It makes you want to pack your bags, get on a Greyhound, and ship off to the Big Apple – Midnight Cowboy style.
Those who live in New York State are a lucky lot. But forget the Statue of Liberty. I don’t give a fig about the Empire State Building.
My idea of living the American dream is carrying little more than a bag of clubs and pocketful of balls and tees and setting up a tent in the vicinity of Bethpage State Park.
Do people there understand just how fortunate they are? Playing golf in this Long Island paradise – and particularly the famously tough Black course – might just represent the best value on the planet.
Bethpage Black: The best value course in the world?
What’s the big deal at Bethpage?
There are five courses there, for a start – the Green, Blue, Yellow and Red as well as the Black. And they are phenomenally priced.
We keep talking about rising green fees and the increasing cost of membership and we’ve all seen stories in the States about huge initiation fees and bonkers prices.
But Bethpage? It’s a money saver’s delight and especially if you’re a New York State Resident. Weekday green fees on the Green, Blue, and Yellow courses are $38 (£28). It’s not exactly stretching the finances on a weekend either, rising just $5 to $43.
If you bag a twilight time, get ready to really celebrate. Nine-hole and twilight prices are just $23 and $26 respectively. The after-round beers will probably cost more!
That’s basically spare change found down the back of the couch to play an AW Tillinghast course! He designed the Blue as well as the Red and the Black.
If you’re a senior citizen or a junior, it’s getting into bargain basement territory. It’s $25 during the week and $15 in the twilight hours.
That Red Course at Bethpage is slightly more expensive. But only slightly. Like $43 during the week and $48 at the weekend. That’s right, as an adult you can play four courses during the week for $157 (£116) and $177 at weekends (£131). That’s about £32 a pop.
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What about Bethpage Black?
But this is all window dressing, of course. The reason people go to Bethpage State Park, the reason they’re prepared to queue in the car park well before the dawn rises, or why they wait fingers nervously poised on the state park’s website, is for a crack at the infamous Black Course.
Tillinghast’s classic has become legendary for its difficulty (if you don’t get a picture in front of the sign warning that it’s for “skilled golfers” only can you even call yourself one?) and for the competitions it has staged.
It’s had two US Opens (in 2002 and 2009) as well as the 2019 PGA Championship and now it’s got the biggest of them all: The Ryder Cup.
It’s also beloved by people who know golf courses. It’s ranked 38th in Golf Digest’s list of America’s 100 Great Golf Courses and 58th in Top 100s Golf Course’s countdown of the World’s best courses.
That’s some recommendation. So you can expect to dig deep to follow in the footsteps of Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald’s USA and European troops, right?
Ha, think again. Sit down when I reveal this, because the prices for a round at Bethpage Black are going to be something of a shock and may be followed by an eruption of joy.
A weekday round at Bethpage Black for New York State residents is… $70. You’ve read that right. 70 bucks, or just over 50 notes in English money, to tee it up on one of the best golf courses on the globe. It’s unbelievable.
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It’s barely a tip on a round of drinks more on a weekend too, with 18 holes costing $80 on Saturdays and Sundays.
And if you’re not fussy about what time you tee off, you can get a bit giddy about the green frees. A twilight round on the Black is $44 on weekdays and $50 on a weekend. If you’re a senior citizen or a junior, it’s $47 during the week and $30 in twilight.
So they’ll be stiffing everyone that doesn’t have a New York zip code, won’t they? NO! It is more expensive if you’re not from round those parts.
But at $140 (£104) for a weekday round, $160 on a weekend (£118), and $88 and $100 at twilight, it still stacks up incredibly well against its peers considering the championship challenge.
How does that compare with other public access courses?
Let’s ditch the ‘municipal’ tag for a start and compare Bethpage Black against other courses that allow public access but aren’t member led.
So in that sense, you can consider the Old Course at St Andrews, or Pebble Beach, to be in the same vein as Bethpage – you pay your money, rock up and play the course.
It’ll cost $675 to play at Pebble Beach and often requires tacking a stay at the resort at the same time. Yes, it’s iconic and the clifftop holes are spectacular. But it’s also more than ten times the price of the cheapest tee slots at Bethpage.
It’s hard to say that’s ‘value’. You are very much paying for the privilege.
The Old Course is the most famous in the world. Many would consider it a priceless experience – to play in the shadow of the game’s greats. But there is a price put on it and it’s £340 during high season.
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That is cheaper than many of its contemporaries (£448 at Kingsbarns, anyone?) but still a lot more than many people might want to pay for a round of golf.
Then we’ve got TPC Sawgrass. I’m sure plenty of you would get on a plane right now just to hit a few at the 17th. But it’s going to cost you. Green fee rates start at $550 between June and August – when Florida is hotter than the sun when it’s not being battered by hurricanes – and rise to at least $750 between September and May.
But unless you’re planning to spend hundreds of dollars on beer and hotdogs in Bethpage’s clubhouse – and that’s going to buy you a lot – it’s still got a way to go in the ‘value’ stakes.
Top 100 Golf Course’s best value golf course in the world list has the Dunes at Barnbougle Links at the summit and there is a solid case for it.
The Australian rate is $164 each in low season to play the Dunes and Lost Farm (about £80) and it’s $250 if you happen to fly in from overseas for the privilege. If you double up it’s $250 for the Aussies and $371 for the international crowd.
Until it’s held some major championships and one of the greatest team events in sport, I think it’s still got some catching up to do. It would be a similar story at Pacific Dunes, though if you’re looking for the spectacular it also comes highly recommended.
So what’s the verdict?
With change coming from $200 for even the most expensive times for out-of-state players, and fees as low as $44 during the week, Bethpage Black has to be the best bang-for-buck municipal course in the world.
Its rates aren’t just modest, they’re practically giving tee times away compared with some of their rivals. If you don’t mind homely, aren’t expecting Michelin cuisine, and just want to play a great course at a better price you’ll be hard pushed to find anywhere better than Bethpage Black.
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Now have your say
Have you played Bethpage Black? What do you think of it? Does it represent great value, or are their better places you would spend your money. Let us know by leaving a comment on X.
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