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Yale College
Women's Golf Team.
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The Lady Bulldogs
of Yale
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COLLEGE CORNER
By Libby Hooton
One visit to Yale and you can understand why it has been home to so many US Presidents and captains of industry... and our summer pick! When you step foot on this magical campus with its gorgeous gothic architecture reminiscent of a Hollywood film, you feel like you have left the world of commoners and entered a citadel of aristocracy.
Yale is a private university in New Haven, CT. Founded in 1701 as the Collegiate School, this Ivy League member is the third oldest institution of higher learning in the United States (Harvard and the College of William and Mary being the oldest and second oldest, respectively).
Yale’s roots can be traced back to the 1640s, when colonial clergymen led an effort to establish a college in New Haven to preserve the tradition of European liberal education in the New World. The 19th and 20th centuries brought the establishment of the graduate and professional schools that would make Yale a true university. One of the world’s great universities, its over 11,000 students come from all 50 American states and from 108 countries. The 3,300-member faculty is a richly diverse group of men and women, all leaders in their respective fields.
Yale is known for its superior education, but its athletic teams are also quite fierce. Naturally, the women’s golf program has a great reputation. They are frequent winners of the Ivy League Championships. Their ladies shoot in the 70s, and their coach is a dynamo. Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt the quality of the program that their official golf course was voted first among college golf courses in America, and even garners 45th-place among the top 100 classical American golf courses. From its humble beginnings – in 1924, a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland was deeded to Yale by Mrs. Ray Tompkins in memory of her husband – to its current grandeur, the Yale golf course is recognized as one of the finest examples of early American golf course design. Large, deeply bunkered greens and narrow, rolling fairways are the core of Yale's penalizing character. In fact, in 1988, Golf Magazine ranked Yale as 71st among the 100 most difficult courses in the world!
The mascot of Yale’s athletic teams is none other than Handsome Dan, a bulldog with which to be reckoned, whether as a costumed undergrad or in his true canine form. Handsome Dan (the dog, not the undergrad) is believed to be the first live college mascot in America and, to ensure that lineage, the named is conferred upon each new pup at the retirement or death of his predecessor. Since this tradition’s inception in 1889, 16 dogs have held the position and all have been known to snarl threateningly at anyone wearing crimson (rival Harvard’s signature color)!
During my visit, I had the incredible opportunity to meet the Women’s golf team coach and two of her players. Coach Chawwadee Rompothong was a most gracious host. She spent hours enthusiastically explaining about their wonderful program and driving us around New Haven, a tour that included a visit to the famous Yale Golf Course. Her dedication to this team, love for the game, and pride in Yale were evident. After reading the interviews, I can be certain many of you will put Yale on your itinerary of official visits during college search time!
Libby: How long have you been playing golf?
Coach Rompothong: Forever (laughs). I have been playing since I was eight years old. I also played for Yale. I graduated in 2000 and went on to play about two and a half years after college as a pro on the Futures Tour. That led to me taking a job as a teaching pro at Pinehurst. My plan was to come back up and go to business school, but I really liked teaching. I was teaching up here at a private country club when the coaching opportunity at Yale sort of fell in my lap. I am really enjoying it.
Libby: As a Yale golf team alumna, do you think that you have unique perspective for relating to the team and coaching them?
Coach Rompothong: I definitely think I do. It wasn’t too long ago that I was a student athlete myself. The demands here are a little different than at other schools. Although I am working to build a very strong golf program, all of the coaches realize that academics are number one. Knowing that balance and how difficult it is to achieve helps. This is especially important when working with freshmen. When you come in, you’re excited, you want to contribute, but it takes time to adjust to college life. You’re away from home, you have new friends, and you have a roommate. There are all sorts of new things that will have an effect on you and your golf game. I definitely strive to have very efficient practices, and I want to help build my players to be better people in general. When things are in balance, everyone is happier and they will play better.
