War II, as well as property acquisitions over time, required many revisions to Jones’s design. Jones submitted no fewer than 13 different course designs (naturally) between 1934 and 1964. Ultimately, the course was built in two phases.
The front nine holes for what was first called the University Golf Course officially opened July 4, 1958. Colgate students looking for extra cash had been hired, both in the fall of 1957 and spring of 1958, to rake stones, smooth rough areas on the fairways, and collect debris to help ready the course.
The second phase was completed with the opening of the back nine on September 4, 1965. The foursome of Stuart Benedict, Class of 1962; Jim Harberson, Class of 1964; William Burke, Class of 1954; and Don Tiffany, Class of 1943 (for whom the clubhouse terrace is named), took the first outing on the greens.
Seven Oaks remains a popular — and challenging — course for alumni and members of the public. As the home course for Colgate’s varsity golf team, Seven Oaks has hosted both Patriot League and NCAA championships over the years.
In 2006, the university opened the Perkin-Sumption Driving Range. Its construction caused a stir during excavation when local heavy-equipment operator Stub Baker unearthed a large cache of fossils. He notified the geology department, and soon professors, students, and local fossil buffs were swarming the area to collect trilobites galore.
Golfweek has ranked Seven Oaks among the best campus courses (22nd nationally, 2013) as well as among the best public courses (15th in New York, 2010).
The Clubhouse
