DR. SAM KUSHLIN
Member of the Yale Golf Club since 1942
Interview on April 17, 2005 [conducted by telephone by John Godley]
Interview (15 mins)
Dr. Sam Kushlin learned to play golf as a caddy and played at Muni, while he started at Yale in 1942. He took lessons from Joe Sullivan and played many rounds with him. He recalls that if one of the foursome hit into the water on the ninth hole, Joe would “hit his ball with ease across the pond from a kneeling stance” to show the duffers how easy it was. Sam’s lowest handicap was 12, and he twice broke 80 with scores of 79.
Now at age 93 he plays 5 or 6 holes by himself twice a week (number 12-18), and then finishes with “the best part of my game: the shower.” Through his long and distinguished medical career he “has had much stress,” and he firmly believes that “the Yale golf course kept me off the psychiatrist’s couch.”