US Open goes back to Black

By Matt Cooper Last updated: 15th June 2009

Bethpage Black really got the players talking when it last played host in 2002. Matt Cooper looks back.

There is almost as much talk as golf at a US Open as the media ask lots of questions and the players provide plenty of answers, usually prompted by the conditions into being more vocal than usual.

When Bethpage State Park's Black Course was introduced to major championship golf seven years ago there were four big stories: 1. It was a public golf course that locals can play for $50; 2. The rowdy nature of the New York sports fans; 3. It was the first US Open post 9/11; and 4. It was tough - very, very tough.

Eventual winner Tiger Woods addressed the first three factors: "To play on a public facility such as this was special. And on top of that, the fans, the enthusiasm they showed the entire week was second to none."

"The U.S. Open is always a special event, but I think after what has transpired in September here for all the fans, I think that just made the atmosphere even more special."

Those fans were criticized by some for their wild nature but Tiger was able to laugh about it.

"They aren't quiet, I'll tell you that," he said. "If I don't have a hearing problem now, I might have one by the end of the week. You come off these tee boxes and they scream right in your ear. And eventually you just don't hear it anymore, because it's so loud."

"We had someone throw a golf ball at us on the 16th fairway, which I don't think was very nice," said a forgiving Billy Mayfair. "But I think the crowds out here have been wonderful."

But aside from the fringe issues it was the ferocious conditions that most concerned the players in 2002.

Tiger was less experienced than he is today but he said: "It's the longest and the narrowest U.S. Open I've ever played. The widest fairway is 28 yards. And on top of that you have three holes about 490 plus as par-4s."

If Tiger was concerned by a 490 yard par four in 2002, what will he make of the seventh in 2009, now extended to 525 yards and the longest par-4 in Open history?

But if the course was long, Tiger didn't think it was unjustly so.

"It's very fair and there are really no tricks to it. The only difficult thing is trying to read the greens. The putts are so hard to read ... and no matter what your golfing experience is, it takes a couple of practice rounds to really learn it."

Ernie Els commented on the subtle differences between Bethpage Black and other US Open venues. "The length of the rough is really very similar to any other year," he said. "It's just that it's so gnarly. It's thick."

All of this left Davis Love III in no doubt. "Obviously, I didn't play when Hale won at Winged Foot," he said. "But it's the hardest U.S. Open setup I've ever seen or hope I ever see. This course is so hard. There are no holes that you can say: I'm going to change my plan and get aggressive. Today you couldn't get to some of the fairways for half the field."

The difficulty of reaching the fairways was one feature that led to a slightly bizarre and very testy exchange between the press and USGA official Tom Meeks during the event.

Told that a few players had struggled to reach the fairway on holes 10 and 12, Meeks said, "I was under the impression that everybody playing in the US Open hits tee shots further than 250 yards."

But they still couldn't hit those fairways, he was told.

"I can assure you this," Meeks insisted. "Every player in this field can hit it 250. Now if the wind gets in your face and you're a 270-hitter ..."

Does that mean the philosophy is you need to be a long-hitter in the US Open, he was asked.

"Let me say this," Meeks said again. "Of the statistics I've heard, 250 yards is not a big hitter."

And on it went ...

One of Bethpage's strength is the closing stretch of four holes which were discussed in length ahead of the final day by Tiger and Phil Mickelson.

"Well, on three of the last four holes you have to drive the ball in play in order to make par or better," said Woods.

But Mickelson had a slightly different take.

"Those four holes also provide birdie chances," he said. "They are the epitome of what we're talking about. If you spray a drive far off line, you can get in that deep heather and make double.

"But if you hit a good drive, you've got a short iron into 16 and 18, and you might be able to make birdies there. 17 you're going to have to make a putt, and 15 you'll have to make a decent putt.

"There's a chance where you can make up a lot of ground there with birdies. The leaders may lose ground as you make up ground."

Perhaps the final words on Bethpage should go to Sergio Garcia and Ernie Els.

The Spaniard said, "The golf course was if not the best, one of the best golf courses I've ever seen and ever played at."

And the South African provided a perfect definition for the US Open challenge: "It's a torture chamber sometimes. Every year, every aspect of your game gets the test it deserves: your mental strength, you've just got to hang in there; your scrambling ability, long iron play, driving ability, fairway, wood play, everything gets tested this week."

"And definitely," he concluded, "your nerves."

Matt Cooper