Rolling up to the counter, I had to remind myself this was one of America’s best courses and not a council office. I’ve collected unemployment cheques in rooms that looked like this, but the teller behind the barrier was the gateway to an experience I still remember incredibly fondly half a dozen years later.
If TPC Sawgrass was all Mediterranean deco, and if Wentworth’s mock castle paved the way to solid marble, then the interior of Bethpage’s clubhouse was blue collar America in a nutshell – club sandwiches, hot dogs, and beers being devoured everywhere.
I loved it.
When New Yorkers say municipal, that’s exactly what they mean. The home of Bethpage State Park’s five courses was without pretence or pomposity.
I wasn’t sure whether I was going to take half the floor with me as I gingerly walked round the pro shop, and I remember feeling the clubhouse was quite dark save for the massive windows that tantalisingly looked out upon the AW Tillinghast design. It may have just been the time of day.
But it was brilliant and Bethpage provides some of the better value you’ll see in a game where you can just chuck cash away on a green fee.
The cheapest tee time you’ll get at Sawgrass is $550. Pebble Beach also pretends to be pay and play, yet it’s $675 before you start thinking about cart fees.
Live in the New York State area, though, and the maximum you’ll pay to get on the Black is . It’s $44 for a twilight slot. That’s just a shade over £33 to play the course where Tiger Woods won a US Open.
