Bethpage State Park: Black
Farmingdale, NY • Public
Dom Furore
The menacing surrounds at Bethpage Black's sixth green.
Dom Furore
Stephen Szurlej
The view behind the sixth green from 7 tee.
Stephen Szurlej
The ultra-difficult stretch of Bethpage Black's par-4 10th (right), requiring extreme precision off the tee, with the 11th hole—a Pine Valley-like par 4 that also requires a ball stay out of the extended bunker lobes.
Stephen Szurlej
The 517-yard, par-5 fourth hole is guarded by a classic cross bunker.
Stephen Szurlej
Stephen Szurlej
The par-4 12th's widened fairway gives golfers a bailout option.
Stephen Szurlej
Behind the 16th green.
Stephen Szurlej
Bethpage Black's home hole.
Photo by Stephen Szurlej
Overview
Sprawling Bethpage Black, designed in the mid-1930s to be “the public Pine Valley,” became the darling of the USGA in the early 2000s, when it played the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. Then it became a darling of the PGA Tour as host of the 2011 and 2016 Barclays. Now the PGA of America has embraced The Black, which hosted the 2019 PGA Championship (winner: Brooks Koepka) and the upcoming 2025 Ryder Cup. Heady stuff for a layout that was once a scruffy state-park haunt where one needed to sleep in the parking lot in order to get a tee time. Now, you need fast fingers on the state park's website once tee times are available—as prime reservations at The Black are known for going in seconds.
About
Awards
Ranking history:
100 Greatest: Ranked from 1967-1976, 1997-1998, & since 2001.
2023-'24 ranking: 39th.
Previous ranking: 40th.
Highest ranking: 26th, 2007-2008.
100 Greatest Public: Ranked since our inaugural ranking in 2003.
2023-'24 ranking: 7th.
Previous ranking: 8th.
Highest ranking: 3rd, 2003-2004.
Best in State: Ranked in Top 10 in New York since 2011.
2023-'24 ranking: 7th.
Previous ranking: 8th.
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Panelists
Ratings from our panel of 1,900 course-ranking panelists
100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES
Shot Options
Character
Challenge
Layout Variety
Fun
Aesthetics
Conditioning
Reviews
Review
“This is possibly the most challenging course I have played as a Golf Digest panel member. Bethpage Black is constantly kept in US Open conditions, with long rough and very fast greens. It is one of the most demanding tests of golf, blessed by Tillinghast's genius and terrain that has a tremendous amount of movement."
Read More2024
Review
“A monster of a course. Lots of doglegs & up and down terrain. Many tee shots require long carry to get to target areas for approach shots. Good diversity on the Par 3's in length that bring 4 different clubs into play. Same on the Par 5's with one reachable in 2 and the two others offering risk reward on 2nd shots to set up for the approach. Front side cut mostly through trees and back more open. 10/12/15 from tips absolutely giant. Extremely healthy grass fairways/rough consistent throughout. Traps enormous!"
Read More2024
Review
“Yes….. this is the country club for the people. Black is one of the most demanding, fun golf courses you will ever play. Check your ego at the door, and experience one of the finest layouts in the country by one of its greatest architects. The risk reward quotient is perfectly balanced, and there are very few golf courses that have a collection of 18 holes with this sort of variety and challenge."
Read More2024
Review
“The course drained impressively after torrential rain the evening prior. Extremely challenging & penal rough made laying up and punching back out to the fairway the ideal option. Very interested to see the changes to some of the landing areas for the 2025 Ryder Cup & the implementation of the new closer tee box on hole #1 which brings going for the green an option. Note to hole #15 which had a front pin and chipping/putting anything that went long seemed impossible... just rolling a ball was tricky enough."
Read More2024
Review
“In terms of publicly available courses, Bethpage Black is about as good as it gets. Each hole is truly unique and the firm/fast/receptive conditioning is truly impressive given the number of rounds played here each day. Greens are fairly docile but the course is well protected with bunkers and length"
Read More2023
Review
“A true test of golf. Great green complexes, which, to access them well, one really needs to be in their slim fairways. A really really great piece of land"
Read More2023
Review
“The Black course's reputation as a beast is well-justified BUT it is a very fair test. Relatively narrow fairways surrounded by rough that was penal but not overly so made accuracy off the tee critical. Well-bunkered greens surrounded by equally difficult rough make one think twice about trying to get something up close to the green. No two holes were the same and the routing takes you through a variety of terrain and landscapes. The conditioning of the course was mixed. The fairways and rough were in excellent shape. The greens were surprisingly firm given recent rain and in decent shape given the volume of play and open public access. The bunkers were disappointingly undermaintained with many of them clearly unraked for days. The "Fun" score is low because this is course presents a significant challenge for a strong player; a player of any caliber less than that will have a long day and struggle to be sure."
Read More2023
Review
“This A.W. Tillinghast(1936) gem is located in Farmingdale, New York on Long Island and is one of the best public courses in the US. It's a very challenging, walking only course, with hilly terrain , narrow fairways and thick rough that's difficult to hit out of."
Read More2023
Review
“Course in spectacular condition - very penal and challenging. Good variety of hole shapes and lengths, greens running very pure. Punishing rough."
Read More2023
Review
“Hard but a great experience"
Read More2022
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