Overnight at Bethpage Black: Behind the scenes at golf’s most sought-after muni

Overnight at Bethpage Black: Behind the scenes at golf’s most sought-after muni

Welcome, Ryan. Welcome. Morning. what are you most excited for today? Shooting 120. It’s become a tradition here. People get here
usually sometime in the afternoon. Started off
people sleeping literally in their cars and then,
you know, as people got more into it and brought their RVs, their tents,
they do the barbecuing. They make it into an event. It’s like an experience to do. Now we just need our tickets Morning guys. How you doing? Four please. Okay. So the clubhouse opens at 4:30
so what he does is he comes
and he hands out bakery tickets. Once you go, he goes to each car
Asks how many guys you are. This allows groups to play together
because even though if you do get a reservation, it’s
so rare at all different times. So they have walk ups on each course
every day. Yo, we got them. So all these guys are just grabbing
before the reservations even start. Then we all drive up to the clubhouse
and he just starts calling numbers. We’ve got the golden ticket. So that’s
how a lot of people come in and play. I played here 200 rounds last year. Great course, the best in the world. I meet a lot of beautiful people
from all over the country. I literally had to get on the phone
with a wife one time, because she did not believe her husband
was waiting overnight to play golf. Oh, everybody here in the morning. Always nice people you are dealing with. They’re great. They’re wide awake. You know. 9:34 fellas, 9:34. They come in and if you really want to see
something, you want to come on Saturday morning
when we have like 200, 300 people. I’m coming in from Chicago. Okay. I want to play the black. Yeah. And I’m a single red. Red. 5:54 8:10. Black 8:00. We’re doing the black.
We love the people. Love it. Try to see what it’s like to play
like the pros, you know? Tiger played a U.S. Open over here. PGA, Ryder Cup this year. 7:20 on the black. 7:10 a.m. 7 a.m. baby. Yeah. Love to be the first people out. Set the pace. Set the tone. All right folks,
so this is what you’ve been waiting for. This is what we have been building toward. We are standing here
on the majesty of Bethpage Black. The fourth hole, the massive par five. It is going to be, in my opinion, unquestionably
the best hole at the Ryder Cup this year. But more importantly, today it’s
hosting a pretty interesting foursome. You met everyone that we have standing
behind us here already. We’ve got Mike from the Nassau Players
Club, we’ve got Nico from Montauk and the Montaukett. Both of those guys from the public golf
side of Long Island. And then we’ve got Chris
from the Rockville Links Club, representing the private side of golf
on Long Island. We’ve got an 18 hole match
going on today. We’re pumped to have them out here. And this is the final culmination of all the things you love about
Long Island Golf. It’s happening
right here at Bethpage Black. It is golf as a community. And our community is chosen today. Well, I always joke, I go, it’s
just a golf course with a very unusual warning sign. There’s no paper trail
for the origin of this sign. When did this sign
originate on this golf course? It is one of this
club’s greatest mysteries. this course is great. It’s right in front of you. Everything you see is right in
front of you. there are no surprises. So you just take
what the course gives you. Don’t get me wrong,
it’s the fifth hardest course in America. Both private and public. So it’s a difficult track.
And the length is long. just, you know, you have 14 clubs
in the back for a reason. You know that’s why. Welcome to Bethpage. To play black is special. And, you know you get the feelings
as you roll up and so it’s great. You see people lining up, right? I mean, the fact that we have
a time is one thing. But to say ever to get to play this course
that you see on TV that the pros and play that you know
Tiger’s won an open here the lore you know and the history of the place that it’s like the hardest golf course
and everybody wants to try to play it. I think people come in here and
they’re not prepared to play the black. Once you get out there,
you know, past the second, third hole, that’s when you’re really,
really starting to get challenged. I feel like this represents
most of my Long Island in general. I feel like it’s just so much different
where I live. But like, like this is this is where
a really long Island is for a muni. It’s an insanely good track
and it’s just there. It’s unbelievable. The access that everyone has to it. All roads lead to Bethpage. All of them. This is a people’s country club. We always played the black. It was in such disarray in the 80s. I mean, it was like a cow pasture. And they got Rees Jones, the head of parks
administration, got him in. We all went out to play Bethpage
I guess it was May 1st, 1995. Bethpage at that time was in disrepair. You know,
they had a full complement of players, but they
they kept the green fee fairly low. But trees were growing in the bunkers. But the greens were not very good there. they were bumpy. the fairways were irregular. I mean, it really needed a lot of care
and attention. I remember playing it for the first time
when they redid it. The sand in the sand
trap was here on one side. It’s just crazy what’s
rewarding for a golf course architect is that many people can play
what you’ve done So, I mean, at Bethpage,
so many people can play the work we did. So our staff were pretty lean. We have about 65 for the five courses so
we have a pretty good mechanic staff too. each of the course
superintendents has been here over ten years
now, so we’re pretty experienced now. So it makes it easier to deal with
the unexpected because we’ve seen so much on a daily basis between human nature
and mother nature and all the variables that can happen. we’re ready to respond. I grew up right next to Bethpage,
and I been working in there on and off since I was 15. I worked my way up to, caddie master now. but the fact that we first had Opens there
and the pros still come back, that put us on the map. At Bethpage, we took great honor. The Black Course was in phenomenal shape
