Bethpage State Park -The Black

The Black Course at the Bethpage State Park Golf Course in Farmington, New York is the most renowned among the five courses in this facility. The other courses are: red Course, Blue Course, Yellow Course and Green Course.

History of the course

Celebrated golf course architect A. W. Tillinghast was employed to design the Black Course , which was opened for play in 1936. Tillinghast was given a vast expanse of land to build the course which he utilized to full effect. Even today the expansiveness of his design still stands and is considered as one of the finest courses in the world.

The fairways are fairly wide while the bunkers are a varied lot. The gruesome Glacier bunker cutting across the fourth fairway, the diagonal bunkers on the fifth and seventh holes, the huge bunker on the 12th, the cross bunker 40 yards short of the 13th green that creates an optical illusion are testimony to the fact that the bunkers are of varying type.

Course Trivia

In 2002, the Black Course became the first public course to host the US Open, one of the four majors.

In front of the first tee there is a signboard, saying: “The Black Course is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers.”

The Bethpage (Black) is widely recognized by top golfers as one of the finest golf courses in the world. It is consistently ranked in Golf Digest magazine's list of top 100 golf courses in the US.