The 2025 Ryder Cup is finally upon us, and New York’s Bethpage Black is set for another week in golf’s spotlight. Before the public course on Long Island became a major championship venue, however, it was famous for parking lot campouts by golfers waiting for a chance to play one of the country’s best and most famous public layouts. The Washington Post recently ran a story on the avid golfers who have spent as long as 44 hours waiting for a chance to get on Bethpage Black, where tee times have been awarded at 5 a.m. this summer. The story calls the scene a “fast-forming community” and a “makeshift village,” with one golfer on-site calling it “a college tailgate vibe.” A similarly euphoric mood surely awaits at the Ryder Cup this month, but players like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy probably won’t camp out in the parking lot before heading to the first tee.
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PGA of America Golf Professional David Young is known for being a coach who has guided many students toward greater enjoyment of the game at New York’s Sleepy Hollow Country Club. Of course, he’s also gaining notoriety as the father of PGA TOUR player Cameron Young, who won his first tour event last month at the Wyndham Championship. CBS Sports broadcast an on-course conversation between David Young and reporter Amanda Balionis as Cameron Young was playing the final nine holes of the event. David said he was probably more nervous than his son as the day was unfolding, but they were both confident. That confidence was borne out as Cameron emphatically won the North Carolina event by six strokes.
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Speaking of raucous golf vibes, the long-awaited “Happy Gilmore 2” movie hit Netflix re cently, filled with outlandish Adam Sandler humor and plenty of cameos from the golf world. Longtime PGA of America Member and staff member Dan Baker, who passed away in a tragic auto accident last December, was an on-set golf consultant for the movie and was onscreen in a pair of scenes. Golfweek noted that the end credits of the movie paid tribute to Baker with a memorial message: “Dan’s love of the game was only matched by his love of life. The fairways won’t be the same without him, but his legacy will always walk beside us.” The PGA of America shared a link to the credits memorial on its Instagram account, as well
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Peter Broome is a golf industry stalwart, known best for his many years as an executive at Titleist working with partners throughout the business world, especially PGA of America Golf Professionals. Global Golf Post recently ran a story by John Steinbreder disclosing that Broome is fighting Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The diagnosis following Broome’s retirement two years ago, and Steinbreder’s story is one of heartbreak and hope. While Broome, now 65, is starting to feel the effects of ALS, he is channeling his energy into helping others with the disease. “I hate being the one who has to be helped,” Broome is quoted as saying. “I want to be helping people, which is why I am motivated to help the ALS community, and that includes those with the disease and those who will get it down the road.”
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