Bethpage Park Black Course – Not For The Feint Of Heart.

Bethpage Park, NY … There is a famous sign staring you right in the face when you walk down from the Bethpage Park clubhouse and make your way onto the first tee of the Black Course.

There also is probably no other sign like it in the world of golf.

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Can there be any other sign like this in golf? (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

The sign is akin to being on a ski run and advising you are about to tackle a black run, and what is usually the more-difficult in skiing.

So it is with the Black Course at Bethpage Park that the pros contesting the Barclays Championship will tackle starting Thursday here on Long Island.

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Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com

The Black Course  is for walkers only and its slope rating is one of the highest in the USA northeast. Anyone who has played will tell you it is a true test of golf skill and physical endurance.

This was one of the last courses designed by master golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast, and is said by many to be his finest work.

The starter's hut at Bethpage Park Black Course.

The starter’s hut at Bethpage Park Black Course. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

The Black Course served as the site of the 102nd U.S. Open Championship in 2002, and again at the 109th U.S. Open in 2009.  The course will also play host to the 2019 US Open and the 2024 Ryder Cup.

The narrow fairways, high roughs, well placed bunkers and small greens help to make this an extremely difficult course. It regularly ranks among the best courses in the country.

It is rated annually by Golf Week as the #1 best municipal course for 09-10, and again in 10-11, and it made their list of the top 100 classic American golf courses.

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Bethpage Park Black – Host to some of the game’s greatest events. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

It also made the Golf Digest’s top 100 American public and private course list in 2005, and was number 7 on their Top 100 American Public Courses. Golf Magazine included it on their Top 100 Courses in the World, and ranked it 10th in the Top Courses Since 1959.

Every serious golfer should test their skills, and what better place to do it than the Black?

Masters champ Charl Schwartzel tees off the first on the Black course at Bethpage Park.

Masters champ Charl Schwartzel tees off the first on the Black course at Bethpage Park. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)



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