The first tee sign at Bethpage Black, which reads, “WARNING – The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers,” has welcomed golfers for years, although the exact date of its arrival is up for debate.
While the “Warning” sign has loomed over the Black Course for decades, it won’t welcome the world’s best next week when the 2025 Ryder Cup descends on Long Island. With preparations for the biennial showdown nearly complete, the sign has been temporarily removed due to the 5,000-seat grandstand that will wrap around the first tee and 18th green.
“The sign is gone,” Ryder Cup Director Bryan Karns told The New York Post about the sign’s removal. “The Ryder Cup will use a brand new [first] tee that’s 40 yards in front of the existing tee. If we had built that grandstand with the existing tee, it would almost go into the clubhouse. [The sign] would’ve been underneath the grandstands. It just wouldn’t have worked out.”
“The People’s Country Club” has long had a reputation as one of the toughest tests in golf, with the Black Course’s iconic sign serving as an ominous warning to all those weekend hackers who either worked the phones or sacrificed a little sleep to get a tee time.
What’s it like camping out for a Bethpage Black tee time? Worth it
Zephyr Melton
The Black will undoubtedly present a stern test at next week’s highly anticipated clash between the Americans and Team Europe. But while Bethpage Black has been unrelenting at previous U.S. Opens and PGA Championships, it will be a little more “open” at the Ryder Cup with Team USA having a say in the course setup.
“The rough is not as it would be in a U.S. PGA or a U.S. Open that has been played there before,” Paul McGinley, who will serve as a strategic adviser to European captain Luke Donald while also being part of the broadcast team, said during a media conference call on Wednesday. “The fairways are pretty generous at the moment because they’re soft.”
McGinley was on-site at Bethpage Monday and Tuesday for Team Europe’s scouting trip. He saw a course that was on the soft side and is a little shorter than it normally plays, although the course could firm up by the time Team Europe returns to Bethpage early next week.
“Green speeds at the moment are probably running around 12, and they’ll probably move them up to about 13. And a couple of the tee boxes are moved up. No. 17 is moved up. It’s about 30 yards shorter than it was certainly for the U.S. Open in ’02 when I played, and the first tee box has been moved up about 35 to 40 yards in order to get the stand in behind the tee.
