Bethpage State Park (Black Course)

Favorite Hole

No. 5, par 4, 478 yards

Although the first and third holes are not pushovers, the fifth hole is where the grind at Bethpage Black really starts. This burly two-shotter plays between two large, parallel ridges, with the tee and green occupying high points on opposite ends of a valley. The hole’s dominant hazard is a huge, rugged bunker guarding the fairway on a left-to-right diagonal. Players who shy away from the sand, bailing out to the left, will find their second shots obstructed by the ridge and trees along the left side of the valley. Carrying the farthest portion of the bunker on the right results in a much simpler, though still uphill and partly blind, approach. This risk-reward dimension lends some intrigue and excitement to a very stern par 4.

However, the strategic design of the hole would be better served by a wider fairway. Extending the mowing lines back toward the tee and out to the left, where players would be unlikely to reach the green with their second shots, would open up options for shorter hitters without significantly reducing the challenge for bombers. -Garrett Morrison

{{bethpage-black-favorite-hole-5-gallery}}

Overall Thoughts

Most golfers know one thing about the Black Course at Bethpage State Park: It’s hard. As the much-photographed warning sign near the first tee states, “The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.”

While the sign doesn’t lie, it has probably stunted the golf world’s understanding of this 1936 A.W. Tillinghast-Joseph Burbeck design. Yes, the Black is a tough test of playing ability—the double-black-diamond run of Bethpage’s five-course complex. But it’s also beautiful, stirring, and even occasionally fun (or at least exciting) to play.

The land that the Black Course occupies is exceptional and ideally suited to the game. The property consists of a series of abrupt ridges and gullies connected by subtly undulating plateaus. This variety in scale allows the course to have a pleasing ebb and flow, with dramatic holes like Nos. 4, 5, and 6 contrasted by quieter ones like 7, 10, and 11. Also, while the site’s biggest landforms are exciting to look at and play across, they are hardly ever too large to be traversed by a single golf hole. As a result, the Black Course is continually shifting from scene to scene. Each tee shot reveals a new prospect and a new set of topographical features, creating a sense of adventure and discovery.

The routing of the course makes full use of the property’s natural assets. It starts by descending into a broad, open bowl; crosses Round Swamp Road after the first hole; plunges into a hilly, heavily wooded area; turns around at the ninth tee (which sits 1.3 miles from the first tee); crosses back over the road after No. 14; and spends its final four holes in the valley below the clubhouse. This out-and-back structure gives the course a kind of mythic weight: the Black takes you on a journey into the wilderness in order to test your ability and fortitude. When you emerge from the woods, you undergo a final examination in a natural colosseum. Each round is a story: you vs. the course, you vs. nature, you vs. yourself.

Where Bethpage Black falls flat, so to speak, is on and around the greens. Most of the putting surfaces are oval-shaped, devoid of imaginative contour, oriented straight-on to the line of play, and guarded by bunkers in predictable patterns (e.g., front-left, front-right). There are some exceptions: the greens on the four par 3s, for instance, are bigger and more unconventionally shaped than the rest, perhaps to accommodate distinct pin positions and spread out wear and tear. In general, though, the Black’s greens lack the variety, sophistication, and strategic substance that one would expect from an A.W. Tillinghast project.*

{{bethpage-black-greens-gallery}}

(*We know Joseph Burbeck played an important role in the construction of Bethpage Black. Is it possible that he and his crew built the course’s greens without much input from Tillinghast? I think so. While Tillinghast’s influence on the routing and strategic design strikes me as obvious, I find it hard to believe that the architect of Somerset Hills and Winged Foot West would conceive of greens as ordinary as the Black’s.)

Bethpage Black’s other main shortcoming is its presentation. As architect Ryan Farrow documented, the course has lost a tremendous amount of fairway acreage since its early years. This change may have been unintentional, the result of long-term irrigation and maintenance trends rather than any conscious decision. But in recent decades, narrowness has become ingrained in the Black’s identity as a tournament venue. For high-level players, the primary challenge of the course is, simply, the rough. Can you hit it far enough off the tee to put a wedge in your hands on the approach? Can you hack that wedge out of long, thick grass to an elevated target? If it’s 2019, is your name Brooks Koepka or Dustin Johnson? Such are the largely uninteresting questions that the modern Black Course asks in major championships.

Even as it stands, however, Bethpage Black is a leading light of American public golf. If restored to its proper scale, it would take its rightful place as the country's grandest and best municipal course.

1 Egg

(How we rate courses)

Bethpage Black’s land and routing are remarkable enough to earn an Egg on their own, but its weaknesses in green design and presentation hold it back from two- or three-Egg status. Still, I do think Bethpage State Park, the USGA, and consulting architect Rees Jones deserve a lot of credit for getting the course back on its feet in the late 1990s. Jones’s “restoration” in preparation for the 2002 U.S. Open may not have passed the smell test of historical accuracy, but it at least reestablished the Black as an elevated golf experience. -Garrett Morrison

Course Tour

{{bethpage-black-course-tour-01}}

Additional Content

Preparing to Host the Ryder Cup

Great Golf Holes: No. 4 at Bethpage Black

Chocolate Drops: Thoughts on Bethpage Black as a Ryder Cup Venue (Article)

Jim "Bones" Mackay Dishes on Ryder Cup, Bethpage Black (Fried Egg Golf Podcast)

‍The Real Effect of Bethpage Black’s Setup (Article)