Robert Trent Jones Golf Course, University golf course in Ithaca, United States
Robert Trent Jones Golf Course is an 18-hole course in Ithaca, New York, belonging to Cornell University and laid out across rolling terrain with natural elevation changes. Water features and sand bunkers are spread throughout the layout, shaping each hole in a different way.
The course was designed in the 1930s by Robert Trent Jones while he was still a student at Cornell University. It was his first major project and the starting point of a long career in golf course design.
The course is tied to Cornell University life and regularly hosts collegiate matches that draw players from other campuses. On any given day, students and faculty mix with outside visitors on the same fairways.
The course is open to the public, and a pro shop on site rents equipment and offers lessons with certified instructors for solo or group sessions. First-time visitors should keep in mind that the hilly terrain makes some holes more physically demanding than others.
Jones designed this course as part of his studies before graduating, and Cornell allowed him to turn the project into a real built work. The finished course effectively served as both his graduation project and his first constructed design.
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