Prepare to see massive drives and aggressive lines at next fall's Bethpage Black Ryder Cup.
The Black Course's notoriously lush rough, what the pros typically encounter during championship play at Bethpage, will be rocking quite the buzzcut when the Ryder Cup tees off nearly a year from now in late September 2025. More notably, it will be clipped shorter than what sleep-in-the-car Bethpage golfers experience when they set out on their Tuesday morning foursome.
At a press event for members of the Metropolitan Golf Writers Association on Tuesday, longtime Black Course superintendent Mike Hadley said he expects the rough will be cut to a "thick but more playable" 2 1/4 inches during the three-day international tournament. Bethpage Black's rough typically measures 2 1/2 to 3 inches during regular public play, Hadley said, and more than 4 inches for events like the U.S. Open and PGA Championship.
"With shorter rough you get more birdies, which means more action," Hadley said.
The relatively tame rough will accommodate Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley and the "team of bombers" he is expected to put together on the American side, one that has little interest in gouging irons out of a 5-inch tangle. Bradley also wants to tee off from as deep as the holes allow, Hadley said, the only exception being the par-3 17th. There, a stadium-style setup will include bleachers on the back of the teebox that envelop the American and European players and set up a potentially raucous conclusion to the tournament.
At #1, the newly built lower tee should coax many players, especially the Americans, to take a run at the green. The official Ryder Cup yardage on the dogleg-right opener is 397 yards.
Ryder Cup championship director Bryan Karns said a spacious grandstand will occupy the current #1 teebox and wrap completely around the first tee and 18th green. The setup will elevate the Ryder Cup's "one-of-a-kind first-tee experience," Karns said.
In addition to the tweaks already made on the Black Course, specifically this spring's bunker expansion and relocation on holes 5 and 13, Hadley said the sixth and seventh fairways could be widened per Bradley's preference. Rough will be maintained short throughout the 2025 season, meaning Long Island's public players will get a rare break on the course during the spring and early summer.
Bethpage park director Scott Matson said the Black Course will likely close six weeks prior to the Ryder Cup. Plans and schedules related to the other four Bethpage golf courses will be determined early next year.
The 2025 tournament will be played from September 26–28 and is the second Ryder Cup to be hosted at a New York course (Oak Hill, 1995).
how about after all the money they make they fix the tee time system once and for all so us normal people can golf there from time to time
Posted by: Joe | October 02, 2024 at 03:16 PM