Inside the Ryder Cup arena: Bethpage Black hole-by-hole tour

“The People’s Country Club,” they call it. But it’s only meant for people who are “highly skilled” at golf. A famous sign by the 1st tee even says so. That demographic — single-digit handicaps and better — was the group A.W. Tillinghast had in mind when he dreamed up what would become the country’s most revered muni. He wanted to build a brute, a public-access answer to Pine Valley. His work at Bethpage State Park on New York’s Long Island freed him up to do just that.

By the time the Black Course opened in 1936, Tillinghast had designed three of the four original courses in the park. Because those other layouts, the Blue and Red — both by Tillinghast — and the Green, were user-friendly (a fifth course, the Yellow, opened in 1958), the architect had license to create a bruiser, a “mankiller,” to use his term.

For generations, the Black lived up to Tillinghast’s ambitions for it — a test both beautiful and back-breaking — until it was chosen as a stage for the most highly skilled golfers of all. In advance of the 2002 U.S. Open, the first of three majors to be held on the Black to date, it was clear that something once unthinkable would need to happen: The notoriously demanding course would have to be made tougher still. Enter the architect Rees Jones. An ardent fan of Tillinghast and a firm believer in public golf, Jones was so honored to be involved that he took on the task for free. In addition to lengthening the course, he and his team repositioned bunkers, tightened targets and revived strategic hole locations that had vanished over time. Mission accomplished. Tiger Woods, the 2002 U.S. Open champ, was the only player that year to finish under par.

In 2009, the national championship returned to the Black, followed by the PGA a decade later. For both of those events, Jones was brought back to fine-tune the course. And he’s been on board again, as a consultant, as the Black gets ready to host another marquee pro event: the 2025 Ryder Cup. Even fans of the Cup need to prep, so GOLF asked the architect for his insights on the design of the host course and challenges presented by its 18 imposing holes.

Hole No. 1 / Par 4, 397 yards

The gladiatorial atmosphere of the Ryder Cup depends on grandstands. To make room for them at this year’s event, Jones was asked to push the 1st tee forward and to the left. Though the change makes the dogleg right a gentler bend, the hole still poses a strategic question, particularly in match play: Go safely for the fairway with a long iron or hybrid, or get aggressive with driver, flying the trees and cutting the corner to wind up close to the green? “It will be interesting to see what the players decide,” Jones says. “In foursomes, they might be conservative. But in four-ball, I bet at least one of them will go over the trees.”

Hole No. 2 / Par 4, 389 yards

Like the 1st, the 2nd hole is a relatively friendly handshake for the pros. Its greatest challenge, Jones says, comes on the approach to an elevated green. From the tee, banging driver isn’t often the best choice, because the farther you push it up the fairway the less you see of the flagstick on your second. What’s more, tee shots that stray right will wind up on a sidehill lie, possibly in the rough. Players are more likely to lay back for a better view. Even then, they won’t have a good look at the bottom of the flagstick, which can make it difficult to dial in distances. Birdies, Jones says, should come in bunches, but they’ll be elusive for players who don’t properly adjust for the uphill second shot.

Hole No. 3 / Par 3, 230 yards

The course begins in earnest on this punishing par 3, where Jones built two new back tees for the 2002 U.S. Open, shifting the boxes to the left as well to require players to take on more of the greenside bunker. Jones also expanded the back left of the green, creating what he says is the most demanding hole location. Beyond that spot, the putting surface falls away, and players who go long will be hard-pressed to get up and down.

Hole No. 4 / Par 5, 517 yards

“It should prove one of the most exacting three-shotters I know of anywhere,” Tillinghast wrote when the Black first opened. He was right. But that was then. For modern pros, this curling, uphill par 5, an enduring fave of design junkies, plays practically like a par 4. Its defining feature — a yawning Glacier bunker, angled across the fairway — remains a fearsome hazard for rec players that must be cleared on the second shot. Big hitters, though, have little trouble flying it, and in the Ryder Cup, players will reach the green with a mid-iron. The other option is to lay up to the right, leaving a good angle to the flag. That’s the tack Tillinghast figured most golfers would take. Would he be disappointed at how things have changed? Probably. And yet, as Jones points out, par is just a number, and in match play it’s irrelevant. To card a 4 or better, Ryder Cuppers going for the green in two will have to contend with fronting bunkers and a putting surface that slopes away from them, tumbling toward a shaved-down area in back.

