NiPS AND TUCKs: Tweaks by Jones and Muirhead include reducing the amount of carry required by tee balls on the par-4 10th (above left) and pinching the driving area on No. 11 by extending two prominent bunker lobes (above right) on the Pine Valley-like par 4.
The 14th green now looks a bit like the fourth at Augusta National (which also has a very narrow front-left thumb flanked by bunkers) but plays much shorter, listed at just 158 yards for this year's Open. Davis might move the markers up to the 140-yard range when the hole is cut in the narrow thumb.
The ultimate in flexibility is Davis' notion of a drivable par 4 during an Open. He successfully achieved it at the 14th hole at Torrey Pines South last year, and he is giving thought to moving markers 45 yards forward on the Black's 408-yard dogleg-left sixth on Saturday or Sunday to pose the possibility of cutting the corner and reaching the green, 50 feet below the fairway, from the tee.
Jones doesn't think Davis will do it. The essence of a good drivable par 4, he says, is genuine risk and reward. "Torrey Pines had that last year, with a canyon wrapped around the sides and back of the 14th green. Bethpage doesn't have that. There are just bunkers around the green. It wouldn't be nearly as risky or as exciting."
Plus, it would be a blind tee shot. Of course, even at 408 yards, it is a blind drive over a hill, unless one chooses to lay up to the plateau fairway at the 240-yard range. Without visible bait, it is less likely players would be tempted to go for it from the front tee.
Not that it matters. Bethpage Black will provide genuine thrills for players and spectators regardless of the set up. That's its mission. Always has been. Always will be.
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