Great course. I have played so many great courses in New York, and Bethpage Black is one of the best I've played. It's always in such great condition and tough as hell
Shot 92 off the back when I was 2 handicapper to give context. Actually struck it fairly well. Another course, it wouls have been more a 78. All about course management as I found out on the 4th hole with a 9.
Man I shot an 86 with 2 triples one being on the first hole because I was NOT ready for that rye grass rough being used to bent and Bermuda. The other being because I wasn’t ready for the bunkers 😂. I played lights out on the back though to be honest and shot a 40. Parred every par 3, lipped out a birdie on 15 from the fescue. Gave another run at a birdie on 12, 17, and 18. Just couldn’t get putts to start falling because the greens were like reading hieroglyphics.
Had lunch there last Memorial Day and watched the golfers hit their drives off number one on the Black and was surprised at how many of them had no business being on that golf course. It took some groups over twenty minutes to play that hole. I've played it and it's a great track but it takes forever to play it and it is very long. I prefer the red course. Very fair and just as pretty as the black. Had my first hole in one there many years ago. If you're a single digit handicap - play the black but if you're not, save yourself a day of frustration and embarrassment and pick any of the other four golf courses at Bethpage: red, blues, green, yellow.
Martin Van Buren my haandicap is at least 20 and I have played the Black twice with little trouble. You watched guys take 20 min to play the first hole. 5 hrs at 20 min per hole is how many holes? On a 7500yd walking course that's not a bad pace. Sure you could play it faster...very easily....don't spend 20 min per hole. You don't need a single digit handicap to know that.. Idealy every golfer knows that. What is so bad about holes like #1 and #18 there is that if you miss the fairway your ball will disappear down into the rough. And it looks easy to find when you're up on that elevated teebox. Walking out in all that grass and finding your ball in the rough is a different story. It helps a lot if all 4 players work together, tracking and finding balls.
Sounds like a fun course but shot management is what's going to make it not miserable. I'm used to playing torrey pines south which the back tees have a similar slope rating. Some of the bunkers there are a nightmare to get yourself into
This was great, thanks, I been tryin to find out about "golf tutors learn golfing" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you heard people talk about - Keniden Benilliam Release - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some super things about it and my cousin got cool results with it.
2:08 "The course has one of the highest slope ratings in America's North East, meaning it also represents a very testing physical challenge for the players, especially in the hot New York summers". I'm not sure the narrator even understands what a slope rating is. Sounds like he thinks the players have a lot of steep slopes to walk up...
Funny cause it is quite slopey and physically challenging but yeah, not exactly the essence of the Slope rating. It's just a course that is more difficult (than the average course) for amateurs than it is the Pros.
3:40 of course you can hit a 4-iron out of the bunkers. You can hit whatever you want if you're far enough back from the lip & you set up properly for the shot The big thing about this course is that the bunkers are actually not bad places to be, after the fairways, greens & rough. The bunkers are rarely obstructed by trees & it's much better to hit out of the bunkers than out of that tall, thick waste around the bunkers and greens or try to hit to the green from behind a tree. And if you look close you'll notice that this course not only has a lot of waste, but the waste runs up very tight to the bunkers & greens. Hitting out of the rough is not a lot of fun either but still better than trying to play out of the waste. So if you keep yourself under control you can at least recover from the bunkers and rough easily enough, maybe losing 25%-50% of your normal distance per club but most critically gaining enough distance to get to the green without hitting back into an obstruction that takes the green out of reach possibly even losing your ball on the approach. Quite often players will hit crappy shots off the tees and fairways, end up in the obstructions, try to hit great recovery shots out of the obstructions and either duff the ball badly or spin themselves into even worse trouble, and that is where the length, abundant waste, rough & sand really take their toll. You don't have to be a great golfer to play this course decently, but you do have to be pretty smart and adapt to the course and not try to play this course like you're playing your home course with much less waste, short rough & no real carries. It's good to hit decent shots whether it's out of the rough or waste or off the tees and fairways, plain and simple. But in the end it's only a golf course. You can play literally for stroke and take 10+ per hole, or just pick up after +2 or +3 and move on. What they don't want is people spraying balls all over the course and then taking 5 minutes between shots and trying to find their ball before they give up, drop a ball and then promptly lose their new ball. That is the outcome that is a lot more likely to happen here than on most other courses but still that rarely happens here because the rest of the 4some won't take it and certainly the 4some behind won't take it. I've seen good players fall apart on this course simply because they took it too seriously but I've never seen anyone who really sucked play this course, hold up play and have everyone around them mad at them for holding up the course. So that sign is a harbinger of things to come, but it doesn't really mean much. People who want to play the Black are going to play the Black no matter their skill-level. What really keeps this course under control is that it is expensive (especially for out-of-staters), tricky to get on (likewise), and they make you walk a 7500 yard course on top of the difficulty of playing it, and so you rarely see people play it more than once unless they are locals. I suspect that if you really suck and they have to push you along, then you won't get back on the course. But I've never actually seen that happen myself. The main thing is that you don't have to play a course this hard to be challenged if you're not all that good, and the course will fairly quickly tell you if you're out of your league trying to play it. Even if so, just pickup after 6 or 7 shots & move on to the next hole. At least drop intelligently. Do not be one of those douchebags who spends 5 minutes trudging around in the waste trying to find their ball or who is constantly putting balls into the waste and takes 8 or more strokes per hole.
