U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley on playing at Bethpage, new unis
U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley explains the emotions that go along with playing at Bethpage.
The warning sign greeting players at the Bethpage State Park Black Course says it all.
Unless you’re a very good player with a handicap in the single digits, this probably isn’t the place for you.
But it is the place for the 2025 Ryder Cup Matches, as the golf’s most pressure-packed team event comes to the New York Metro Area for the first time in 90 years. And Bethpage Black, nestled in the Long Island village of Farmingdale, N.Y., presents one of the most challenging courses ever to the U.S. and European teams.
The Ryder Cup was last played in the New York area in 1935 at the Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey. The U.S., captained by Walter Hagen, won 9-3, with Gene Sarazen, Henry Picard, Paul Runyan and Johnny Revolta scoring two points each.
The 1995 matches were played at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y., with Europe winning 14.5-13.5.
Bethpage Black has hosted three major championships: the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens and the 2019 PGA Championship. The challenge of the Black’s suffocating fairways, high, tangled rough and tiny greens will be a new experience to half of the 24 players on the Ryder Cup teams who were not in the PGA field.
Although it might not matter when it comes to match play, the average winning scores of the combination of three majors and two PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoff events held at Bethpage was 6.8 under par, and the scoring average in those five tournaments was 73.35.
History of Bethpage State Park
Golf has been played at Bethpage since 1923, when railroad executive Benjamin Franklin Yoakum bought 1,368 acres in Farmingdale and hired architect Devereux Emmet to design the first 18-hole course, which was first leased to the Lenox Hills Country Club as a private facility.
The course was later bought by the state of New York in 1934 and the course later became known as Bethpage “Green.” Three more courses, designed by A.W. Tillinghast, became the Black, Blue and Red courses and the Yellow Course was designed by Alfred Tull.
Golf is only part of the facility. It also has riding paths, ballfields, a polo field, tennis course, biking trails and cross-country ski trails.
All five of the courses are popular with in-state residents and visitors and the sight of people driving up the night before and sleeping in their cards to be in line to register for golf at 7 a.m. is common.
Golfweek.com ranked Bethpage No. 8 on its 2025 list of top public courses in America.
The New York Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Department estimates that around 300,000 rounds are played at the five courses.
Major events played at Bethpage
Bethpage has been the venue for three major championships and two PGA Tour FedEx Cup Playoff events
2002 U.S. Open: Bethpage became the first publicly-owned golf course to host a U.S. Open. Tiger Woods won his second U.S. Open by three shots over Phil Mickelson and was the only player to shoot under par at 3-under 277. Four members of the World Golf Hall of Fame finished among the top 10, Woods, Mickelson, Nick Faldo and Padraig Harrington.
2009 U.S. Open: The tournament was plagued by rain delays the entire week and a Monday finish was needed Lucas Glover survived to win at 4-under 276, with Mickelson, David Duval and Ricky Barnes tying for second, two shots behind. It was Mickelson’s record fifth runner-up finish in a U.S. Open.
2012 Barclays: Nick Watney shot 65 in the first round and went on to beat Brandt Snedeker by three shots at 10-under 274.
2016 Barclays: Patrick Reed edged Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo by one shot at 9-under 275.
2019 PGA: The PGA Championship’s May Era was launched at Bethpage and Brooks Koepka led wire-to-wire after a first-round 63 to tie the tournament record. He had the largest 36-hole lead in tournament history (seven shots) and still won by two shots at 8-under despite a 74 in the final round.
Best features of the course
The main feature of the Black Course is its difficulty, and the course staff recommends that only low-handicap players take on the challenge. Golf carts are not allowed on the course. Players must walk but that’s part of the experience since Bethpage Black is also among the most scenic public tracks in America, with trees lining most of the fairways and elevation changes.
Almost every possible feature on a golf course that makes it hard is in place at the Black Course: narrow fairways, high rough, bunkers and small, multi-tiered greens. There is only one water hazard, a pond fronting the par-3 eighth hole. The banks behind the eighth green are also one of the best places for spectators to watch golf.
The course will be a par-70 for the Ryder Cup and will measure 7,352 yards. There will be three par-4 holes that are 500 yards or longer: No. 7 (524), No. 10 (502) and No. 16 (539). In addition, the par-5 13th hole will play 608 yards.
How to watch the Ryder Cup
There will be nearly 56 hours of live coverage on broadcast and streaming platforms from Sept. 26-28 and 37 hours of previews on Golf Channel’s “Live From the Ryder Cup,” from Sept. 22-25.
Monday, Sept. 22
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 3-5 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 23
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 24
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
Thursday, Sept. 25
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 8 a.m.- 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 26
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Breakfast at Bethpage, 6-8 a.m.
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Feature group coverage, 7:05 a.m.-6 p.m.
USA: Ryder Cup doubles matches, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 6-8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 27
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Breakfast at Bethpage, 6-8 a.m.
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Feature group coverage, 7:05 a.m.-6 p.m.
NBC: Ryder Cup doubles matches, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 6-8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 28
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Breakfast at Bethpage, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Rydercup.com/Ryder Cup App: Feature group coverage, 12-6 p.m.
NBC: Ryder Cup doubles matches, 12-6 p.m.
Golf Channel: Live From the Ryder Cup, 6-8 p.m.
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