NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale Athletics has announced the hiring Alex Ranvik as its new superintendent for the Yale Golf Course. Ranvik joins Yale with nearly 14 years of golf course maintenance and management experience.
 
In his role, Ranvik will oversee the grounds maintenance operations at the historic Yale Golf Course. This will include agronomic planning, staff training, and equipment fleet management as well as building player relations focused on maintaining best-in-class playing conditions.
 
"I am excited to welcome Alex to both Yale Athletics and the Yale Golf Course team," said Peter Palacios, General Manager of the Yale Golf Course. "His passion, leadership, and experience stood out through the hiring process, truly making him an ideal fit for this role. I look forward to collaborating with Alex to enhance agronomic performance, improve turf playability, and elevate the overall player experience when the Yale Golf Course reopens post-restoration."
 
Ranvik joins Yale from The Club at Las Campanas in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Las Campanas was designed by Jack Nicklaus, who heads up Nicklaus Design, one of the world's largest golf course design and construction companies. The course is consistently rated among the very top courses in New Mexico by Golf Digest magazine and has ranked in the top five in New Mexico since 2005. In 2023-24, Golf Digest rated it the No. 1 course in New Mexico and Platinum Clubs of America has ranked it in the top 100 since 2014.
 
"I am honored to have the opportunity to join Vicky's [Chun] team and Yale Athletics," said Ranvik. "As we approach the Yale Golf Course centennial, being able to walk through one of golf's historic masterpieces, it's impossible not to be excited about setting the foundation for the next 100 years of golf at Yale. I look forward to getting to work and bringing renewed life and pride to the course and community."
 
In Ranvik's time at Las Campanas, he was an integral member and on-site representative of a United States Golf Association (USGA) research study involving water conservation through state-of-the-art moisture sensors. In addition, he implemented the Tasktracker software for daily operation, as well as CMMS programs for equipment maintenance, capital inventory, and replacement schedules.
 
Ranvik also has experience working at Xanterra Parks and Resorts' The Oasis at Death Valley in California and The Brier Patch Golf Links and the Greenbrier in West Virginia.
 
At The Oasis at Death Valley, Ranvik worked as the on-site project manager for two large phases of master plan improvements where he was involved in day-to-day operations of a multi-million-dollar landscape improvement project.
 
He has served as a volunteer at PGA Championships, the U.S. Senior Open as well as twice at the Wells Fargo Championships at Quail Hollow.
 
Ranvik earned a degree in turfgrass management from Penn State University in 2014.