The Seven Oaks Golf Club, which has been under renovation since Aug. 2021, is looking forward to reopening for the spring season, according to the Seven Oaks Director of Golf Dallas Pylinski. After demolishing the two buildings, the new pro shop and restaurant reopened in May and June 2022. The changes made to the golf course were completed in July 2022, and the course is in the process of getting ready to open likely on April 14.

Pylinski spoke about the upgrades that have been made to the club while looking forward to the course reopening.

“The overall customer service we are able to provide from a golf standpoint has gone up I’d say double, just with the overall surrounding of the building and the type of service we are able to provide from our cart staff and to the golf shop,” Pylinski said. 

Pylinski also explained how the new setup of the golf shop next to the restaurant is able to improve sales for the club.

“As soon as you walk into the door to your left there are glass panes that look right into the golf shop,” Pylinski said. “Everybody who is eating at the Clubhouse has to walk right by there, so they’re interested in doing some shopping.”

The opportunity for renovations was provided by fundraising and donations from Colgate alumni, according to Pylinski. A driving factor that motivated the remodeling was the interest of JS Hope ‘97, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration and Chief Investment Officer at Colgate University.

“He’s a member here and he’s a huge golfer. He played on the golf team. It was kind of his baby,” Pylinski said. 

Seven Oaks also hopes that the renovations will allow for larger tournaments to be hosted in the future. 

“Back in the 70s, it hosted a national championship,” Pylinski said. “We probably won’t host something quite that big, but maybe a regional down the road. So the hope is to have the clubhouse and the course match a facility capable of holding an event like that. Not to mention the buildings themselves were very old, so they certainly needed to be rebuilt.”

Despite the major renovations being completed, Seven Oaks is still working on some upgrades. A new car barn will be finished up in the following weeks to make room for a new fleet of electric golf carts. It will also provide for bag storage and a washer and dryer to provide towels to players. 

Sophomore Wyatt Petersen, a member of the Men’s Golf team, shared his thoughts on the remodeling. 

“I think that the changes to Seven Oaks worked well, returning the course closer to the original design. The placement of new bunkers and tee boxes makes the course more challenging and exciting. The changes to a couple of greens were also positive, creating opportunities for new pin places,” Petersen said.

Sophomore Robbie Herzig, also a member of the team, described how he thinks the changes will benefit the team. 

“The remodeling will definitely benefit the team because there are a few more difficult nuances about the course that we’ll be familiar with and know how to navigate. Home field advantage is now definitely a big factor at Seven Oaks compared to some other college golf courses,” Herzig said.

Pylinski sees the reopening of the golf course as a benefit to the broader Hamilton community as well as Colgate’s athletic program.

“I think it’s a tremendous part of the community,” Pylinski said. “The golf course is renowned throughout the country and we are a top collegiate course.”