Despite the warnings, Bethpage is an experience not to be missed
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Jon Rahm, a Rolex Testimonee, made the majestic Bethpage course look easy.
PHOTO: ROLEX
S. Murali
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The Ryder Cup is arguably golf’s biggest showpiece and the events of the past week at Bethpage Black should silence anyone who thinks otherwise.
Some rowdy fans hijacked many of the headlines but the real show was provided by 24 world-class players trekking a monstrous yet majestic public course an hour outside New York.
Television does not do justice to the sheer scale of the Black course.
Almost every other green and tee box is perched atop a hill that could well function as a ski slope with the right amount of snow applied.
For three days, I watched in amazement as men like Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy blasted drives into the stratosphere, allowing them to hit short iron approach shots into par-four holes measuring well over 420 metres.
To give you an idea of how long these guys are, I played the same course the Monday after the event and off the same tee for Hole No. 1, which measures a relatively short 360 metres from the tee near the grandstand.
I hit a decent drive (about 220 metres), a solid nine iron and landed exactly where DeChambeau hit his drive during the singles on Sunday – just short of the green.
To say these guys are playing a different sport is no exaggeration.
For the rest of the round, my three playing partners and I battled with the beast, amazed at how the professionals on show made that 6,845-metre layout, ranked sixth on Golf’s Digest toughest US courses, look easy.
Seven of the par fours measure over 420 metres, with the par-four 16th a staggering 492 metres off its elevated tee.
I suspect architect Rees Jones decided to toughen and lengthen the A.W. Tillinghast design over the years, knowing full well that it was not meant to be a members’ course and open to anyone in the public willing to queue overnight in their cars to get a tee time.
It was widely accepted that Bethpage played a little easier at last week’s Ryder Cup, with softer greens and the rough shorter than when just six players broke par at the 2019 PGA Championship, won by Brooks Koepka.
Prior to our round, we were handed the infamous sign that is usually placed outside the first tee box, which says: “WARNING. The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.”
Despite this and the subsequent beating we took from Bethpage, my flight of four left with smiles on our faces, basking in the knowledge that we experienced one of golf’s most wondrous tests.
