1 - Bethpage State Park - Black Course |
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Built: 1936 Architect: A.W. Tillinghast Description: Difficult and extremely challenging, even for the finest, low-handicap players, the Black is noted for its elevated tees, hilly and rolling fairways, dense rough, and tremendous fairway bunkers. The small greens are also surrounded by huge, deep bunkers, and Tillinghast’s inventive use of depth perception makes any shot to the green challenging. The course has always been revered by the local golfing public, and often thought of as a little too tough. The length, even from the middle tees, is Herculean, and the classic sight lines and necessary course management are Tillinghast trademarks.
The fairway bunkers are as dramatic as anywhere in the U.S. (maybe with Pine Valley the exception), and many of the small greens are surrounded by deep, fear-inducing sandtraps. It is a true test of golf, along with one’s mental capacity for pain. If you’re a high-handicapper, you might be better served keeping your clubs in the trunk and just reveling in the place where Tiger Woods won his eighth major and Lucas Glover won his first. Reader Comments: The ultimate golfing experience ... A masterpiece of golf course architecture .... By far the most spectacular round of golf I’ve ever played, be it on a public or private course anywhere in the world ... Humbling ... Heaven for the golf purist ... The first three holes start you off easy, to loosen up, then all Hell breaks loose ... Physically and mentally demanding as errant shots are severly punished; the whole place is just unforgiving ... The truest greens I’ve ever played on, public or private; just like putting on a billiard table ... More than your swing or your putting stroke, your head must be functioning at its highest efficiency to be successfull |