So I'm sitting in my car with a buddy at 4am at Bethpage Black.

[Kenny Lee]

Great thread, man. Love the pics, scorecard, etc. Thanks for posting.

[RayG]

So what was the reaction when you finished 3 and walked down to see the 4th hole laid out ahead of you? That's my favorite view- the anticipation as you get toward the tee and more of the hole comes into view. Even though it isn't that tough a hole(5 is tougher, by far), it just LOOKS intimidating...

[14ledo81]

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing.

[DutchGolf]

Thanks for the nice pics!

[kpaulhus]

So what was the reaction when you finished 3 and walked down to see the 4th hole laid out ahead of you? That's my favorite view- the anticipation as you get toward the tee and more of the hole comes into view. Even though it isn't that tough a hole(5 is tougher, by far), it just LOOKS intimidating...

So I told the group as soon as I saw all three tiers, "This isnt one Im gonna go for in two." I ended up a double as I got caught up in greenside rough twice. #5 is a hell of a hole. I hit a drive that barely made it to the first cut of rough at the start of the fairway....then a hybrid 220 into a greenside bunker. Two putts for a bogey. I was pretty happy to really keep everything double or better. The whole course had spots where you could just blow up off the tee and make for a very long hole.

[isukgolf]

Really like the pics!

[tigerrag]

Awesome pictures and information, thanks a ton for sharing with us.  It is on my list to do some day in the future, as I have a good friend who lives about an hour from the course.

I read about a lot of people getting there super early...is there a cutoff time where they won't let visitors on after a certain time?

[mvmac]

Nice pics, course looks sweet.

[kpaulhus]

Awesome pictures and information, thanks a ton for sharing with us.  It is on my list to do some day in the future, as I have a good friend who lives about an hour from the course. I read about a lot of people getting there super early...is there a cutoff time where they won't let visitors on after a certain time?

I don't think so. They're open to tee times until 4 something in the afternoon. The problem is the later u go the longer u wait and the longer your round is. The food at the grill was pretty good so we sat out on he patio in the nice weather and ate and watched guys tee off 1 and come down 18. If you have a buddy an hour away just have him register in the system so u have a tee time and don't have to show up until an hour before u tee off.

[jamo]

Inspired by this thread, and some help from @kpaulhus , I drove down last night and am currently enjoying the view from behind the first tee, awaiting my 8:30 tee time.

[Gunther]

Pretty ballsy to take on the tips as an 8. Think I would play the 1-ups, but good on ya and I would be proud to card an 88 from the Black course and 7,500 yards. Which tees are you playing Jamo?

[jamo]

Which tees are you playing Jamo?

I ended up playing the whites, which are the middle tees. I had been planning to play the blues, but everyone I got paired with was playing the whites, so I went with it. Kinda glad I went with the white for the first time. I got a bunch of pictures: I also got one with me standing in front of the sign, but the guy I asked to take the picture got so much lens flare it would make JJ Abrams blush. Walking up the first fairway: View from the second tee: From the third tee. I knocked one in there pretty good: Looking out at the famed fourth hole: The approach into the fifth green. You can really see how lush that rough is: Seventh tee. One of the easier holes on the course: Eighth tee. It's tough to see, but that back-right pin placement is brutal with that tree there. I hit an awesome high cut right at the hole that couldn't quite get to the back tier of the green: This is just off the front of the green. It's diabolical to cut it that short: Ninth tee. Very abrupt dogleg: View from the 14th tee. Three of the guys in my group hit it within 10 feet to that front sucker pin (we were all lucky suckers), while the fourth plugged his ball right into the face of the bunker. He very nearly holed out from what we all thought was an absolutely dead lie: Panorama looking to the left of the 15th tee. You can see the 16th green in the foreground, and the 17th green and 18th hole in the background: Walking towards the 17th fairway from the tee: View from the 17th tee. I just barely caught the lip of that huge front bunker: View from my bunker shot. Managed to get up and down purely on luck:

[BuckeyeNut]

Did you keep pace with the first group?

Nice pictures....the course looks fantastic!  The scary thought is being the 4th group off..............and pacing nearly a 5hr round!   F*(% That!!   I don't care if it is Bethpage.....I'd rather play anywhere else at a reasonable pace.

[jamo]

I got in last night, slept for about 5 hours at a hotel room, and got to the course at about 3:45. I'm not sure if I would do the hotel room next time. Kind of a lot of money for how little I got out of it. I was about the 20th car or so in line, and I got maybe the 50th ticket or so. By the time I got to the clubhouse to make my tee time, the earliest foursome time was like 11:30AM. When I saw how far back in the car line I was I was a little worried, but going off as a single was very easy. I was surprised how many people were playing the other courses, though one guy did turn to me and say "**** if I got up at 3AM to play the yellow" I made my tee time around 5:30, teed off at 8:30. Between then I did some walking around, bought some merch in the pro shop, hit some golf balls, and then relaxed on a bench behind the first tee for about an hour. At one point while I was chilling there, a caddy was telling his player that anything outside 180 in the rough he was just going to hand the player a wedge, which I definitely would have learned myself the hard way. There were a few times that I had a good lie and could get a hybrid on it, but even then it was tough to get much on the ball. This was by far the thickest rough I've ever played. The course was in great shape. Even the fescue areas were pretty lush grass, and the greens were awesome. I had them stimping at about 10 in the morning, 10.5 by the end of my round. They were much, much flatter than I expected. Most of the nicer New England courses I've played are Donald Ross designs, which tend to have big sloping greens. These were much more subtle, and I overplayed the break on almost every putt on the front nine. From the whites, the course was not horrifically long, and the greens weren't overly penal. The amount of sucker pins tucked behind bunkers probably outnumbered the amount of pins that weren't placed as such. I was hitting my irons great all day, but occasionally got a bit loose off the tee. Short game shots out of that rough were very difficult. A big problem I've been having the last few years has been underestimating my distance, and over-clubbing. I made very sure not to do that today. The guys I got paired up with were all about the same level of player, which was great. We all had a few holes where we hacked it around, but everyone kept it light and made sure not to take it too seriously. Got really lucky there. Ended up shooting 76. But I got pretty lucky on the back with back-to-back-to-back birdies and some nice par saves. I can see how that back nine would have been much much much more difficult from the back tees. There are two stretches of very long par 4s that can really grind you down.

[14ledo81]

Nice work!! Thanks for sharing.

[Gunther]

Nice work!! Thanks for sharing.

Very cool...someday....

[kpaulhus]

@jamo glad it worked out for you. 76 is impressive! I had a blast and would for sure do it again from the tips. Being able to hit it 250+ off the tee really helps. The greens are so flat and dont break as much as you'd think. I agree going back we could shoot lower for sure!

[Spitfisher]

Bethpage, everyone should play it at least once. I drove down from the boston area, arrived at 3;00am, got out in the first group. I was playing well at the time. low single digit.  I shot well with a score of 85. I had two birdies, hole 1 and hole 18, Toughest hole for me was #4 and # 15

as I walking late in the rounds I realized that certain clubs that I always seemed to hit, I wasn't at all. It seemed like every hole I was hitting long iron, hybrid or fairway into.I enjoyed it.