Bethpage State Park
Designed by A. W. Tillinghast
History
The story of Bethpage begins not with a single club’s ambition but with the state of New York deciding that championship golf need not remain the province of the privileged. The land itself had already passed through the hands of a Quaker farming family and later a private club before New York State acquired it during the Depression, determined to build something rare: a public golf facility built to championship scale, funded by public works money and open to whoever could afford the modest green fee.
A. W. Tillinghast, already established as one of the game’s most sought-after architects through his work at Winged Foot and Baltusrol, was brought in to design what would become the Black Course, opening in 1936. Tillinghast approached the rolling, wooded terrain of Long Island with the same unsparing eye he brought to his private club commissions, refusing to soften the course simply because it would serve a public membership. He laid out a routing that demanded shot-making and stamina in equal measure, building a muscular test that made no apologies for its difficulty — a decision that would define the course’s reputation for the better part of a century.
The Black Course fell into disrepair through the mid-20th century, its conditioning suffering under the weight of heavy municipal play, until a significant restoration effort in the 1990s and early 2000s, guided by architect Rees Jones, returned the layout closer to Tillinghast’s original intent ahead of the 2002 U.S. Open — the first time the championship had been played on a truly public course. Bethpage Black went on to host the U.S. Open again in 2009, the PGA Championship in 2019, and the Ryder Cup in 2025, cementing its place as proof that public golf could carry major championships without compromise.
Playing Notes
Bring your A-game off the tee, because the rough at Bethpage is not a suggestion — it's thick, penal, and waiting to swallow anything loose. This is a walkable park layout with rolling terrain, but don't mistake "walkable" for "easy"; the elevation changes will test your legs over a full round, and club selection on approach shots gets tricky when you're hitting from an uneven stance into well-guarded greens. The bunkers are deep and numerous, positioned to catch shots that look safe off the tee but drift just enough to find sand. Green speeds run fast and true, so lag putting matters more here than on most public courses in the area. Pack extra balls, expect a five-plus hour round if you're playing during peak times, and show up ready to grind — this isn't a course where you can coast through on scrambling alone.