Bethpage Black, Explained

Bethpage Black, Explained

Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews. These are some of golf’s most legendary venues because of moments, traditions, and golf like no other. But with most of these great courses comes a level of exclusivity, whether it’s location or price or privacy that keeps most of golf’s millions of fans away, which makes Beth Page Black and the story behind it all the more enticing. However, there’s a lot more to the story of this crazy course than I expected. And today, we’re going to take a deep dive into how this course went from being unplayable and unplayed to one of the most difficult and most popular courses in the world. But to understand how we got here, we first have to understand the history of golf in New York City. With the boom of golf in the 1920s in America came more investment by governments to expand the reach of the game, including one Robert Moses of New York City. Robert Moses was one of the most influential characters in the building of the New York City that we know today. For better or for worse, but also for the construction of Beth Page. See, during the Great Depression, a large plot of land became available for purchase in Old Beth Page, New York, 35 mi east of the island of Manhattan, where Robert Moses, then head of the Long Island Parks Commission, would planned to build another grand park, one that would house four golf courses, recreational areas, tennis courts, and more. But ever the showman, Robert Moses wanted to head this course with someone noteworthy, someone that would bring him more attention, his plan more attention, and hopefully help bolster his position as a politician in the New York metropolitan area. And so he hired none other than AW Tilling to join him on his Beth Page Golf Course program. He designed Wingfoot, Waker Ridge, a whole host of others and definitely would bring eyes on his course on Long Island. However, this is where some of the confusion and mystery behind this great course began as a man came out in 2002 saying that his father, Joseph Burbeck, an agricultural engineer who worked under Moses at the time of the course’s development and lived on the course to oversee construction, was the rail brains behind the operation with Tillingast only offering slight consultation to the project. Now, there’s arguments for one over the other, but there’s really no clearcut obvious result, no clear-cut obvious designer, but nevertheless, it was opened in 1936 for all golfers of New York and Long Island to enjoy. However, the legend that was Beth Page Black had hardly begun. In those early years, the Black was barely played on. The level of difficulty it offered compared to the relative ease and beauty of the others on the property led to lines and weights at all the others while tea times remained available at the black. But as the years went by and legends like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicholas came and went, the game of golf grew and so too did those interested in playing Long Island’s best and most difficult tests. It was also during this time, or at least some point between 1960 and 1980, that the legendary warning sign found its way onto the gate of the first tea at the Black Course. No one knows when it showed up. Some workers say it was in the ‘7s, others say the 80s, while some say it was even earlier. But what we do know is that it was partially that sign combined with the insane fame of one random kid from California that would help make this course absolutely viral in 2002. With the 2002 US Open, Beth Page received more publicity than it ever could have imagined. Being lauded as the People’s Open, as it was the first ever US Open to be hosted at a true public course. Well, it got a hell of a lot of attention. All the while the most famous man in golf ever, Tiger Woods, would go on to win despite wild conditions, noisy fans, and a firing Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia. But the warning sign may have been more famous than all of that. Fans had seen all types of things at courses, but never a sign warning of dangers to be had if played the course and not properly prepared. And the fame partially came because the course backed up their claims. Before the 2002 US Open, the course had been regarded by some as a bit of a goat track with less than ideal greens and somewhat neglected rough that rose way too high for many. But this position that it was in combined with its length led for a very good foundation to build upon to create a great US Open venue. And the USGA and New York State did a wonderful job building upon that foundation to create not just a tough test of golf, but for the 2002 US Open and beyond, a beautiful maintained test at that. My favorite hole has always been the par 54th. It’s incredibly long, incredibly challenging. I’ve never reached into, probably never will, and want to play that over and over again until I figure it out. And it’s like that for much of the course. And it’s one of the reasons only Tiger Woods was under par for that tournament in 2002. And with that tournament, the popularity of the sign and all of that, the legend of Beth Paige Black built more and more. And with that came unrivaled attention and desire to play, leading to a very difficult time getting tea times. But thankfully, Beth Paige Black already had a system in place for the most dedicated fans to still go out there and get tea times. Most folks are asleep at 4:00 a.m., but not these people. They’re camping out for a tea time. They got into the parking lot, slept in their car just to get a tea time at 4:30 in the morning and play some unbelievable golf. And so even with all of the attention, people have still gone out there since then to grab a tea time by camping out 24 hours, 48 hours even for the most dedicated individuals to go out there and play the great course, which has created one of the coolest opportunities for golfers to go out of their way and experience something that they pretty much can’t anywhere else in the world. It even gets more and more difficult as major tournament time approaches with more and more people flocking to the course to play in tournament conditions with some people who I met while checking out the course in preparation for the 2025 RDER Cup having waited up to 48 hours to play the legendary black course. But thanks to this legend and lore of the course and community built around it, it’s also primed for a more energyfilled tournament than you would ever see potentially on the PGA Tour, barring maybe the waste management. One that the Rder Cup this year should absolutely provide. Recently visited the course to see how the stands were set up, experienced the campers waiting to get their tea times. I wanted to get a tea time, but I got there way too late and get a better idea of what the course may look like on TV with the greatest golfers in the world going up against each other. But this course provides a unique opportunity to not only capitalize on the excitement of the course, the difficulty of it, but on the history, the legend and the lore that his and has become Beth Paige Black because of the Warning Sign, because of Tiger dominating in his prime, and because of all this confusion and chaos while providing one of the best venues of public golf in the world. But the New York sports fan combined with the fact that New York is the first stop off the flight, off the boat, from England, from Europe, can create for a very fiery and exciting environment. One that should hopefully help create a good watching experience for us fans as long as NBC and the production crews don’t screw it up. And so I believe this year’s RDER Cup is doomed for days of dynamite action, fiery golf, and unbelievable views in ways that should make for a very exciting tournament. And most of it thanks to the unrivaled history and lore and legend that is the public golf links at Beth Page Black. But thank you for watching and if you enjoyed this one, check this one out about whatever YouTube thinks you’ll be interested in. and I’ll see you in the next one.

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