Hole No. 5 / Par 4, 517 yards

Down to a valley, then up to the green, with plenty of trouble in between. On a hole that Jones describes as a cap tip to the 16th at Pine Valley, the 5th requires a carry off the tee over a sandy waste that, prior to 2002, was extended on the right by some 30 yards to make it more imposing for the pros. More recently, a new back tee was added to place more strain on the drive. The best position off the tee, Jones says, is to take on the sand to the right of the fairway, as drives that stray left risk being blocked out by the trees. Further complicating matters is the elevated green, which has subtle bowls and pockets that are tough to read, a trait that repeats throughout the Black. “These are not typical, perfectly graded championship greens,” Jones says. “They’re very nuanced, irregular surfaces. Some of the guys are going to be baffled by them.”

Hole No. 6 / Par 4, 408 yards

Pick your poison. On a fairway that plunges down a level as it goes, players might be tempted to wallop driver to get down to the bottom, close to the green. But they’ll have to thread the needle between bracketing bunkers. Depending on the wind — and confidence and mood — other competitors might lay back shy of those hazards, but that comes at a cost, as it leaves upward of 180 yards to a relatively small, well-defended green. “This one,” Jones says, “really comes down to positioning off the tee.”

Hole No. 7 / Par 4, 524 yards

A par 5 when the pros aren’t in town, the 7th will count in the Ryder Cup as a formidable par 4 that plays longer than its yardage due to the turn of the hole. The sensible line off the tee is to the left, but since the fairway doglegs right, players might be tempted to take it up the right side to cut off distance. Doing that requires flirting with the trees. One of the beauties of the Black, Jones says, is that the trees mostly serve an aesthetic purpose. They frame shots but don’t often come into play. In that sense, this hole is an exception. Leafy limbs can cause all kinds of headaches. With a well-positioned tee shot, there’s a “nice open entrance” between bunkers to a green that features some of the most pronounced contours on the property. Putting can be tough, but the biggest test, Jones says, is the tee shot.

Hole No. 8 / Par 3, 210 yards

The only water feature on the Black enters the picture on this downhill hole, where Jones and company added a new back tee and reestablished a back portion of the green as well as a bunker just behind it. “If they really want to challenge the players,” Jones says, “they’ll tuck the pin back there.” Where they cut the cup will have a major impact on how the guys attack, and there are more options than ever now that a tree at the front right of the green has been removed. That change opens up an entertaining front-right hole location with a backstop behind it. A flag placed here is an invitation to birdie-hunting, but it also brings the pond into play. “These guys spin it so much, they’re going to have to be careful,” Jones says. “A couple of them will spin it back into the water.”

Hole No. 9 / Par 4, 460 yards

In 2001, the state purchased land from a neighboring college, which made room for a new back tee. But that added length was not enough of a defense. Prior to the 2009 U.S. Open, Jones stretched the hole out farther and built a new bunker in the landing area on the left. Players who successfully test that bunker now will be rewarded, Jones says, with an approach from the center of the fairway to a low lying green that can be difficult to access, thanks to deep, fronting bunkers.

Hole No. 10 / Par 4, 502 yards

This doozy of a par 4 — the first of three consecutive stout two-shotters — became a source of controversy at the 2002 U.S. Open, when the weather turned and players faced a 260-yard carry into the wind just to reach the fairway. Mike Weir, a comparatively light hitter, reckoned at the time that “50 percent of the field” stood no chance of getting to the short grass. That won’t be an issue at the Ryder Cup, and not just because most everybody bombs it. “We’ve cut the rough way back,” Jones says, so the distance to the fairway is not as daunting. But other tweaks have intensified the challenge, including a fairway bunker on the right that was reshaped and shifted to pinch the landing area. Prior to 2002, bunkers were also moved closer to the green, which falls off slightly to the back and left, making hole locations in those sections particularly demanding.

Hole No. 11 / Par 4, 435 yards

“If you look at the original plans, you’d think that Tillinghast hadn’t used up his bunker budget,” Jones says. “Because he put bunkers everywhere here.” Those bunkers have been brought in, and the fairway has been shifted closer to them, making sand a greater problem off the tee. In 2017, Jones extended the left side of the green, establishing a new back left hole location. He also reshaped a bunker on the left and moved it closer to the green. That change, combined with a bunker on the right that was added prior to the 2002 U.S. Open, has, Jones says, created lots of choices when it comes to setup. “There are a lot of very good hole locations where they can hide the pin,” he says.