Great course. I have played so many great courses in New York, and Bethpage Black is one of the best I've played. It's always in such great condition and tough as hell
18tangles I've never seen it in person during the winter. But I have played it in the spring, summer and late fall. It's always in great condition
Shot 92 off the back when I was 2 handicapper to give context. Actually struck it fairly well. Another course, it wouls have been more a 78. All about course management as I found out on the 4th hole with a 9.
Man I shot an 86 with 2 triples one being on the first hole because I was NOT ready for that rye grass rough being used to bent and Bermuda. The other being because I wasn’t ready for the bunkers 😂. I played lights out on the back though to be honest and shot a 40. Parred every par 3, lipped out a birdie on 15 from the fescue. Gave another run at a birdie on 12, 17, and 18. Just couldn’t get putts to start falling because the greens were like reading hieroglyphics.
I put up a 76 on the red course only time I played it. Was my lone highlight in my days living in Port Jefferson Station LOL
"Hot New York Summers"... Yeah, damn those breezy 85 degree days can be just brutal! 😅😅😅
It’s mainly the humidity but yea not exactly hot here lol
"humidity" man go to Florida for humidity.
One of the toughest tests in golf......hands down
Had lunch there last Memorial Day and watched the golfers hit their drives off number one on the Black and was surprised at how many of them had no business being on that golf course. It took some groups over twenty minutes to play that hole.
I've played it and it's a great track but it takes forever to play it and it is very long. I prefer the red course. Very fair and just as pretty as the black. Had my first hole in one there many years ago.
If you're a single digit handicap - play the black but if you're not, save yourself a day of frustration and embarrassment and pick any of the other four golf courses at Bethpage: red, blues, green, yellow.
Martin Van Buren my haandicap is at least 20 and I have played the Black twice with little trouble.
You watched guys take 20 min to play the first hole. 5 hrs at 20 min per hole is how many holes? On a 7500yd walking course that's not a bad pace. Sure you could play it faster...very easily....don't spend 20 min per hole. You don't need a single digit handicap to know that..
Idealy every golfer knows that.
What is so bad about holes like #1 and #18 there is that if you miss the fairway your ball will disappear down into the rough. And it looks easy to find when you're up on that elevated teebox. Walking out in all that grass and finding your ball in the rough is a different story. It helps a lot if all 4 players work together, tracking and finding balls.
$46 for NY state residents
Sounds like a fun course but shot management is what's going to make it not miserable. I'm used to playing torrey pines south which the back tees have a similar slope rating. Some of the bunkers there are a nightmare to get yourself into
...thanks for the comment.
Please call back when you've actually played the course.
oooh so scared of shooting high. look out. like no one has done that before.
Corey B it's not exactly fun playing like shit and hitting from the shit all day
WCGwkf definitely. I was more replying to the guy replying to you.
WCGwkf it's good to ask why is that happening, though.
0:56 Hideki Matsuyama is from Japan, not US.
This was great, thanks, I been tryin to find out about "golf tutors learn golfing" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you heard people talk about - Keniden Benilliam Release - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some super things about it and my cousin got cool results with it.
I shot 105 on yellow😀
1:05 look at his right eye
Mharlowe Abuan x
You need to play the course in order to understand that eye. ;P
That's not what slope rating means
Did jimmy walker say decently long
2:08 "The course has one of the highest slope ratings in America's North East, meaning it also represents a very testing physical challenge for the players, especially in the hot New York summers".
