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Bethpage State Park

 
Wikipedia: Bethpage State Park
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Bethpage State Park is a 1,476-acre (5.97 km2) New York state park on the border of Nassau County and Suffolk County on Long Island. The park contains tennis courts, picnic and recreational areas and a polo field, but is best known for its five golf courses, including the Bethpage Black Course, which hosted the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championships.

Contents

Geography

While most of the park and its five golf courses are located within the hamlet of Old Bethpage, parts of the park are in Bethpage, with the clubhouse and offices served by the neighboring Farmingdale postal district.

History

The late Jesse Merritt of Farmingdale, Nassau County Historian, convinced Robert Moses to name the park "Bethpage State Park" after the 15-square-mile (39 km2) tract of land purchased by his ancestor Thomas Powell in 1695 from three Native American tribes.

The Long Island State Park Commission opened the park in 1932 after the State of New York acquired the Benjamin F. Yoakum Estate. The Green Course, then known as the Lenox Hills Country Club, designed by Devereaux Emmet, was completed in 1923 as part of the Lenox Hills subdivision at the northern edge of Farmingdale Village. By 1936, three more courses opened, designed by A. W. Tillinghast under contract to the Park Commission; a fifth (the Yellow Course) was added in 1958. The park has picnic facilities, bridle paths, playing fields, a polo field, tennis courts, cross-country skiing trails, and hiking and biking trails including one leading south to Massapequa, but it is best known for its golf facilities.

Golf at Bethpage State Park

Bethpage Black Course
Bethpage State Park
Club information
Location Farmingdale, N.Y.
Established 1936
Type Public Equity
Operated by Joe Rehor
Total holes 18
Tournaments hosted U.S. Open (2 Times)
Designed by A. W. Tillinghast
Par 70
Length 7426 yards (2009 U.S. Open)

The park has five eighteen-hole golf courses, named (in increasing order of difficulty) the Yellow, Green, Blue, Red, and Black Courses. In 2002 the Black Course became the first publicly owned and operated course to host the U.S. Open. The tournament was won by Tiger Woods, being the only golfer to score under par for the tournament. The Tournament was seen as one of the most difficult and exciting U.S. Opens in history,[citation needed] breaking attendance records and creating a boisterous atmosphere for the U.S. Open. Bethpage Black also hosted the 2009 U.S. Open Golf Championship, which was won by Lucas Glover.

Prior to 2002, all U.S. Opens had been staged at private golf or country clubs or at privately owned resorts that, while open to the public, were very expensive for the public to play, with greens fees of several hundred dollars per round. The USGA's choice of Bethpage was seen as an egalitarian move; as of 2008, Bethpage Black's weekend price for 18 holes was $60 for New York State residents, and $120 for non-residents. There are a number of ways for golfers to secure a round on the always popular Black course. To register for a tee time, guests must have their driver's license on file with the park's reservation system. Walk-ups are also accepted, though often require that golfers wait in line in the parking lot through the night.[1]

Rankings

In its July 2008 list of America's greatest golf courses, Golf Digest ranked Bethpage Black #26 overall, [2] #6 in the state of New York,[2] #6 of America's 50 toughest courses,[3] and #5 in its list of America's greatest public golf courses.[4] It is also the top-ranked course in the Golf Digest list that is operated by a governmental entity.[4] PGA.com lists Bethpage Black as one of its top ten 'World's Most Beautiful Courses' list. [5]

Major tournaments hosted

Year Tournament Winner Score To par
2002 U.S. Open Tiger Woods 277 -3
2009 U.S. Open Lucas Glover 276 -4

Polo

The Polo Grounds at Bethpage State Park offers a 900 ft x 400 ft field with bleacher seating. Polo is played every Sunday from mid-May through October. The 1994 U.S. Open Polo Championship was hosted by the Meadowbrook Polo Club and the finals were played at Bethpage State Park.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ "How to Get on Bethpage Black, Site of 2009 U.S. Open". GolfVacationInsider.com. March 24, 2008. http://www.golfvacationinsider.com/issues/golfvacationinsider/more_golf_vacation_tips/how-to-get-on-bethpage-black_385-1.html. Retrieved 2008-07-30. 
  2. ^ a b "America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses 07/08" (PDF). Golf Digest. May 2007. http://www.golfdigest.com/images/rankings/gd200705100greatest.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-20. 
  3. ^ http://www.golfdigest.com/courses/index.ssf?/courses/gd200703toughestcourses2.html
  4. ^ a b "America's 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses 07/08" (PDF). Golf Digest. May 2007. http://www.golfdigest.com/images/rankings/gd200705100greatest.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-20. 
    In this context, "public" means a course that is open for the public to play, as opposed to a private club.
  5. ^ http://www.pga.com/play/wmbc/
  6. ^ Ketcham, Diane (1994-09-18). "Long Island Journal". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/18/nyregion/long-island-journal-250988.html. Retrieved 2009-08-16. 

External links

Coordinates: 40°44′32″N 73°27′18″W / 40.742225°N 73.455062°W / 40.742225; -73.455062



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