When an athlete comes here, I definitely treat them like an adult. It’s not a dictatorship. My philosophy is to make you the best person and the best golfer that you can be. Hopefully you are going to improve each year and we’ll figure out how to make that happen. For example, when you are in high school, you probably take an hour and one-half to warm up. We’ll talk about how we can condense that to 30 minutes. I spend a good deal of time working on ensuring that I am up on the latest techniques and sports psychology concepts. We’ll often do a team event; team-building is very important. Then we’ll break off into individual groups to work on what your specific weakness is this week. And then, we’ll do activities to simulate the pressure of an event. I’m focused on winning a championship as team.
Libby: What is the weekly golf schedule like?
Coach Rompothong: We usually leave on Thursday night, as Friday is the practice round. We play all day on Saturday and then Sunday is a travel day. The last thing you want to do is to read or do you school work when you finish a competition; you are basically exhausted. We practice every day from 3:00 to 6:00 except on Monday. I tell them to set a game plan. Know when the key exams are scheduled and when the papers are due and look at the practice and travel schedule and make sure that you get the work done ahead of time. It is also important to have check points or milestones so that you can gage progress on your term projects and exam planning. I will work with the team members to give them some time off when they need it as long as it is part of the overall game plan. You also need to work with the professors, who are willing to work with you.
Libby: Is the world of college golf very competitive?
Coach Rompothong: Yes. Even in the Ivy League, it has become a lot more competitive. The junior programs have gotten much stronger so the new recruits are better and better. I think the women’s programs in particular have gotten much stronger. There are a lot more scholarships out there which helps. What’s exciting about golf is that you can move from college golf and just go out and become a pro. You don’t have to be drafted or anything so there is nothing limiting you. I think the post-college possibilities make our college players more competitive.
Libby: How early should juniors start playing on the national tours?
Coach Rompothong: As early as possible. The AJGA is getting so competitive you want to start getting your name on their roster. They really make our jobs easier. They make it so easy for me to research the players. If you’re only good within your state, it is hard for me to find contact information. I use the Junior Golf Scoreboard and Golf Week Rankings. My preference is the Junior Golf Scoreboard.
Libby: What do you look for in a new recruit?
Coach Rompothong: I want someone who is athletic, someone who plays something other than just golf. I want her to be competitive, and to have some experience in a team environment. I want someone who shoots in the 70s. And she needs to want to challenge herself academically. I look for someone who took some of the most challenging courses offered at her high school. I definitely look for that. I want someone who is determined to excel in whatever she does.
Libby: Do you think the urban environment at Yale is conducive to the college experience?
Coach Rompothong: Yes, I definitely do. The environment throws you into a real life experience. Our location is great: it’s only an hour-and-a-half train ride to New York, only a few more hours to get to Boston. Here, everyone is pretty active in the community. I think that is a huge part of why people come to Yale. There is a lot of outreach from the school. There are some very impoverished sections of New Haven and that is a reality of our world. It’s very safe, but you’ll see a lot of diversity.
Libby: We’re heard a lot about the Harvard vs. Yale rivalries in football and rowing. Does that rivalry translate over to golf as well?
Coach Rompothong: It hasn’t really been a big deal until recently. Harvard’s golf program has started to get really competitive. It’s nice because traditionally, it was Princeton and Yale. It’s a friendly rivalry, but it still makes us work harder.
Libby: Does the team travel a lot?
Coach Rompothong: We travel quite a bit. We have two weeks of spring break which always entails traveling somewhere. We’ve gone as far as Notre Dame, Indiana and, this year, we’re going to go play an event in Hawaii! We travel out of the country once every four years. Our next overseas trip might be to Thailand.
Libby: When you are practicing with the team, what do you consider the essentials?
Coach Rompothong: Practice with a purpose. When the players go to practice, I’ll ask them what they are working on that day. They may say that they want to work on putting. That’s not good enough. It needs to be more specific. I’ll give them stats to help make the choices, then ask what element of putting they want to work on. They may say six-footers. I’ll say what about the six-footers do you want to work on? Once we get to that level, I’ll help them create drills. If the goals are specific, the success is measurable. Sink eight six-footers in a row before moving on.
Libby: What are some of your most memorable moments?
Coach Rompothong: There have been so many but when we won the Ivy’s two years ago, that was a great moment. Two weeks ago, we won our home tournament against some tough competition. Harvard and twelve other teams were here. We had a bus of supporters here cheering us on and it was great.
