Peter Pulaski
Director of Golf and PGA professional
Peter Pulaski grew up in Stratford, Connecticut and was introduced to the game by his father and grandfather at Mill River Country Club. Mill River was well known for producing such great Connecticut amateur golfers as Ben Costello, John Downey, and John Ruby. During the 1930s and 1940s, Mill River was the site of the Shoreline Open, which was won by such legendary players as Tommy Armour, Gene Sarazen, Claude Harman, Ed “Porky” Oliver, and home club pro, Lou Galby.
Growing up, Pulaski could watch some of the best players in the state, and he learned the game under the tutelage of two accomplished professionals. Al Fuchs was Connecticut PGA Champion and Doug Dalziel won the Connecticut PGA and Connecticut Open Championships and played on the Senior PGA Tour. Pulaski played in the Connecticut State Junior Championship and was a semifinalist in the prestigious J. Borck Junior Championship. He played four years at Bunnell High School and captained the 1979 team under Connecticut Hall of Fame Coach, Pedro Tagatac. At Southern Connecticut State University, Pulaski played two seasons for Coach Tony Martone, a Yale Golf Club member. Southern’s home course was Yale, and Pulaski remembers it as being “wet in the spring and brown and wild in the fall.”
Pulaski began his professional career under Al Fuchs at Mill River and then was hired at Oronoque Village Country Club by Paul McGuire, under whom Pulaski first began giving golf lessons. Three years later he went to work for his old mentor Doug Dalziel at Grassy Hill Country Club. Following his certification from the PGA of America Business Schools, Pulaski became the head professional when Dalziel left to join the Senior PGA Tour. “I caddied for Doug in a couple of events during the off-season; I learned so much just watching him.”
In 1994, the year that Tom Beckett became Athletic Director, Pulaski came to Yale to work for David Paterson. Yale was bursting with activity in the area of golf instruction. Pulaski assisted Paterson with golf schools and camps and developed a large student base. “I really enjoy working with the Yale students; it’s a lot of fun.” Peter Pulaski also earned Connecticut Coaching Certification and coached at the high school level for three seasons.
In 2000 he became the Director of Golf and began focusing on golf course conditions. Working with Tom Beckett and Forrest Temple, Pulaski began scheduling quartile visits with the USGA agronomists to assess turf conditions. “I learned an awful lot about growing grass and what we needed to do here at Yale.” First and foremost were tree removal and improved irrigation, and these were followed by the purchase of much needed maintenance equipment. The bunker restoration project started by Dave Paterson was completed, and a formal long term drainage plan developed. “It’s such a big piece of property, we just keep picking away at it.”
Pulaski is also proud of his efforts with Beckett, Temple, and course superintendent, Scott Ramsay, in working with members of the Local 35 Grounds Staff and with Union President Bob Proto to reach an agreement on increased golf course staffing and devise a job-sharing plan that uses students and off-season, dining hall workers from Yale. This pact has made a tremendous difference in the conditions of the golf course.
In 2003 Peter Pulaski was named Teacher of the Year by the Connecticut PGA, and in 2007 he was the Horton Smith Award Recipient. Pulaski has served two terms on the Connecticut PGA Board of Directors and on the Best Practices Education Committee at Yale University.