Bethpage Black
The Course Everyone Wants to Play.
A public course in a New York state park that has hosted two U.S. Opens, a PGA Championship and a Ryder Cup — with a booking system that was never built for visitors. Here is how it actually works.
Bethpage State Park · Farmingdale, NY
Opened 1936
7,468 yards
Pictured: the 18th
Posted beside the first tee
Every golfer knows about the sign.
It became famous in 2002, when the U.S. Open came to a public park and the best players in the world struggled to stay anywhere near par. Most signs at a first tee are there to welcome you. This one is there to warn you.
We take it at its word. Before we plan a round on the Black, we ask how you play — because an honest answer to that shapes the whole trip.
7,468
yards from the back tees — a brute by any standard.
6,700
yards, roughly, from the middle tees — still longer than many full-length courses on Long Island.
1936
the year it opened, as part of the Depression-era project that built the park.
When the window opens
7:00 PM
Five days out, one date at a time. That is when the public reservation system opens the Black to golfers who don’t live in New York.
01 · The window
Five days, one date at a time.
Each evening at 7:00 PM New York time, the date five days out opens to non-residents. New Yorkers with a state park golf card get a head start. Visitors don’t.
02 · The squeeze
Everyone wants the same mornings.
By the time the Black is bookable, an overseas trip is long since paid for — and every visitor in the window is reaching for the same early weekend tee times.
03 · Our part
Confirmed before you fly.
Securing Bethpage Black tee times for visiting golfers has been the core of what we do since 1997. On qualifying packages, your date is secured and confirmed in writing before you commit to flights. How we do it is our own; the result is what matters.
04 · The order
Then everything else.
Flights, hotel and dinners are built around the tee time — never the reverse — and ground transport is timed to the round, with the Manhattan–Long Island drive built in.
Confirmed Bethpage Black access applies to qualifying packages and is subject to Bethpage State Park’s own rules, published rates and seasonal availability. We will tell you what is realistic for your dates before you book anything.
How we pursue a tee time
Three ways onto the Black.
There is no single door onto the Black. We work three, and decide which to run for your dates — sometimes more than one at a time.
Five days out · 7:00 PM
Advance reservation
The public system releases each date to non-residents five days ahead, one evening at a time. We are ready the moment it opens, with your dates, times and group already lined up.
- Best for
- Firm dates and a fixed itinerary
- What it asks of you
- Nothing on the day — just your dates and your group.
The morning of
Same-day, first come, first served
Some times are never booked ahead, and some are given up late. They go to golfers who are there in person, in the order they arrived. We time the morning so you are in place early, with the car waiting whichever way it goes.
- Best for
- Flexible days and an early start
- What it asks of you
- An early alarm, and some patience.
Before dawn, or the night before
Early arrival, or overnight
On dates when the line is the realistic way on, getting there very early — or the night before — is how golfers reach the front. We only suggest it when it is worth it, and then plan it properly: when to arrive, a driver there and back, somewhere to rest.
- Best for
- A date that matters more than sleep
- What it asks of you
- A long night. We handle the rest.
The park’s rules, not ours
All three run on Bethpage State Park’s own rules, published rates and seasonal availability — and the park can change them. None of them is a guarantee on every date. We will tell you which is realistic for yours before you book anything.
The routes are public. Knowing which one to run, when to switch, and how the morning really plays out at the clubhouse is not — that comes from doing it since 1997.
The course, up close
Cross bunkers, fescue and a long walk home.
The subtle angles and protective cross bunkers are pure Tillinghast; today’s conditioning owes much to the Rees Jones restoration before the 2002 Open. Drag to look around.
What we can and cannot guarantee
Secured means secured.
We describe access only as accurately as we can deliver it. Where something depends on the park, the weather or the season, we say so before you book.
What we can promise
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What nobody can promise
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Start With a Date
Your Bethpage Black Round Begins With One Email
Tell us when you will be in New York. We will come back with what is achievable on those dates, what it costs, and how the rest of the trip fits around it — usually the same day, and before you have booked a thing.