Bethpage State Park: Black

Farmingdale, NY Public

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

Holes 18
Length 7468
Slope 152
Price $150
Facility Type Public
Year Opened 1936
Designer Joseph H. Burbeck & A.W. Tillinghast/(R) Rees Jones

Awards

100 Greatest
100 Greatest Public
Best Courses in Every State

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

4.6

100 GREATEST/BEST IN STATE SCORES

Shot Options
7.8769
Character
7.6831
Challenge
8.3996
Layout Variety
7.8792
Fun
7.2657
Aesthetics
7.5127
Conditioning
7.5459

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