Nearly three weeks before the start of the 2025 Ryder Cup — a U.S. versus Europe match play golf competition to take place at Bethpage Black later this month — a handful of residents have made arrangements to rent out full homes to attendees, for “north of $30,000 per home,” said Plainview-based real estate broker Matthew Lenner.
Lenner said he had facilitated the rentals of five area homes, including his own, during the event, which takes place from Sept. 23 to Sept. 28.
Meanwhile, a related Facebook page is littered with posts by Long Island homeowners offering parking spots on their property.
“With the state of our economy, and the price I’m paying for this house and the interest rates and our taxes raising every year, I just, I really don’t feel like I have a choice,” said Farmingdale homeowner Christopher DeSantis, 40. “I have to somehow make a little bit of extra money.”
DeSantis, a police officer married to a teacher, said an event that draws so many visitors to the area presents “a great opportunity.” Newsday reported in August that over 250,000 people were expected to attend.
The course, which hosted the U.S. Open championships twice in the 2000s and The Barclays in 2012 and 2016, is located in Farmingdale’s Bethpage State Park. Social media posts advertising private-property parking include the cost and distance from the site.
“Even if I’m making an extra $100 a day,” DeSantis said, “That could be a $500 week, or I can put that towards my mortgage and have a little bit of extra spending money.”
The Ryder Cup website advertises “general public parking” at Jones Beach State Park in Wantagh, a 30-minute shuttle ride from the event location. The site encourages car pooling and states, “Bicycles are prohibited at the Ryder Cup and will not be allowed to be kept anywhere on site.”
The four-car driveway DeSantis has to offer for $75 a day is about a mile from the course, he said. The course is a three-minute drive or 15-minute walk away, he added.
DeSantis has lived in this house for 20 years, but only bought the home from family a year ago, he said.
“With the way we’re budgeting just to be able to live here, you know, we don’t have anything extra,” he said.
The price of private parking varies. Many users in the “Ryder Cup 2025, Farmingdale — Guide, Local Experts, Best Tips” group are offering spots for $100 a day; one is asking for $150 a spot including a $50 deposit.
Some offer drop-off by car to the event, including one poster asking $60 a day for parking on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and $80 a day for the same on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The concept is not new: DeSantis said he remembers locals with lawn signs offering driveway parking when the U.S. Open came to Bethpage.
“The last time we had the U.S. Open, they blocked off the street, so we had to show ID to get into this area,” he said. As of Friday, he was not sure whether this would happen again.
According to Daniel Ruckdeschel, deputy clerk-treasurer for the Village of Farmingdale, whether a resident’s street is blocked off should not matter if they plan in advance.
“We in a sense create gated communities in the various sections near the golf course,” he said. “Anyone who has a guest come in, they need to inform the village, and then they get put on a list, and then we would allow them through.”
This applies to those offering driveway parking, renting out their home, or even throwing a party, Ruckdeschel said.
“We try to help those people as much as possible,” he said.
Any rental of a house does requires a permit through the village, Ruckdeschel said. The permitting process includes an inspection of the property to ensure it is up to code, he said.
Though the event is this month, Ruckdeschel said it is not too late for a homeowner to acquire the proper permit by contacting the village building department. He said the village had already received requests related to the Ryder Cup.
“We would be able to do a very quick turnaround and coordinate with the homeowner immediately,” he said.
There are not regulations on renting out driveways, he said, but the village will not allow parking on lawns.
In the Town of Oyster Bay, which includes the hamlet of Bethpage, rentals of fewer than 30 days are not permitted, said town spokesperson Marta Kane.
“We don’t have any regulations regarding driveways, but obviously driveways are intended for off-street parking,” Kane said of the driveway rental concept.
Homeowners in other areas in proximity to the course should contact their local government to confirm requirements and regulations if considering renting out their homes or driveways.
In Plainview, Lenner said hospitality companies he could not name because of non-disclosure agreements had reached out to him asking if he had friends or neighbors with homes they would be willing to rent out. Lenner and his clients have dealt directly with the hospitality companies instead of listing on a rental site, which has kept the process more private.
“All the pictures of your house and your personals are online,” he said of listing on a rental site. “None of my stuff ever was on the Internet.”
Lenner’s five-bed, four-bath Plainview home, which was renovated within the past five years, is approximately a 10-minute drive from the golf course, he said.
“I have friends that have, you know, five bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms,” he said. “That doesn’t really do anything for these companies, because they want to be able to have a full bathroom dedicated with the bedroom.”
To anyone considering renting their house out, Lenner recommended having a lawyer review any related contract. He declined to disclose the detailed terms of his rental, but said it is a five-night period and that he would be staying elsewhere — including two nights at his parents’ house — during that time.
While he was worried a closed road might be a road block, DeSantis had still chosen to offer his driveway in hopes it will be possible for attendees to park there.
“My mortgage is half my income,” he said. “With a 6.3% interest rate, I’m struggling immensely, and I make a decent amount of money.”
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
