Playing Bethpage next Wednesday!

[AJay2000]

I grew up as a New Yorker, but moved to Atlanta for a few years for work. Returned, and I STILL haven't ever gotten down to Long Island to play the black course.

Now I am.

If I shoot anything in the 80's I'll be ecstatic.

Anyone here have fun Bethpage Black stories? War stories? Moments of Glory? Gotten your hat handed to you?

I'm really exicted mostly just to see the golf course. I definitely will have to return to play the Red, which is also highly regarded, but hopefully I'll be able to keep it in the short grass and make AW Tillinghast proud.

- Jay

[Evan]

Just have fun. It's a great experience. If you haven't played it before I'll take the over on whatever you're expecting to shoot.

[Hass]

I'm jealous and it's not even close.

[sonartec23b]

I've played the Black around 25-30 times. I'm still at school right now and won't be back in NY until next week but usually the rough isn't too thick at this point of the year. On a general level, my advice would be to make a concerted effort to avoid overreading putts. With the exception of 7/11/12/15, you wont have to contend with severe breaks. I'm somewhat strapped for time at the moment but here is a hole by hole...

1 - medium length par 4, dog leg to the right (make sure to take a picture of the famous sign)
left is better than right if you are going to miss with your drive, for one thing, the rough on the left is usually a bit lighter adn you will not have to contend with tree trouble. Missing right brings a lot of trouble into play and the pitch shot out of the rough can be difficult because the fairway is narrow. as for the green, fairly gentle undulations, slopes towards the middle of the green, bit of a two tiered green but it isnt that severe, deep traps on the side of the green

2 - dogleg left, you can play a 3 wood off the tee. personally, i find it advantageous to be extra aggressive and ill hit a driver along the left side. if you miss to the right, you have to deal with the ball above your feet and a pretty severe right to left trajectory on your shot as a result with overhanging limbs that make it ever more problematic, not to mention the green is elevated. this green is extremely flat, its fairly difficult to get a good read on the pin placement from the fairway so try to walk up and check it out


3- pay attention to the wind, dont go long, short isnt great either, pin location dictates yardage, the more right it is the shorter it will play, dont miss the green left, its absolute suicide and will roll forever

4- signature hole, obviously take some pics, i recommend from the tips for best view. favor the right side of the fair, missign right is better than missing left, do not go for the green in 2, if you are in good shape after the drive, make a concerted effort to keep the ball right of the green, this will give you a good angle, otherwise, take one or 1.5 more club on your 2nd shot and favor the middle of the 2nd fairway, the more right you go, the more of a carry however, green is sloped from front to back, hence making it a poor decision to go for it in two, flag is usually tucked just beyond the traps


5- this hole has always given me fits, even if you hit a good drive you can be blocked out by the trees near the green on the left, fairly deep bunkers in front, just a beast, play for a 5 if you miss the fairway and lay up in the fairway to give yourself the best shot at saving par

6- good hole, 240ish shot, even if you end up in the trap it isnt the end of the world, just be cognizant of the wind direction since its downhill, again, very flat green, less break in the middle of the green, you wont have a putt with more than a ball or 2 or break

7 - try not to go too left with your drive, not a bad par 5, was a par 4 for the pro's, just dont miss your drive to the right, green has some slope to it but its not too bad

8 - one of my fave holes , green doesnt have much slope but just be aware of it, mostly gently breaking putts with a bit of break, right is absolutely as dead as it looks


9- they added a new tee box last year, actually had to buy the property from the neighboring county, hitting the fairway is a must, favor the right side, left is trouble with all of the trees, play an extra club on the approach, especially if you dont clear the massive slope in the fairway, green is pretty flat, long traps in front, long is best if you want to avoid a longer bunker shot

ill post the back 9 if you found this helpful at some point before your round, playing tomorrow so im about to go to sleep, take care

[MaxPower]

The first green has a little bit of a false front.

Also on the 4th hole, going for the green in two is not recommended. There is just too much trouble you can get into. There is large area of fairway to the right of the green and that is where you should aim your 2nd shot.

On the 6th hole, you probably don't want to hit a driver off the tee. That will take you too far down the hill and you might end up in a tough lie. If you hit a 3-wood or a shorter club, you will have a very clear shot at the green with about a 7 iron.

[sonartec23b]

the Red is great too btw, opening hole is treacherous but its a really enjoyable round

[MaxPower]

I've played it many times and it never fails to humiliate every golfer I play with, especially the low handicap golfers. They all insist on playing from the back tees while I play from the whites. Then on the back nine, when I am getting warmed up, their game is usually falling apart. I've played with single digit handicappers who by the back nine can't reach the fairway with their tee shots.

So play from the white tees.

How hard it will be depends on how the rough is cut. If the rough has been cut recently and is not long, it isn't that bad as long as you have some distance. But if the rough its long, it is very tough. If you stay out of the rough, the course isn't that hard.

One thing I love about the black course is that there are no carts, it is not surrounded by houses, and is pretty isolated. So it is very quiet.

Also, the front nine is easier than the back and it might lull you into a false sense of security. The 4th and 5th holes are the highlights of the front nine. On the back 10, 11, and 12 are a killer stretch of holes. 13 and 14 aren't too bad, but then you get to 15 which is the hardest hole on the course in my opinion.

Also, the starter at the Black course is usually a very ornery guy.

The Red course is also excellent and nearly as good as the Black. It is par 70 and is very long.

Good luck and have fun.

[eamato]

I played it a month after the Open. I finished my summer graduate program and took a drive from chicago to new york/dc. I played it on a wed. as well.

I was a 12-14 at the time and my goal was a 90. The experience of camping out in my car and getting a braclet, going to a ticket type window to get a time was awesome.

I played the blacks and got my butt kicked in. If I missed a fairway there was no way of reaching the green in two. There were three holes of about 500 yards each, on the back and only 1 par 5. I thought the greens were relatively easy for a major type course not that much undulagtion if I remember. Putting was the only thing that saved me.

I shoot 96 with 7 on a par 3, a deep bunker did me in.

enjoy and good luck

[Butcho22]

I'm jealous, have fun and maybe come back with a trip report.

[WichitaDM]

I played there last summer and it was awesome albeit a humiliating experience. I was a 4.5 handicap at the time and my brother and dad and i decided to play the back tees knowing we would get our faces kicked in. One thing i will say is this...Im simply not long enough to play this course from the tips. It seemed like every par 4 was 500 yards and as previoous people have mentioned if yo umiss the fairway you are basically playing for a 5 on all the par 4s. I shot a 96, but took an 8 on 17 with 4 shots trying to get it out of the tall grass above the bunker...All in all a great course if i played there semiregularly i would not play the back tees they made for the hardest round of golf i have ever had...