Bethpage Black Course Preview: The Back 9
- Updated: May 9, 2019
@GolfBlog_com
Welcome to part II of the definitive Bethpage Black course preview for the common golfer. We will cover the back 9 in detail so you can get a sense of just how spectacular Bethpage Black is. If you missed the front 9 preview, check it out here.
Hole #10: 502-yard par 4
http://gty.im/488920640Dare we say the fun begins with another 500-yard par-4? This is the hole where players couldn’t reach the fairway during the U.S. Open in the rain and wind. It’s only about a 270 carry from the tips. But here’s the deal. You miss the fairway and you my friend are in big, big trouble. A cascade of fairway bunkers and fescue lining both sides of the fairway make it zero fun.
Once your pipe your drive in the short grass, you’ll still have a mid to long iron to a green flanked by DEEP bunkers and a collection area in the back, you know, just in case you can’t stop your approach from 200+ out.
The putting surface slopes back to front with a few subtle humps to make it that much more challenging. If you get out of there with a 4, run to 11 tee and don’t look back.
Hole #11: 435-yard par 4
http://gty.im/488920882At 435 yards, this is one of the shorter par-4s on the Black, but what it “lacks” in length is made up in difficulty starting with a blind tee shot to a fairway that’s just slightly more right than you think it should be. Miss it right, good luck. Miss it left, also good luck. Dunes, fairway bunkers and fescue city.
If you do manage to find the short grass, you’re looking at a mid to short iron to one of the more severely sloped greens on the course surrounded by massive sandtraps. Plus it has a false front that can make even the best of players blush. If you’re above the hole, you didn’t do yourself any favors. Keeping it on the green will be a good shot.
Hole #12: 512-yard dogleg left par 4
http://gty.im/488920700Yes, another 500+ yard par-4. But don’t worry, this one’s fun, if you can carry a driver 270 yards and shape it from right to left. If not, well not so much.
It all starts with the tee shot and whether or not you clear the massive cross bunker at the turn. Nut it and be sitting pretty (as long as you don’t run through the fairway, but that’s like 300.) Don’t and you should be happy if you can salvage a bogey. Right just makes the hole excruciatingly longer. Too far left you’ll be back in the “third-way house.” At least you can grab a beer or 4 to ease the pain.
The green is large but undulating, has got 2 tiers, and of course, is surrounded by bunkers. Put it somewhere in the vicinity of the pin or else your next putt will be interesting, to say the least.
Hole #13: 608-yard par 5
http://gty.im/488920728If Bethpage Black has a scoring hole, it’s still 608 yards from the tips. At least it’s a par-5. The drive must be shaped left to right to avoid the deep fairway bunkers left. But it can’t be too far right or else you’ll have some potential tree trouble. We know from experience.
From there the goal is to avoid the cross bunker 30 yards short of the green. Whether it takes you one or five shots, you’re looking at a green that slopes back to front that’s subtly straightforward. Oh just don’t miss the green right. That bunker over there sucks.
Hole #14: 161-yard par 3
http://gty.im/488920972Time to catch that breath of yours and focus because this might be your best chance to make par all day. 161 par-3. Block out the fact you’re hitting over a valley of crap and avoid the cavernous bunkers left and right of the redesigned green.
The back was extended to make it wider than it is long. It slopes from back to front and right to left … and has got a few pin locations that are downright nasty. Especially back right when it looks like the pin is literally sitting in the bunker. Enjoy it because once you cross that road to 15, it’s going to be a fight for survival.
Hole #15: 459-yard dogleg left par 4
http://gty.im/640681342The toughest hole in the whole Bethpage facility. It’s such a beast, it has a fourth tee box that the tournament organizers usually put a grandstand over. Maybe they’ll use it for the PGA. Regardless, if you had a chance to hit the best drive of the day, this would be the best place for it. Too far right and you could be OB. Left and you’ll have your work cut out to lay up in a manageable spot.
Fairway is all but required to have any chance of getting to or holding the two-tiered severely sloping green protected by moon crater bunkers which is perched 50 feet above the fairway.
Once you walk up that hill and get to the putting surface, you’ll quickly realize how good of physical shape you are in. Keep it together, drain a putt and walk up another hill to the 16 tee.
Hole #16: 490 yard downhill par-4
http://gty.im/640665250One of the few holes on the Black course where you can see the green from the tee, that is, if you can still see by this point. Gather whatever strength you have left and try to find the incredibly narrow fairway that is 60 feet below you.
From there, you got a mid to long iron to potentially hybrid/fairway metal to a green protected by a giant bunker on the right and another on the left. The green is fair but can get a little tricky especially when the pin is placed on the knob over the said right trap, usually on a Sunday.
Hole #17: 207-yard par 3
http://gty.im/640681532207 par-3. Probably one of the more photographed holes on the course, mainly because of the myriad of bunkers and golden fescue, that looks spectacular but is a bitch to play from especially after dribbling your tee shot into it. However the fact the walkway that runs through it makes you feel like your inside the ropes as you casually acknowledge the imaginary fans.
The green is 43 yards wide and split into 2 tiers. Try to be on the right one. If you’re on the wrong one, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Hole #18: 411-yard straight away par 3
http://gty.im/82983723Perhaps the most difficult part of the 18th hole is getting to the tee box. Walking up the hill from 17 green and getting to the top feels like climbing Mt. Everest. But once you make it, the sight is beautiful.
Measuring 411 yards, this par-4 offers one of the finest views on the course. The bunkering is stunning. A downhill tee shot to a fairway that narrows the further up you get, by design, obviously, sets you up for an uphill approach.
The green slopes back to front and is guarded by another set of monster bunkers. Have you noticed a theme? Got to be below the hole again here. When that pin is back right, it’s one of the scariest on the entire course.
Click here to see the front 9 preview…
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