Favorite Hole
No. 6, Par 4, 350 yards
One thing the Black doesn’t have is a great short par 4, and that’s exactly what we get in the sixth at the Red Course. This sharp dogleg par 4 looks very straightforward from the tee box but has some hidden tricks. Most will pull driver and try to cut the corner, but misses left and long right will present issues. The land on the left falls down to a ravine-like low point swaddled with trees, and the fairway on the right quickly runs out into tall grass and trees. Sitting naturally atop a ridgeline, the sixth green is a work of art. The putting surface is like a saddle, with fall-offs short left and long right, making distance control on approach shots paramount. I love how this short little hole can bait you into trouble very easily off the tee when a simple long iron and wedge will set up a great birdie look.
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Overall Thoughts
There’s a reason why the Red Course is so loved by the Bethpage locals.
It’s fun yet challenging, presents strategic questions throughout, and plays over dramatic terrain similar to the Black. It basically gives you little tastes of the features found on the Black but doesn’t beat you to death with penal golf design. Nearly every green is open to the front, allowing for all skill levels to bounce or fly the ball into the greens. The putting surfaces themselves are products of their locations. Most are found in great natural settings that give them individuality. While they don’t have eye-catching undulations, they have subtleties that create variety. In addition, the routing of the golf holes takes you on a wonderful out-and-back journey that plays through hilly, forested land before breaking into an open meadow-like section for Nos. 8-14. It truly feels like an exploration of the landscape and has several high points during the middle of the front nine and the end of the back nine. Finally, the design utilizes doglegging holes to drive strategy and create intrigue. This is an underrated and often underutilized style of golf hole that presents questions to the player off the tee (see description of hole six above). So, while it might look basic on paper, that’s almost exactly what makes Bethpage Red so charming; its simplicity and execution.
It’s rare to stumble upon a modern golf course that simply sits atop the landscape with minimal intervention from man. Our ability to shape the earth, add water features, and create exactly what our mind is envisioning inherently creates some level of disconnect from the natural landscape. While many architects are terrific at mimicking nature and blending their designs into the existing environment, the old school construction techniques of the early 1900s simply could not alter the ground as much as bulldozers can today. Bethage Red is a product of this notion. It’s simple, rugged, and blends into the Long Island terrain. Part of this cohesion can be attributed to the age of the course and the absence of drastic modern intervention.
So why is this “old school” look and simplistic construction method even important or special when compared to modern golf courses? It all goes back to the origins of the game and playing golf on natural lands minimally altered by man. This idea of golf design or the manner in which things happened back then allows for the subtleties of the ground movements to dictate the concepts, strategies, and appearance of golf holes rather than a built feature. Take the seventh hole for example. It plays from the ridgeline that the sixth green occupies down to a green perched along a spine-like landform. Missing right will cause headaches and a tricky recovery. This singular natural landform makes up 90% of the identity of the golf hole. It’s certainly not the world’s greatest par-3, but it creates an interesting hole to play by taking advantage of the natural movements of the landscape.
To me, there’s something enchanting and exciting about journeying around a property that is purely visiting the interesting areas of that particular landscape. It just so happens, in Bethpage Red’s case, that there’s a golf course dictating that journey. Bethpage Red isn’t one of the greatest golf courses in the U.S., but it has individuality because of the way it was routed and constructed. This is enough to create plenty of pleasure for the player and separate it from run-of-the-mill courses.
0 Eggs
(How We Rate Courses)
Bethpage Red has several moments of quality design, an adventurous routing, and sections of very good land, but it doesn’t quite excel enough at any of these alone. I would adore playing here frequently, but it can’t quite receive an Egg just for its old school charm and flashes of eminence.
Course Tour
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