I'm not sure the narrator even understands what a slope rating is. Sounds like he thinks the players have a lot of steep slopes to walk up...
Charlie Porter, lol ikr, when I heard that I’m just like, “what in the world? thats not what slope rating is...”
Hot summers dry out greens making them faster thus more difficult so....
Haha, that’s the reason I’m down here in the comments.
Funny cause it is quite slopey and physically challenging but yeah, not exactly the essence of the Slope rating. It's just a course that is more difficult (than the average course) for amateurs than it is the Pros.
Looks like another course I would quickly pass up.
3:40 of course you can hit a 4-iron out of the bunkers.
You can hit whatever you want if you're far enough back from the lip & you set up properly for the shot
The big thing about this course is that the bunkers are actually not bad places to be, after the fairways, greens & rough. The bunkers are rarely obstructed by trees & it's much better to hit out of the bunkers than out of that tall, thick waste around the bunkers and greens or try to hit to the green from behind a tree. And if you look close you'll notice that this course not only has a lot of waste, but the waste runs up very tight to the bunkers & greens. Hitting out of the rough is not a lot of fun either but still better than trying to play out of the waste. So if you keep yourself under control you can at least recover from the bunkers and rough easily enough, maybe losing 25%-50% of your normal distance per club but most critically gaining enough distance to get to the green without hitting back into an obstruction that takes the green out of reach possibly even losing your ball on the approach. Quite often players will hit crappy shots off the tees and fairways, end up in the obstructions, try to hit great recovery shots out of the obstructions and either duff the ball badly or spin themselves into even worse trouble, and that is where the length, abundant waste, rough & sand really take their toll. You don't have to be a great golfer to play this course decently, but you do have to be pretty smart and adapt to the course and not try to play this course like you're playing your home course with much less waste, short rough & no real carries. It's good to hit decent shots whether it's out of the rough or waste or off the tees and fairways, plain and simple. But in the end it's only a golf course. You can play literally for stroke and take 10+ per hole, or just pick up after +2 or +3 and move on. What they don't want is people spraying balls all over the course and then taking 5 minutes between shots and trying to find their ball before they give up, drop a ball and then promptly lose their new ball. That is the outcome that is a lot more likely to happen here than on most other courses but still that rarely happens here because the rest of the 4some won't take it and certainly the 4some behind won't take it. I've seen good players fall apart on this course simply because they took it too seriously but I've never seen anyone who really sucked play this course, hold up play and have everyone around them mad at them for holding up the course. So that sign is a harbinger of things to come, but it doesn't really mean much. People who want to play the Black are going to play the Black no matter their skill-level. What really keeps this course under control is that it is expensive (especially for out-of-staters), tricky to get on (likewise), and they make you walk a 7500 yard course on top of the difficulty of playing it, and so you rarely see people play it more than once unless they are locals. I suspect that if you really suck and they have to push you along, then you won't get back on the course. But I've never actually seen that happen myself. The main thing is that you don't have to play a course this hard to be challenged if you're not all that good, and the course will fairly quickly tell you if you're out of your league trying to play it. Even if so, just pickup after 6 or 7 shots & move on to the next hole. At least drop intelligently. Do not be one of those douchebags who spends 5 minutes trudging around in the waste trying to find their ball or who is constantly putting balls into the waste and takes 8 or more strokes per hole.
In terms of difficulty, this course sounds like TPC San Antonio - Oaks Course.
People from Long Island are the rudest bunch I’ve ever encountered
Very true, as I am a local as well
I live in bethpage
Islesfan1025 have u been to the course
Cool!
But are you black
This would’ve been so much better if they didn’t have Mr. cheater Reed on it.
not cheap at all!
very cheap for a NYS resident to play on a championship course
BUCKET LIST. gonna get an RV and park overnight rather than pay a set up fee.
Ffs people need to go to Scotland to relearn golf course design
geddstock behave yourself Scotland’s links courses are embarrassing boring as hell and and become pitch and put even for 7 handicappers
kmclfc give your head a shake m8
Why not have different golf courses in different areas of the world and not keep it all the same.
I shot 68 last week. Place was easy
How much 10 foot GIMMES did u give yourself?
How'd you do on the back 9?
Was that on the front or back nine?