I’m one of those that thinks golf course designers can make things unfair. If you’ve ever played a deceptive course that appears to show you one thing, then presents another, you know what I’m talking about.

I can’t feel that way about Bethpage Black, the site of the U.S. Open for the second time in eight years. The 7,426 yards are by far the longest in the history of the open. Three par four holes measure more than 500 yards, with two more at 478 or longer and a 605 yard par five.

The Bunkers are numerous and enormous, the greens are going to be tough, and the rough is jungle like.

The words to describe the Black course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, New York are long, arduous, diabolical, difficult and, this week, wet. For many golfers, that’s not fun. But for the players in New York, it’s awesome.

If you get on Bethpage Black and have a bad day, you can’t say you haven’t been warned…

 

 

Isn’t it fun, sometimes, to see the best golfers in the world struggle like you do?