Jasna Polana Explained

Golf Facility Name:TPC Jasna Polana
Location:Princeton, New Jersey,
Establishment:1998
Type:Private
Operator:PGA Tour, TPC Network
Holes:18
Tournaments:The Instinet Classic
Designer1:Gary Player
Par1:72
Length1:7,098 yards
Rating1:74.8

40.335°N -74.692°WJasna Polana (pronounced yasna; meaning "bright glade" in Polish and "echoing the name of Lev Tolstoy's Russian home")[1] is the former 226-acre estate of John Seward Johnson I and his third wife, Barbara Piasecka Johnson. It is located at 4519 Province Line Road in Princeton, New Jersey. In 1998, Jasna Polana became a private country club.[2]

The mansion

The Jasna Polana mansion was designed by Wallace K. Harrison in a neoclassical style. It has a U-shape with the main building and two wings. The courtyard is enclosed and can be entered through a magnificent portal. The mansion was built in the 1970s at a cost of about $30 million.[2]

Barbara Piasecka Johnson was a Polish-born art historian whose collections of antique furniture and paintings filled the house. After her husband's death in 1983, she spent more time in Europe, and new plans for the estate needed to be developed.[2]

TPC Jasna Polana

In 1996, plans were approved to convert the grounds into a golf course.[3] The Gary Player designed TPC Jasna Polana opened two years later, with the estate's main residence having been converted for use as the clubhouse and restaurant, and some other buildings on the estate being used as boarding facilities.

The championship golf course is a member of the Tournament Players Club network operated by the PGA Tour. Between 2000 and 2002 it hosted The Instinet Classic on the Champions Tour.[2] In 1999, it hosted an edition of Shell's Wonderful World of Golf in which Tom Watson defeated Hale Irwin.

Tournaments hosted

YearTournamentWinner
2000 Gil Morgan
2001 Gil Morgan
2002 Isao Aoki

Notes and References

  1. News: Weber . Bruce . Barbara Piasecka Johnson, Maid Who Married Multimillionaire, Dies at 76 . 21 Nov 2023 . The New York Times . April 3, 2013.
  2. News: 18 Holes and a Fabled Past . New York Times. Mrs. Johnson had never picked up a golf club in her life. But today her estate -- which she named Jasna Polana, or Bright Meadow in Polish -- is a thriving private club with 425 members, a championship course designed by the golf star Gary Player, and an annual Senior PGA Tour event, the Instinet Classic, which concluded on Sunday. ... . June 21, 2001 . 2009-11-13 . Bill . Brink.
  3. News: Golf Course Plan Approved for Johnson Estate . . March 2, 1996. The Princeton Regional Planning Board voted unanimously late Thursday night to approve the application of Barbara Piasecka Johnson, widow of the Johnson & Johnson heir Seward Johnson Sr., to convert her 226-acre estate into a member of the Tournament Players Club network, a subsidiary of the Professional Golfers Association. Her $25 million mansion, one of the most expensive private homes ever built in the United States, will become the clubhouse. ... . 2009-11-13.