‘It’s like gambling’ – how public battle to be heroes at Bethpage

Every weekend, hundreds of golfers load up the boot and head to Bethpage.

Clubs and shoes are not the only essential items stuck in the trunk of the car. Sleeping bags and food supplies are also required.

Bethpage Black, based in a sprawling park 40 miles east of New York City, is the first municipal course to host the Ryder Cup in its storied 98-year history.

Having the opportunity to tread the same fairways as the 2025 stars can be a long waiting game, though, particularly in the run-up to this year’s hallmark event.

“This summer was the craziest. We had people waiting for more than 48 hours in our parking lot,” Andrew Wilson, who is responsible for leading the Bethpage course set-up, told BBC Sport.

“They would get there on Friday morning but were not able to play until Saturday. The line would sell out and they had to wait until Sunday to play.

Getting on to Bethpage is not for the faint-hearted and the patience required acts as a precursor for when the golfers step on to the first tee.

Perhaps the stoicism should be considered a filtering out process, because only the toughest club players can survive 18 holes of what is often considered pure pain in both a physical and mental sense.

The latter is triggered by the course’s formidable reputation.

Seconds before players step out on to the first tee, there is a ‘welcome’ sign which intends to strike further fear into their hearts and minds.

The message reads, ‘WARNING. The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers’.

Spanning 7,100 yards from the championship markers where the Ryder Cup players will tee off, Bethpage Black is characterised by jungle rough, cavernous bunkers and tight fairways.

Is the course really as tough as the sign makes out? Or is it hyperbole designed to attract infamy?

Wilson is adamant the reality is as daunting as the illusion.

“Oh, definitely. By the fourth hole if you’ve missed by 10 feet and you’re in a bunker 12 feet below the green, it can already feel a little tiring,” said Bethpage director of agronomy Wilson, who has been working on the greens staff for almost 37 years.

“Then you start to get frustrated and have to play the mental game in your head.

“I think the Black can test your patience – and that’s why it is so hard.”

The undulating terrain sees holes weave around the natural landscape of the parkland and makes the course feel even longer than it already is.

Dense woodland separates many of the opening nine holes, with gravel trails darting between trees to offer routes for non-golfing walkers.

Elevated tees offer expansive views of the challenges ahead, swooping down into the underbelly of the fairways, climbing back up to the putting surfaces perched under the sky like infinity greens.

The exhilarating golf-scapes reel in the day tripper, many of whom make potentially once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimages to what Bethpage chiefs describe as a ‘Mecca for public golf’.

“How many times do you want to try to make the heroic shot? It’s like gambling,” added Wilson.

“You think you’re going to win all that money back and you think you’re going to hit that shot – and then you don’t and you don’t again.

Around 250,000 golfers play Bethpage Black each year, with rounds costing $75 (£55) for New York residents and $150 (£110) for non-state US citizens and international guests.

In comparison to other Ryder Cup host courses, that is considered a snip.

Normally, around three-quarters of tee-time bookings are reserved, with the rest available for walk-ups.

In the months leading up to a major tournament – Bethpage has also notably held the 2002 and 2009 US Opens and 2019 PGA Championship – there are no reservations.

Course chiefs prefer to only offer walk-ups in order to have more control over how many people – who travel from far and wide – can play in case of adverse weather.

Bethpage Black closed to the public in mid-August as the makeover for the Ryder Cup began and will reopen on 9 October.

Remarkably, just several hours after the winning putt is sunk by an American or European player, a handful of lucky amateurs will be able to recreate the scenes.

The PGA of America invites members from their key sponsors to play the course in two shotgun starts – the first starting at 7:15am on the Monday morning after one of the jewels in golf’s crown concludes.

But there is a stipulation to players wanting to try their luck – usually only single handicappers are allowed to tackle Bethpage Black.

“A lot of people want to play from the blue tees because they want the chance to play off the championship tees at a major venue,” said Wilson.

“Some people just want to beat themselves up and test themselves.

“I’ve watched people getting off the course sweating buckets and looking like they’re exhausted. Then they say, ‘I can’t wait to play it again next summer’.

Bethpage Black is one of five courses across the park, which is accessible by train from Manhattan and Brooklyn, although golf is not the sole purpose of the 1,500-acre site.

Around 250,000 non-golfers flock to the site each year to make use of a range of sporting activities, including tennis, football and polo.

Bridle paths, hiking, biking and cross-county skiing trails cater for other recreational pursuits, while the picnic areas offer a more leisurely option in the summer.

The vast space at Bethpage’s disposal, which will welcome 50,000 fans each day of the Ryder Cup, is one of the key reasons why it was picked as an historic host.

“We have the infrastructure to own the event, we’re close to New York City, we’re close to train stations and we’re close to a few highways, so the accessibility of getting in here is a big draw,” explained Wilson.

“The Black course itself is a big property, about 175 acres, so there is a lot of room on the course to build the infrastructure.

“It’s not like there are some fairways that are up and down, it is a long route which has a lot of expansive rough which, if they want to fill it, they’ll build it and have the space to do it.”

The park is funded by the New York state government, meaning it receives a portion of the Parks and Recreation department’s budget every year and the upkeep of the course comes out of that pot.

Corporate golf events, as well as the standard green fees, boost the coffers.

“The budgeting has always been pretty good for us because the revenue is always there – people will play golf in the winter time,” added Wilson.