Greens In Focus: Bethpage Black
- Tiffanie
- Oct 2
- 2 min read
"The People's Country Club"
A warning sign greets every golfer on the first tee at Bethpage Black: “WARNING: The Black Course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.” It’s become legendary, a challenge, a badge of honor, and a promise of what’s ahead. But behind that sign lies a story bigger than difficulty. It’s a story of history, resilience, and the heart of the game.
Carved into the rolling terrain of Long Island in the 1930s, Bethpage Black is more than a golf course. It’s a monument to the “everyday golfer.” Built as part of a public works project during the Great Depression, Bethpage wasn’t created for the elite country club member or the touring professional. It was built for the people, the everyday New Yorker who’d hop a train from the city with their clubs slung over their shoulder, chasing the same love of the game as anyone else.
That connection to the “common man” is what makes Bethpage special.
Consistently ranked among the best in the country, it’s also a municipal course owned by the state and open to anyone with a tee time and the courage to take it on. Locals camp overnight for a spot, and golfers from around the world make it a pilgrimage. It’s golf in its purest form: tough, fair, and accessible. Just an hour from Manhattan, Bethpage is where skyscrapers give way to fairways. The hum of the city fades, but its energy lingers in the roars of the gallery and the grit required to conquer this brutal yet beautiful test.
Bethpage’s stage has only grown larger. The course hosted U.S. Opens in 2002 and 2009, the first public course to do so, and the PGA Championship in 2019, where Brooks Koepka shot a first-round 63, breaking the course record, and then went on to win the tournament and his fourth major title. Last weekend, the Black Course welcomed golf’s most electric event — the Ryder Cup. Hosting the biennial clash between the United States and Europe, viewers and attendees experienced the raw, passionate energy of New York fans that created an atmosphere unlike anything the game had seen before.
Bethpage Black isn’t just a golf course; it’s a symbol of the game’s roots, its accessibility, and its power to bring people together. From Wall Street traders to subway conductors, weekend warriors to world No. 1s, the spirit of the people is what makes this place unforgettable.
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