Big, bold, brawny, brash – a brute of a golf course. Long and strong. Rough and tough. Timeless, treacherous and tumultuous. Unforgiving, unrelenting and unyielding.
The Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York, has been described in many ways since it opened in 1936. But perhaps the most telling summation of the character of Bethpage Black came following the 2002 U.S. Open at The Black, a major championship that defined the difficulty of the public golf course when only champion Tiger Woods managed to finish under par for 72 holes.
“Maybe the hardest course I have ever played – but it is fair,” explained Woods.
The Black Has Bold Reputation
Such is the reputation built by Bethpage Black after hosting the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, and the 2019 PGA Championship. You know a golf course is uber-difficult when a sign at the first tee (pictured) is almost as ominous as the Surgeon General’s warning on a pack of cigarettes. “WARNING,” reads the placard fixed to a fence behind the first tee at Bethpage Black. “The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.”
The Black normally stretches 7,400-plus yards for a major championship, and its narrow fairways, legion of bunkers, consistently deep, gnarly rough and sloping, undulating greens have made it one of the most difficult golf courses in the world – and one of the most respected.
But how will the vaunted Black Course play for the 2025 Ryder Cup this month? With the competition featuring the U.S. Team vs. Team Europe in a match-play format, will meticulously manicured Bethpage Black be softened a bit and allow the players to occupy the spotlight rather than the golf course designed by the renowned A.W. Tillinghast some nine decades ago?
It’s an intriguing question, but with PGA of America Chief Championships Officer Kerry Haigh entrusted with setting up the course, one can be certain The Black will be fair, fast, firm and highly challenging for both sides.
“Bethpage Black is a national treasure that is maintained as a major championship course year-round. It is long and features fairly narrow fairways compared to some courses, but despite its past history in major championships, I’ve never heard anyone say it is unfair,” explains Haigh, who has been involved with the course setup for 33 PGA Championships and 18 Ryder Cups.
Ryder Cup Course Setup Evolves
Haigh adds that the golf course setup for the Ryder Cup has changed significantly over the years, and particularly in recent years. “When I was first involved at a home match in 1991 at Kiawah Island Resort’s Ocean Course, I basically set the course up as I would have done for a PGA Championship.” he notes.
“While Dave Stockton was our home captain, he did not really get involved in how the course was set up. As the matches became more and more competitive, the course setup is now very much dependent upon how the home captain wants the course to play. So, our captain, Keegan Bradley, has the ability to determine anticipated green speeds, fairway widths, rough heights, etc., and it is our job to attain those elements as requested by our captain.”
Haigh says the home captain’s influence stops the weekend prior to the Ryder Cup, “at which time our aim is to try to maintain those parameters while the actual hole locations and tee marker positions are determined by a joint effort with a representative from the PGA of America and a representative from Ryder Cup Europe working together to agree and set the holes and tees for each session of the Ryder Cup.”
How will U.S. Captain Bradley instruct Haigh to set up Bethpage Black for the 45th Ryder Cup?
“Fair and equitable,” says Bradley with a smile. “You don’t have to make a lot of changes – The Black is as tough as it gets without making any changes.”
Haigh set up Bethpage Black for the 2019 PGA Championship, the last major held at the demanding course on Long Island. Brooks Koepka was the winner at 8-under-par, but with 98 of the top 100 players competing, only six finished under par (and Koepka finished 4-over for the final round).
Extremely minor changes have been made to Bethpage Black since the 2019 PGA Championship, which upheld Bethpage Black’s tradition of being New York tough.
“There have been very few changes made to the golf course since that 2019 PGA Championship,” confirms Haigh. “Immediately following the championship, we widened the fairways on holes 10 and 11 to bring back into play the large expanse of fairway bunkers that had previously not really been in play due to the amount of rough between the fairway and those fairway bunkers.
“In addition, the tree to the right of the par-3 No. 8 green was in bad and potentially dangerous condition, so that was removed completely.”