Hole No. 12 / Par 4, 496 yards

A disheartening fact, Jones says, of the modern era is that when majors come to classic courses, players aren’t often challenged off the tee. Nice, then, to have a hole like this, with a prominent cross bunker that requires about a 280-yard carry from the tips. In friendly weather, most Ryder Cuppers can handle that, no problem. But other obstacles can still get in the way. With a fairway that bends left, a high draw is a great shape with a drive, but the left side raises the prospect of tree trouble. A drive blasted up the right side, for its part, risks running through the short grass into the rough. Approach shots and putts are no bargain here either, as the green is framed by bunkers and slopes dramatically back to front. But the 12th is all about the tee ball, which might be the toughest drive on the course. How dispiriting to think that the biggest hitters on both teams are capable of playing it driver-wedge.

Hole No. 13 / Par 5, 608 yards

A reprieve, of sorts, after a grueling three-hole stretch, this par 5 features a snaking fairway, but it plays pretty much straightaway, with bunkers on the left and a big tree encroaching on the right. In firm conditions, it should be gettable in two. But approaches flared right risk finding one of the property’s deepest bunkers, which Jones restored before the 2002 U.S. Open. Another bunker, some 35 yards in front of the green, was not part of the original design, but Jones opted to keep it while raising it in back to give it a more dramatic Tillinghast look. Intended to be a deception bunker, this hazard isn’t apt to fool the pros. But, Jones says, it could complicate matters for anyone playing their second from the rough.

Hole No. 14 / Par 3, 161 yards

The shortest hole on the Black is also the last best chance for birdie. From an elevated tee, the primary task is to avoid a large, deep bunker at the front right of the green. Over the years, the original bunker had morphed into three separate ones, and locals often joked that the sandy shapes resembled Mickey Mouse’s head. Goofy, right? Prior to 2002, Jones turned them back into a single bunker, steeper and closer to the green, while reviving original tongues, noses and fingers that had faded over time. To intensify the challenge, he also steepened a slope behind the green to make it tougher to get up and down from shots left long. On top of that, a tongue was added at the front of the green to create a hole location on a slender target. But only so much can be done to foil the pros. “I expect to see a lot of birdies here,” Jones says.

Hole No. 15 / Par 4, 477 yards

The number-one handicap on the Black, this par 4 begs for an aggressive drive to a fairway that sweeps left and narrows as it draws closer to the green. Why the need for the big tee shot? “Because,” Jones says, “it’s probably the toughest approach on the course.” In addition to its elevation, the green, which sits some 50 feet above the fairway, is small and pitched severely from back to front. In Tillinghast’s day, when greens ran slower, holes could be cut in front. But given the lightning green speeds in tournaments today, it’s unlikely we’ll see a flagstick in front during the Ryder Cup, as many putts would roll back onto the fairway. That leaves a terrace at the back of the green as the only pinnable terrain, which, Jones says, “makes the effective target area even smaller.” Short will be a popular miss on approaches, leaving a testy uphill putt, which beats the punishment for going long.

Hole No. 16 / Par 4, 490 yards

This is one of the few holes on the Black where players can see the green from the tee. And no wonder, given that the tee sits some 60 feet above a slender fairway that tilts from left to right but bends from right to left. Despite the clear view, it’s “an awkward drive,” Jones says, “because of the downhill and the bend of the hole.” Competitors inclined to take a line up the right will have a ticklish approach over a pair of bunkers. The optimal position is the left side, which leaves an opening into the green.

Hole No. 17 / Par 3, 179 yards

This long par 3 plays slightly uphill to a green that is the widest on the Black. Problem is, it’s also the shallowest, barely 20 paces front to back, with a ridge running through it that divides the putting surface into two distinct levels, the right side significantly lower than the left. And then there are the bunkers, five altogether, surrounding the target, including a deep one right in front. With the elevation shift, players can’t see the entire flag. Hitting the green is a difficult first step, and particularly tricky when the pin is on the right. Find the wrong portion and you’re left with a devilish putt in either direction. For the Ryder Cup, grandstands will be erected behind the tee, energizing the atmosphere on a hole that is plenty electric on its own.

Hole No. 18 / Par 4, 411 yards

Jones has modified this hole more than any other, stretching back the tees, pinching in the bunkers right and left and shrinking the green, which had become too large a target for the lofted shots pros were hitting into it. Two new bunkers on the right make it tougher to lay up with an iron, while a new one on the left is meant to deter players who pull driver in the hopes of cutting the hole down to size. Not every match will make it this far, but ones that do are apt to be decided by knee-knocking putts on a complexly contoured green.

Additional reporting by Evan Rothman

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