when we had that 2002 US open, and it continues today. And all those courses continue to be. I got a great work ethic from Bethpage
it’s like an airport, you know, you check in but it’s still great golf
on top of that and all the people love it. It’s a public golf course. You know you get kids. You get people who are taking the day off
to try to play black. You get people flying in
on private jets that come play black. You got people camping out right in the morning
for, you know, the Bethpage Inn is what they call it when you line up
and get the bakery tickets. Yeah, it’s a great place
to kind of see the state of the game. I totally think that
the conditions of the golf course are something that are not to be messed
with. I’ve been out there a few times,
and the rough, you don’t see rough like that
kind of anywhere else. The fescue, the challenge
and the length of the holes. I feel like almost every shot
you got to play undulation. Just play it slope
because you might not notice it, but it’s usually there we’re
significantly more tired. We’ve made a lot more bogeys. That’s basically it. So 15
I would describe as just straight uphill there’s the narrowest fairway, one
of the narrowest fairways on the course. the rough here is routinely
like absolutely brutal. It’s a whole hell of a good time. That was fun, man. Yeah. People have very mixed emotions
about Bethpage. If you don’t understand it, they hate it. But there’s so many times available
and there’s so many options to play, and the courses are really phenomenal
and you can’t get a better value of golf. I remember when I started
making ball markers thinking how cool
it would be to get in with the Ryder Cup. Just seeing it. What we’ve all been waiting for
is awesome. I have no prediction other than buckle up. That is it. And I think that the, the international team is going to hear it
and they’re going to hear it loud. There is no mercy. The New York sports fan
is someone who is loud. We’re going to let you know what
we’re thinking at all times. We’ll see, it’s a hard golf course, man. It’s hard. Long. I heard about it a long time ago. But, you know, when they got the Ryder Cup
that’s, Oh, I want to go here. I’m going to play the yellow course
tomorrow with my wife. I think we have golfers from all across
the board, you know, with five golf courses here,
all very distinctively different. You’ve got the yellow course,
which I always call that the player friendly course. Then. And then we’ve got,
the green course really is wide open. We’ve got the blue course,
which, you know, aligns with the yellow, but it’s definitely more undulating
and got a lot of hills You got to get up and down. A lot of people like to walk that course. Then you have the red and the red
is a very, very competitive course. A lot of our Met
junior tournaments are played on that. A lot of good players are playing on that. The best part about that
is it’s kind of it’s not identical to black,
but you get you get to ride a cart. I mean everyone knows Bethpage Black,
but there’s good courses like Bethpage
Green and Yellow are fun to play. Bethpage Red’s spectacular. I think the red course is probably
my favorite course here, especially because you don’t have to walk
it really special spot. It’s your everyday golf course, you know you can play that every day
the rest of your life. Black is such a tough test. You know it’s going to beat you up and or
you don’t want to feel down all the time. Red. Red gives you those those
everyday victories. You know Long Island loves the red,
they line. You know how they sleep in the cars
for Bethpage Black? Well, it’s just as many people out there
for the red course The local people want the red course. You know, the golfers who play here feel, especially the locals obviously feel
a lot of ownership of this golf course. So, that’s who we’re trying to impress. We’re trying to make sure that the locals
feel, Hey, I’m a New Yorker myself. So are we’re spending their tax dollars
wisely and doing people justice by that. And yeah, we want to make sure people
are getting value for their dollars. I mean, the state takes care of these golf
courses really nice. And they’re they’re in great shape. No matter where I go. They know Bethpage. Really. We travel, we do golf trips,
and when they see the logo, they see our thing
and it’s, ‘Oh, Bethpage.’ And they always say do you play the black? And I say oh yeah we play the black.
like it’s never shut down. But the phenomenal conditions
are for a state run facility is it’s incredible
tee times a booked from dawn to dusk. Yeah I mean it’s kind of like what you do
if you just bought a ticket and walked up on a Friday or Saturday morning,
you’d meet people you’ve never met before, and you spend five hours with them
and you leave kind of friendlier. I think it’s just so accessible
for everybody. They make it affordable. And obviously it’s public. So that’s why they call it
the people’s club. Anybody can come play like
this is going to happen again tomorrow and the next day and the day after that,
and every day until they close this course for the Ryder Cup. Yeah. In September.
And then it’ll start up again. And you know, once the Ryder Cup is done
like this experience, that’s the Bethpage magic.
That’s the thing that makes it so special.

Golfers come from far and wide to get a crack at one of the hardest courses in the world, Bethpage Black. This challenging gem, affordable and open to the public, represents everything we love about golf on Long Island.

We introduce you to a handful of groups camping out overnight to get their tee times, plus the state parks employees who make this possible.

Then, GOLF.com’s James Colgan plays the Black with three golf-loving Long Islanders who represent the private and public stories of golf on the Island.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our special series highlighting all the great golf on Long Island, because it’s all been leading up to this. As the Ryder Cup approaches, we fully expect the locals to make their voices heard at Bethpage Black.

Watch all of Destination GOLF: Long Island here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY50fiEpEyX-VLD5JxQtLPCOvCbp0CjZX
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