Bethpage State Park Golf Course, a mecca for public golf.
Experience Championship Golf at It’s Finest
Bethpage State Park is one of the most popular and cherished public parks in the nation.Located in suburban Long Island in close proximity to New York City, Bethpage is a mecca for public golf featuring five 18-hole regulation golf courses, including the world-renowned Black Course.In addition to Bethpage Black hosting the United States Open Championships in 2002 and 2009, it was also the site of The Barclays PGA Tour events in 2012 and 2016. In 2019, Bethpage will host the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup in 2024.
The Park was developed from an estate owned by the Yoakum family and other surrounding properties in Farmingdale.The Yoakum family leased their estate to the Lenox Hills Corporation which subsequently built the Lenox Hills Country Club.In the early 1930s, the Bethpage Park Authority purchased the Lenox Hills Country Club and other adjacent properties to build Bethpage State Park.
Famed golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast was hired to design and oversee construction of three new golf courses (the Black, Red, and Blue) as well as modify the original Lenox Hills course, later known as the Green Course. Due to the increasing popularity and demand for golf, the Yellow Course designed by Alfred Tull was opened in 1958. Over 200,000 rounds are consistently played annually on the five courses at Bethpage, all of which start from the Clubhouse area.
With approximately 15,000 golf courses of all different types and sizes in the United States, the Black Course at Bethpage State Park has consistently ranked among the top 100 Greatest Golf Courses in America per Golf Digest for nearly twenty years (highest rank #26).Last year Bethpage Black was ranked the #8 Public Course in America.
Experience Bethpage
“One of the hardest, but fairest courses I’ve ever played.”
The Black Course at Bethpage State Park needs no introduction. Home of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open Championships, Bethpage Black is the crown jewel of public golf on Long Island and one of the most feared and revered courses — public or private — in the country.
T
he origins of the course date back to the Depression, but it was in the summer of 2002 that Bethpage Black achieved rock-star status, when the world’s best players teed off behind the park’s elegant clubhouse and struggled to stay anywhere near even par. Suddenly every golfer and fan knew about the “Warning” sign, the overnight stays in the parking lot, the shockingly low fees for a world-class course and the vocal, golf-crazed New York fan base.
When the Pros are gone, Long Islanders and visiting golfers are left with a 7,468-yard brute that puts every shot and skill to the test. From the middle tees, it’s just short of 6,700 yards, nearly as long or longer than many full-length courses on the Island.
Opened in 1936 as part of the Depression Era public-works project that built Bethpage State Park, the Black Course arrived on the scene after the Lenox Hills Country Club became the Green Course and one year after A.W. Tillinghast’s Blue and Red Courses debuted.Though there is a debate over who deserves credit (and how much) for the design — Tillinghast or park superintendent Joseph Burbeck — the subtle angles and protective cross bunkers present in the layout are characteristics of many celebrated Tillinghast courses.The course conditions today are largely a product of a major restoration led by Rees Jones in preparation for the ’02 Open.
#38 Best Golf Course In America
#6 Toughest Golf Course In America
#5 Greatest Public Golf Course In America
”It’s awesome to win the nation’s title, on a public facility, in front of these fans,”
-Tiger Wood on 2002 U.S. Open Victory
Tiger Woods
2002 U.S. Open
Lucas Glover
2009 U.S. Open
Patrick Reed
2016 Barclays
Ryder Cup 2025 Coming Up!
A True Test
“(The sign) should say: ‘It’s a risk, even for really good players.’ This course is up there with the hardest probably top five courses I’ve ever played in my life.”
Jordan Spieth / 3-Time Major Champion
Awesome!
“As well conditioned fairways and greens as any private club I’ve seen this year. Couldn’t believe how immaculate the Black’s fairways were for a state, public-park golf course that gets so much play.”
Chief Editor / Golf Digest
In the early 1930s, the Bethpage Park Authority purchased the Lenox Hills Country Club and other adjacent properties to build what we now know as Bethpage State Park. Famed golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast was hired to design and oversee construction of three new golf courses (Black, Red and Blue) as well as modify the Lenox Hills Course which became the Green Course. Due to the increased demand for golf, the Yellow Course designed by Alfred Tull was opened in 1958. Approximately 300,000 rounds are played annually on the five courses at Bethpage, all of which start from the Clubhouse area.
Bethpage Yellow
The Yellow Course is the “newest” of the Bethpage quintet, built mostly from scratch in 1958 by Alfred Tull, and partially from holdovers that survived the rerouting of A.W. Tillinghast’s original Blue Course. At 6,085 yards from the regular tees, Yellow is the shortest course of the five. Read more
Bethpage Blue
A.W. Tillinghast designed the original Blue which, along with his Red Course, opened for play in 1935, one year ahead of his famed Black. Over some of the park’s hilliest terrain, the Blue calls for a series of blind shots to hidden landing areas and elevated greens. The grueling front gives way at the turn to a much flatter, shorter, and frankly much easier back nine. Read more
Bethpage Green
Though some describe the Green Course as a “mini Black,” the two have little in common besides the hilly real estate east of Round Swamp Road. At 6,378 yards from the tips, Green is nearly 1,100 yards shorter than its brawnier neighbor. Read more
Bethpage Red
he Red Course at Bethpage, considered by most to be the toughest of the park’s non-Black tracks, offers a fearsome gang of long par-4s. And these holes — from doglegs curling through the trees to brutal cross-country hikes over the the park’s wind-swept flatland — are strong enough to make the Red a mainstay in national polls and frequent host of local tournaments. Read More
Golf OUtings At Bethpage Couses
Bethpage offers a number of accomodations built to suit your tournament, corporate golf outing, or charitable event. For more information, please contact our Outing Directors.
Outings on Bethpage Black OUtings on Red, Blue, Yellow & green
