Bethpage State Park - Black Course

Bethpage Black is the hardest of five courses in Bethpage State Park on Long Island, one of the best known public courses in the country. It opened in 1936, designed by park superintendent Joseph H. Burbeck with A.W. Tillinghast assisting, built with Depression-era public works labor. The state of New York owns and operates it, so anyone can play it through the park reservation system.

The course is long, hilly and heavily bunkered, with cross bunkers to carry from several tees and steeply pitched fairways. Greens are comparatively flat for a course this demanding. There are no carts, so everyone walks. The par-4 5th, playing uphill over a diagonal bunker, and the par-4 15th, climbing to a green set above the fairway, are the most talked about holes.

Rees Jones reworked bunkers, tees and drainage in 2015 to prepare the course for the PGA Championship. Bethpage Black hosted the U.S. Open in 2002 and 2009, the PGA Championship in 2019, PGA Tour playoff events in 2012 and 2016, and the 2025 Ryder Cup. Tee times are allotted mainly through the park's online reservation system, and golfers have long lined up overnight for a spot.