Rolling up to the counter, I had to remind myself this was one of America’s best courses and not a council office. I’ve collected unemployment cheques in rooms that looked like this, but the teller behind the barrier was the gateway to an experience I still remember incredibly fondly half a dozen years later.
If TPC Sawgrass was all Mediterranean deco, and if Wentworth’s mock castle paved the way to solid marble, then the interior of Bethpage’s clubhouse was blue collar America in a nutshell – club sandwiches, hot dogs, and beers being devoured everywhere.
I loved it.
When New Yorkers say municipal, that’s exactly what they mean. The home of Bethpage State Park’s five courses was without pretence or pomposity.
I wasn’t sure whether I was going to take half the floor with me as I gingerly walked round the pro shop, and I remember feeling the clubhouse was quite dark save for the massive windows that tantalisingly looked out upon the AW Tillinghast design. It may have just been the time of day.
But it was brilliant and Bethpage provides some of the better value you’ll see in a game where you can just chuck cash away on a green fee.
The cheapest tee time you’ll get at Sawgrass is $550. Pebble Beach also pretends to be pay and play, yet it’s $675 before you start thinking about cart fees.
Live in the New York State area, though, and the maximum you’ll pay to get on the Black is $80 at weekends. It’s $44 for a twilight slot. That’s just a shade over £33 to play the course where Tiger Woods won a US Open.
Even if the Big Apple isn’t your home, it doesn’t break the bank. It’s $140 on weekdays and $160 on weekends if you’re out of state.
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What is it like to play Bethpage Black?
Bethpage is wonderfully down to earth and that extends to the course itself. I hired a set of clubs – senior flex as we were late – from a guy who was every New York stereotype wrapped up in a five-foot something frame.
Bedecked in a bomber jacket, he very clearly instructed me to ensure every club was returned at the conclusion of the round. I listened in a state both of admiration and fear, which turned to panic when I inevitably left a sand wedge by the side of the 14th green.
I’ve never run so fast in my life to retrieve a golf club.
I like to think I’ve played some difficult golf courses, but the Black should come with a government health warning.
They do try to warn you, but I blithely ignored the sign before stepping onto the 1st and putting myself through the mill.
I could blame the hire clubs. The flex was so soft my hands arrived at the ball with the clubhead still at the top of the backswing. I could blame the weather.
Really, it’s just a very hard golf course. The 1st fairway looked like a landing strip and they didn’t get much wider. The rough was ridiculous.
You’re always tempted to take on more than you can chew. The ball often looked like it was sitting up, but the wiry grass grabbed the club. I chunked it a lot.
I quickly got used to the slightly depressing sight of 6-irons swan diving out of the sky as all my clubhead speed disappeared when confronting this immovable object.
The greens don’t slope like Augusta – they’re largely flat – but they’re slick, often raised, and hard to hold. The bunkers? It was just better not to be in them at all.
Some, such as those that dominated the 4th and 5th fairways, were cavernous.
The par 3s were glorious and not just because I birdied the 2nd and parred the rest. The 17th, especially, was one of the most beautiful holes on the course with the green ringed and fronted by bunkers.
The closing hole, meanwhile, was spectacularly framed by the distinctive clubhouse in the background.
None of this scenery diminished the phenomenal challenge. Off the back Blue tees, the Course Rating for this par 71 layout is an incredible 78.
A Scratch handicapper gets seven from the limits of the course and you can’t go any higher than the Slope rating of 155, which is the number off the Blue, White and Yellow tees.
As a 10.3 handicapper, if I returned to Bethpage Black and played from the tips my Course Handicap would be 21. It still wouldn’t be enough. I’m not sure I broke 100 the day I played.
The Black is a positional course where you’ve just got to find the fairways. When you don’t, it’s too hard to get back into play without sacrificing shots.
But even the difficulty can’t prevent you from enjoying an inspirational day here. If you ever get the chance, get in the queue. And if you’re a Ryder Cup player, buckle up. It’s going to be a long three days.
Where is Bethpage Black?
One of five 18-hole courses at Bethpage State Park, the Black is renowned as one of the toughest layouts in America.
It was designed by AW Tillinghast after the Lenox Hills Country Club was bought by the Bethpage Park Authority in the early 1930s.
Consistently ranked in Top 100 lists of the best courses in the USA, the Black hosted the US Open in 2002 and 2009 as well as the PGA Championship in 2019.
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Now have your say
Do you know what it is like to play Bethpage Black? How did you get on? Was it as tough everyone says? Let us know by leaving us a comment on X.
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