Bethpage Black Course

The Bethpage Black Course is a public golf course on Long Island, New York, the most difficult of the five courses at Bethpage State Park. In 2002, the Black Course became the first publicly owned and operated course to host the U.S. Open, which returned in 2009. Bethpage Black hosted The Barclays, the event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs in late August, in 2012 and is scheduled to host again in 2016, 2021, and 2027.^[3]

Bethpage Black opened in 1936, designed by noted golf architect A.W. Tillinghast,^[4] who also designed its Blue and Red Courses, also opened in the mid-1930s.^[5]

Bethpage Black is one of the featured courses in the video game Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, by EA Sports.

Rankings

In its July 2008 list of America's greatest golf courses, Golf Digest ranked Bethpage Black #26 overall,^[6] #6 in the state of New York,^[6] #6 of America's 50 toughest courses,^[7] and #5 in its list of America's greatest public golf courses.^[8] It is also the top-ranked course in the Golf Digest list that is operated by a governmental entity.^[8]

Notable events hosted

Year	Date	Tournament	Winner	Score	To par	Classification
2002	Jun 13–16	U.S. Open	Tiger Woods	277	−3	Major championship
2009	Jun 18–22	U.S. Open	Lucas Glover	276	−4	Major championship
2012	Aug 23–26	The Barclays	Nick Watney	274	−10	FedEx Cup playoffs

2002 U.S. Open

The Open was won by Tiger Woods, the only golfer to score under par for the championship. It was seen as one of the most difficult and exciting U.S. Opens in history, breaking attendance records and creating a more boisterous atmosphere for the U.S. Open. It was this event that the 17th hole became comparable to that of the 16th hole of the Phoenix Open due to the "Amphitheatre" atmosphere of the hole. This was partially caused by the giant stands erected parallel along both sides of the green, with a natural hill behind the green, creating a giant horseshoe of spectators.

Prior to 2002, all U.S. Opens had been staged at private golf or country clubs or at privately owned resorts that, while open to the public, were very expensive for the public to play, with greens fees of several hundred dollars per round. In 2002, Bethpage was selected as the first publicly owned and operated golf course to host the US Open.^[9] The USGA's choice of Bethpage was seen as an egalitarian move.

2009 U.S. Open

Lucas Glover won the 2009 U.S. Open.^[10] The course was hit heavily by continuous rain throughout the week and weekend. This resulted in multiple suspensions of play. It was this U.S. Open that Phil Mickelson declared that this would be his last tournament before taking significant time off to tend to his ailing wife, Amy, who had been recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Tiger Woods was never a legitimate factor in this U.S. Open and after he sank his final putt, it took him no more than 10 minutes to leave Bethpage State Park.

Like the 2002 U.S. Open, the media coverage of the relationship between the New York gallery and Mickelson was one of the major headlines of the entire tournament. The most memorable moment was Mickelson teeing off on the short par-3 17th hole. As Mickelson walked down the path, toward the green he was met by thousands of spectators with thunderous chants of, "Let's Go Mickelson!" Mickelson came up short, but commended the New York golf fans and suggested a Ryder Cup should be played at Bethpage Black because, "We would have a big advantage."^[11]

The USGA wanted to capture the entire venue that year at Bethpage Black for the 2009 US Open, so that the public could also experience every bunker, break, and ridiculous cut of rough during the real life tournament. So the USGA teamed up with World Golf Tour and co-hosted the 2009 Virtual US Open tournament that ended the day after the US Open tournament champion received his trophy. The winner of the virtual tournament won a trip for two to the next years live event in Pebble Beach. The Virtual U.S. Open attracted hundreds of thousands of players from more than 180 countries.^[12][13]

2012 Barclays

The annual Barclays tournament, the first of FedEx Cup playoff events, continued its rotation around the New York metropolitan area and was played at Bethpage State Park in 2012 in late August.^[14] As with the previous two U.S. Opens, the 2012 Barclays was played on the difficult Black course. Differing from the U.S. Opens, the 7th hole was lengthened slightly and played as a par-5 to make the course a par-71 at 7,468 yards (6,829 m), identical to the course's blue tees.^[15]

Future events

2016, 2021, 2027 Barclays

Bethpage will host the 2016, 2021, and 2027 Barclays tournament, the first of PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoff events.^[16]

2019 PGA Championship & 2024 Ryder Cup

On September 17, 2013, the PGA of America in conjunction with the State of New York announced that the 2019 PGA Championship as well as the 2024 Ryder Cup will be contested at Bethpage Black.^[17]

Scorecard

• Hole #7 was played as a par 4 in both U.S. Opens

References

External links

• Official website
• New York State Parks- Bethpage Golf Courses
• Golf Club Atlas Article
• 2009 U.S. Open Course Guide
• Telegraph Article on the Course
• Golf Digest Guide to the Course
• Sportlistings World of Sport Directory

Coordinates: 40°44′32.32″N 73°27′18.81″W / 40.7423111°N 73.4552250°W / 40.7423111; -73.4552250