Well, it finally happened this week...
Everybody knows it's a challenge, but the sign on the 1st tee really does drive the message home.
If that doesn't do it for you, though, maybe the course stats will: 7468 yards from the Blue tees, with a rating of 76.6 and a slope of 144 (for a par of 71).
The Black was just recently rated as the #7 course "you can play" by Golf Magazine, which makes this theoretically the best course I've ever played. And last year, Golf Digest ranked it as the 6th toughest course in America -- again, theoretically that makes it #1 on my list. So in the spirit of this blog, it wasn't all that likely that I would shoot even par. Here's how it went, hole-by hole...
1 The 1st tee is beautifully elevated and looks out onto a sturdy-looking dogleg right, measuring at 430 yards. It's probably the best example of the signature greenskeeping style at Bethpage -- fairways mowed such that the left half looks dark green and the right half looks light green. I was surprised that I didn't feel any jitters on the tee, and was even more surprised when I smoked one down the middle with just a little draw. Unfortunately, it went through the fairway and left me with about 155 yards out of the 2nd cut of rough.
A quick aside about the rough -- if you haven't played there, then you can't even imagine what it's like. There is about 3 feet of shorter, first cut rough on either side of the fairway, and it's very playable from there. But beyond that your ball disappears into the thickest, darkest, 4 inches of grass you've even seen. As you'll see, most of the time you can't do anything better than punch out back to the fairway. And if you get past about 15 yards of that -- well then you're in the fescue, and you have no chance.
Anyway, I actually had a decent lie, maybe even a flier, so I decided to go for the green. I hit a high, arcing 7-iron which was tracking right at the pin... and landed over the green almost up to the fence guarding the road. There my ball did disappear into the rough, but I was able to flop a 60 degree wedge onto the green, and I 2-putt from about 15 feet. Score: 5 (+1).
2 A more gentle dogleg left, measuring a benign 389 yards. I hit another good drive, right to the center of the fairway, leaving about 110 yards to an elevated green. I bladed a PW a bit and pushed it right -- ended up on the back right fringe (with the pin front and left). I was able to putt from there, but didn't get it very close, then left an 8-footer just short on the lip of the cup. Score: 5 (+2).
3 The 3rd is a visually intimidating par 3, which is essentially all carry to a well-bunkered green that falls off the back side to the woods. The tees were up, and so it wasn't playing at it's full 230 yards (thank God), and instead came in at about 180. I hit 5-iron, but much like the wedge on the previous hole, I bladed it and actually carried over the bunker on the right side of the green. It ended up on the edge of the woods, and I hit a blind SW that (I'm told) landed near the pin but then rolled off and into the rough on the front side of the green. From there I chipped to about 4 feet and... missed the putt. Yuk. Score: 5 (+4).
4 517 yards of all uphill par 5, wonderfully framed by bunkers down the left side, then across the fairway about 1/2 the way home, and again surrounding the green (a common theme). Really a beautiful hole from the tee. I hit my drive into the right rough, but again was surprised to find a decent lie. I managed to carry the cross-fairway traps with a muscle 5 iron that left me with about 70 yards to the green. A nice soft SW and 2 putts led to my first par of the day. Score: 5 (+4).
5 The first of the real monster par 4's, measuring 478 yards from the tips, and starting with about 250 yards of carry over an enormous series of bunkers. I hit what I though was a good drive, but just barely made it over, and I would have been better off to have stayed in -- my ball was nearly buried in a tangled mess of long grass. I still had about 200 yards and tried to hit my hybrid (2-H) but only managed to run it forward about 90 yards -- in truth, probably about the best outcome I really could have gotten.
And that's when it really started to fall apart.
I pulled a PW a bit, and figured based on the way it was hit that it had flew the green. But when I got to the top of the hill, it was no where to be found. There were a couple of guys from the greens crew off to the left, and they told me it was in the bunker on the long side of the green -- but it wasn't in there either. After a few minutes I did find it -- and just like my shot off the tee, it was right on the edge, but not quite in the bunker, and completely buried in what must have been 10 inch, incredibly thick rough. To make matters worse, I had to stand in the bunker, and the ball was at about waist height. I took one hack with my 60 degree wedge... and the ball only went in deeper. I took another hack... and could no longer see the ball at all. Took a drop, chipped on, and made the putt for a snowman. Score: 8 (+8).
6 After a hot dog from the particularly grumpy snack bar attendant, I hit a cautious drive on this downhill 408 yard par 4. With about 165 from the right side of the fairway, I felt pretty good about an easy 7 iron to the green -- but had a bit too much draw spin and didn't catch it completely clean. I somehow managed to avoid the array of bunkers and was able to pitch onto the green, but again had to settle for a 2 putt bogey. Score: 5 (+9).
7 The 7th is a par 5 for us amateurs (read: hackers), but we were told it plays as a par 4 for the pros (read: still hackers on this course, if memory serves). I can't really imagine they play from the real tips, though, because it's listed at 553 yards; but was playing at closer to 490 where the tees were for our round. Much like the 5th, there's a forced carry over a bunker off the tee, but you could play it safe(r) to the left side of the fairway. I popped my drive up a bit and ended up in the bunker and somewhat blocked out -- the hole doglegs to the right, and there are tall pines that stand in the way if you're still in the bunker. I managed to pick a 7 iron clean and cleared the trees, giving myself a shot at the green; but again I mishit my wedge, had to pitch out of the thick rough around the green, and 2-putt for bogey. Score: 6 (+10).
8 The only water hazard on the course is a small pond in front of the green on this 210 yard par 3... and I found it. I actually hit a decent 4 iron, but clipped a tree branch that overhangs the green on the right side, and my ball shot straight back and into the water. After dropping in the drop zone on the short side, I flopped a SW to about 15 feet and 2 putt for a double, again leaving the putt just short (another theme for the day). Score: 5 (+12).
9 The finishing hole on the front is unique for the course -- most of the fairways are pretty flat, but this one is severely sloped from right-to-left. The hole itself is a monster dogleg 460 yard par 4 -- you could cut the corner, but there's naturally a hefty-sized bunker right in the driving zone. I ended up a little short and right of the bunker, with the ball a little above my feet -- a position I actually liked because it allowed me to hit my favorite shot, a sharp low draw. My 4 iron found the back-right part of the green, and I thought I was about to make a really good par. But 3 putts later I was staring at another bogey, and an abysmal 49 on the front side. Score: 5 (+13).
13 over obviously wasn't going to cut it -- I didn't have much chance at even par at the Black, but I had hoped to play better than that. I had a bit of bad luck (see the 5th hole), but I also left a number of shots out there -- most notably some wedges out of the fairway, and 2-3 putts I should have made.
I'll go through the back nine with the next post.
No comments:
Post a Comment