It won't take long for Bethpage golfers to catch a glimpse of something new when they return to the course for the first time in 2023. One of the main offseason renovations at the park -- carried out with the 2025 Ryder Cup in mind -- took place right behind the clubhouse near the start of the Black Course.
It's a subtle change, but one that is designed to bolster the already raucous atmosphere at the Ryder Cup's start and finish. A simple reshaping of the mounding between the first tee and 18th green has opened up the sight lines to allow the Black's future spectators to see every shot.
"The first tee at the Ryder Cup is one of the best experiences a golf fan can enjoy, and the crowd at Bethpage should be epic," says Andrew Wilson, Bethpage's longtime superintendent and director of agronomy. "The work done means fans will be able to see the first tee and 18th green from every seat in the grandstand."
Whether or not that epic scene will include rolled-back golf balls and players on the LIV Tour...well, uhh, let's not get into that.
Local players will begin to see the offseason course work for themselves when Bethpage Green opens for 2023 play tomorrow, March 18, followed by the Red Course on April 1. But for the most startling change of all, visitors will have to wait until the Black Course officially reopens on April 15. That's when players will work their way toward the farthest reaches of the Black and find that one of its landmark hazards -- the overhanging oak tree right of #8 green -- is now a thing of the past.
Wilson says the tree was dying and unable to be salvaged, despite his crew's best efforts to save it. "It had become a safety issue for players and employees," Wilson says. "It was sad to see it go."
Its departure means the right side of the green can offer pin placements that simply weren't possible while the tree loomed overhead, another positive when looking ahead to Ryder Cup week.
Elsewhere on the Black Course, maintenance crews renovated about a dozen bunkers with new sod edging. "That's no small undertaking considering the size of the Black's bunkers," Wilson says.
Crews completed similar sodding projects around sand traps and in areas with soil compaction on the Red and Green courses.
Meanwhile the Blue and Yellow courses saw plenty of action over the winter, not from work crews, but from players. The two courses have already hosted close to 10,000 rounds, Wilson says, thanks to mild temperatures and zero snowfall. The staff has been able to do some minor renovation work amid all that play, though multiyear projects like the continued renovation of bunkers on Yellow #14 have been kept on hiatus until next offseason.
When players prepare to tee off on the Black Course next month, they'll also notice one other significant addition -- a new forward tee on Black's opener. Wilson says the idea to add a forward tee came as a byproduct of the reshaping work done nearby.
"There's a good chance this new tee will be used during the Ryder Cup as well," Wilson says.
[PICTURED: TOP -- Newly reshaped grounds between #1 tee and #18 green on the Black Course. BOTTOM -- The oak tree on Black #8, as seen during the 2019 PGA Championship.]
