Bethpage Black

[Phil McGleno]

13 minutes ago, LICC said:

Great point. The fairways are narrow but the hole corridors are wide, so you don't lose many balls and you do have opportunities after bad drives to get the ball back in play

Yeah-who doesn’t love hacking it out with a wedge when you miss a 20y wide fairway-Great fun!

[LICC]

The fairways are wider than 20 yards. And depending on your distance and lie, you may or may not be able to go for the green. If you miss by a lot the corridors are wide enough that you may find your ball and get back to a decent position, unlike certain other tree-lined courses.

[Phil McGleno]

9 minutes ago, LICC said:

The fairways are wider than 20 yards. And depending on your distance and lie, you may or may not be able to go for the green. If you miss by a lot the corridors are wide enough that you may find your ball and get back to a decent position, unlike certain other tree-lined courses.

Ha ha ha.-Okay 25 yards wide which is almost the max of most fairways.- And Trees don’t matter much when they are 50 yards apart. BPB is a hack fest.

[p1n9183]

I have to go with boring but difficult. 

[LICC]

12 minutes ago, Phil McGleno said:

Ha ha ha.-Okay 25 yards wide which is almost the max of most fairways.- And Trees don’t matter much when they are 50 yards apart. BPB is a hack fest.

Of the 14 non-par 3 holes on the Black, the ones where if you just missed the fairway and were in the rough, say 5 or 10 yards in, and you could not realistically go for a GIR are: 5, 9 (although that is a big miss, 9's fairway is 35 yards from left bunker to right edge), 10-12, 15-16. So on half the course you still go go at the green if you missed the fairway on a good drive.

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, Phil McGleno said:

Ha ha ha.-Okay 25 yards wide which is almost the max of most fairways.- And Trees don’t matter much when they are 50 yards apart. BPB is a hack fest.

Exactly, and lets not forget that majority of golfers do not have the swing speed to advance the ball that far out of thick rough. Especially since they can't hit anything other than short to wedges or they might leave in the rough.

13 minutes ago, LICC said:

If you miss by a lot the corridors are wide enough that you may find your ball and get back to a decent position, unlike certain other tree-lined courses.

Tree lined fairways are not that much of a problem. Most of the time you will be able to advance it further towards the green versus being in heavy rough with a short iron. Also, I find trees tend to not hurt much and can help. I can't remember the last time I had to punch out sideways. I play more tree line fairways then open courses with high rough.

[LICC]

@saevel25Direct quote from Tom Doak on a forum asking about proposed changes to the 1st and 18th holes on Bethpage Black:

"In general, I don't see any need to redesign any holes at Bethpage Black.  I'd maybe take out some of the bunkers that aren't original.  But mostly I'd just mow it differently."

[saevel25]

Just now, LICC said:

@saevel25Direct quote from Tom Doak on a forum asking about proposed changes to the 1st and 18th holes on Bethpage Black:

If by mow differently he means add width to the fairways at strategic points, that would greatly modify the course in a good way. Just my take. 

Note, quoting a single golf architect doesn't mean his opinions are correct. He could be making the comments because he doesn't want to be controversial.

[iacas]

6 hours ago, saevel25 said:

Note, quoting a single golf architect doesn't mean his opinions are correct. He could be making the comments because he doesn't want to be controversial.

Nor does it mean he’s “right.” It’s an opinion. Not a fact. Doak has also previously said the Black was a batter design in the 90s before Rees redid it.

But @LICC is incapable of moving on. Incapable of talking about anything else. Pity.

[Double Mocha Man]

Bethpage Black merely needs a water feature on number 18. A lake or a pond with a fountain and a car floating on it. Now it's a great course.

Edited June 11, 2019 by Double Mocha Man

[jmanbooyaa]

I played Black today. Long course with a lot of walking up and down and bunkers. That is my only take away. 

[imsys0042]

My boss "leant" me his driver's license so I could book a time years ago.   I played the red and the black in the same day.   I really liked the experience.   Yeah, some of those bunkers are crazy from what I remember.   Isn't it 12 that has that huge fairway bunker right in the middle?  And somewhere on the front is a hill full of them IIRC.

And I also think 15 is the one with the green up a big hill.  I don't remember all the holes but it was one of the better golf experiences I had when I lived in the area.   I saw Davis Love III stick it close on 15 as well, following the Open on Friday the first time is was held there.

I also recall one of the players being heckled after topping a ball out of the deep rough on 7.   He hit it about 20 feet.  Some guy with a Long Island accent goes "Don't worry, I did that last month myself!"

 

[RayG]

On 5/28/2019 at 12:58 PM, LICC said:

Of the 14 non-par 3 holes on the Black, the ones where if you just missed the fairway and were in the rough, say 5 or 10 yards in, and you could not realistically go for a GIR are: 5, 9 (although that is a big miss, 9's fairway is 35 yards from left bunker to right edge), 10-12, 15-16. So on half the course you still go go at the green if you missed the fairway on a good drive.

Yes, that is true... NOW. Previous to the renovation for that first Open. If you were 5 yards off the fairway you weren't going to FIND your ball, much less play it. You had 1st cut of 2-3 inches, second cut was 4-6", then it was thick fescue pretty much to the tree line. And that was 2-3 FEET high by the middle of summer. They got rid of most of it or thinned it back for spectator access. You can't have 50,000 people wandering around in a tick infested nightmare for a week. The ONLY place I believe they left it was between 10 and 11 where spectators couldn't get to. Now, the further off the fairway you are, the better. 

The hill right of the 8th Green was essentially a forest of fescue- no using the slope to come back down to the green. they cleaned that all out for seating as well. Now- a ball can run back down to the greenside area- if you miss the tree.

they also took away a LOT of trees- especially in that triangle area between 1,17, and 18 for hospitality tents. Then put some back after. And took them out again before the second one.