The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place at the world-renowned Bethpage Black Course, and ahead of the tournament, we look at some on-course performance data. Before we get into the stats (provided by Shot Scope’s performance tracking users), for those unfamiliar with the course, it is one of the game’s top-rated courses year on year.
The Black Course at Bethpage also comes with a warning to golfers that reads:
“WARNING. The Black Course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers”.
Just what you need to read before heading to the first tee!
Here are the five interesting things you should know before the Ryder Cup visits Bethpage:
The 7th hole can make or break your score
According to the data, the 7th hole experiences the greatest fluctuation in scoring based on tee shot results. In layman’s terms, depending on where your tee shot goes, you could either have a chance at making birdie or you could be looking at a bogey, double, or worse.
7th Hole Tee Shot Stats
| Tee Shot Result | Left Miss | Fairway | Right Miss |
| Score to par | +1.2 | -0.3 | +1.5 |
For the amateur golfer, the 7th is a long par 5 (Professional events can play this as a par 4) with sandy scrubland to the right and thick rough to the left – missing the fairway makes it almost impossible to go for the green in two. Should you find yourself in the sandy scrubland you can almost guarantee you are dropping strokes. Even if you dodge the sand, but are too far to the right, you will still be blocked out from a direct line to the green. Finding the short stuff is essential if you want to score on this hole.
Easy for the amateur, hard for the pros
The par 3 third hole for an amateur golfer typically plays in the region of 146 yards and players have roughly a 2 in 3 chance of finding the dancefloor. However, for the professional golfer, things are somewhat trickier! The tee box is moved back 90 yards, making it an eye-watering 232-yard par 3 with little space to the rear of the green and bunkers swallowing up shots that come up shy of the putting surface. If we were to make the amateur play from this tee box, their chances of hitting the green plummet from roughly 2 in 3 to almost 1 in 50!
The hardest hole for Shot Scope users is the 5th hole
Another tricky tee shot in the opening nine holes is the 5th hole, a 478-yard par 4. This hole favors a fade, but beware, the further right you go, the greater the carry to cover yet more sandy scrubland.
Similar to the 7th hole – the tee shot is one of the most important shots here, and players must be brave because a tee shot that misses left will make a shot into the green almost impossible. Those who do find themselves missing the fairway left typically play the hole 1.6 strokes over par. Those who go right, 1 stroke over par.
So, all you have to do is hit a nice baby fade about 285 yards through the air to cover the scrubland and have a good line in – simple. With the challenge of the tee shot catching most players out, it comes as no surprise that for every 100 attempts at hitting the green in regulation, only 7 are successful. Yes, 7 in 100!
The back 9 is the harder of the two nines – playing 0.7 strokes harder
When we compare the back nine to the front nine, we discover that it plays 0.7 strokes harder (almost a stroke) than the front nine – not a huge difference, but it is statistically harder. Players typically hit one fewer fairways on the back and two fewer greens, meaning that they will be required to get up and down. A tougher back nine can only be a good thing for spectators right?
If you hit one green all day, make it the 11th
When missing the green, Shot Scope users find the 11th hole the hardest to get up and down on. Why? Well, it is one of the more undulating putting surfaces on the course, with bunkers sprawling around the sides and the majority of the front portion of the green. Those who miss the green long will be met with a tricky up-and-down attempt, with the green sloping away from them from front to back, and a false front ready to penalize anyone with poor touch.
The countdown is on to September 26th when the 2025 Ryder Cup gets underway.
How do you think you would handle the challenge that is Bethpage Black? And what do you think the winning score will be?
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