I also interviewed seniors Ellie Brophy and Lindsey Han.
Libby: How long have you been playing golf?
Ellie: I started playing golf when I was twelve. So, nine years… wow. That’s longer than I thought!
Lindsay: I started playing when I was eight. It’s been thirteen years.
Libby: Have you enjoyed your time on the Yale golf team?
Ellie: Yes. It’s been amazing! Yale has been a wonderful place for golf and for school. I feel like the caliber of person who goes to school here is so incredible. I’m always astounded by the students.
Libby: What are your strategies for balancing the golf schedule with the high level academics?
(They both laugh.)
Ellie: We’re still trying to figure that one out. It’s challenging. You basically just have to stay on top of everything and not let yourself fall behind. There’s no time to make up for things. There’s definitely not a formula. Some people do better with a deadline and they grind to get things done in time while others like to plug along all semester.
Libby: Do you find that the college world of golf is a lot different than junior tournaments?
Ellie: It’s really different. In the summer time as a junior, you just play and practice every day. Here, there are just so many other things on your plate. It requires a lot more time management.
Lindsay: I wouldn’t be home for weeks at a time as a junior. Here, you have to get home from practice and get ready for your mid-term exam. I also don’t have access to my swing coach every week. Here, you don’t have that one-to-one attention.
Libby: What were some of your most memorable moments with the golf team?
Lindsay and Ellie: Winning Ivies!
Ellie: Whenever we do well in a tournament, it makes all of the hard work worth it.
Lindsay: It was also great to go to the regionals after winning the Ivies.
Libby: Has being on the college team been a life changing experience?
Ellie: Absolutely!
Lindsay: Yeah, we laugh amongst ourselves and say “what would we do with ourselves if we didn’t have the golf team.”
Ellie: It’s a lot of work. It’s a big time commitment, but I can’t imagine what my life would be without it.
Libby: Do you think you think there is a disadvantage to not being able to play golf during the colder months?
Ellie: Yes. I’m from a place where you can’t play during the winter.
Lindsay: Yeah, but I’m not.
(She laughs ... Lindsay is from Hawaii!)
Ellie: So, it wasn’t weird for me.
Lindsay: It was a lot different for me. Taking three months off was very strange. I had to wear layers when we started practicing in the spring!
Libby: How does the team overcome those obstacles?
Ellie: During the off season, we’re not obligated to work out together, but we often train together or work on our game at the indoor facility.
Lindsay: We go somewhere warm during the spring break to do some catch up.
Libby: What’s the spring training like?
Lindsay: We get up at about 6:00 a.m. to work out, and then we usually play until about 5:00 p.m.
Ellie: Yeah, it’s like golf boot camp. It’s actually really effective. When we leave, it doesn’t feel like we haven’t touched a club for three months. And, in the end, we’re usually competing with other teams from the northeast so we’re all in the same boat.
Libby: Is there a big rival?
Lindsay: Harvard is our big rival in some of the sports like football but in golf, it has historically been Yale and Princeton challenging each other. And last year Columbia won Ivies for the first time. Harvard has really started to challenge us and Brown has a couple of good players now.
Ellie: The whole profile of Ivy League golf has changed a great deal since we were freshmen.
Lindsay: Yeah, we never even really had to worry about Princeton. Now it’s a lot more exciting because there are a number of teams that could win each year. The other teams are definitely stepping up.
Libby: Do you think that Coach Rompothong provides a different perspective than other coaches since she has the experience as a Yalie?
Lindsay: Oh, definitely. She knows exactly what we are going through. Once, we had a paper due during the practice round. Chawwadee let us finish the papers in the club house until noon and then we joined the team for the practice round. If a golf course doesn’t have internet access, she’ll drive us around until we find a place that does. Starbucks is always a favorite. She even pays for the wireless access.
Ellie: She really works to accommodate us.
Libby: What advice would you give to our readers who want to play for a school like Yale?
Lindsay: It’s interesting because I don’t think many of us had planned to come to Yale to play golf. First and foremost, you have to have the grades, but the golf has to also be there, too.
Ellie: In general, you have to be well-rounded. You can’t just be good at golf. You have to do well in school. |
