I've played all five courses at Bethpage numerous times. The Red course is by far my favorite. The Black is way too hard and the Yellow too bland. The Blue is interesting and the Green is just okay. The courses are maintained well and the clubhouse offers great food. If I lived closer, I'd go every time I wanted to play golf. It's a great value for New York residents and even if you're from out of state, it's still worth it.

Once you try Black , you always go back.
You dont have to be in a hedge fund to play this course and the pros play the OPEN here for the 2nd time this year.
1st hole doglegs left to right, I screwed up my drive last time I was there and landed on the next course fairway to the right, didn't see any OB stakes, got onto the small green in 2.
All greens are well bunkered, pretty flat, but very fast.
2nd Hole is right to left, uphill 2nd shot to the green
Par 3 3rd slopes towards the woods in the back of the green
Beautiful par 5 4th. Look like waves of bunkers offshore coming towards you.
Long par 4 5th hole, uphill green
Straight shot to hill crest on 6th Hole then downhill.
7th Hole par 5 dogleg left to right, in the OPEN they make it a par 4.
8th Hole par 3 only water on the course.
9th Hole dogleg right to left.
LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG par 4 10th, keep to the right they are letting the grass grow long.
Same thing on the 11th keep to the right stay out of the grass.
Grip it and rip it over that big bunker that will gladly welcome a weak drive on the 12th.
Lots of hills and valleys on the 13th.
Par 3 14th that will swallow your ball if you land in Death valley.
LOOOOOOOONNNNNNNGGGGGG Par 4 15th with an uphill green.
16th Hole a little right to left, sometimes the left hand rough will make you humble.
17th Hole par 3 is a poke, can barely see the surface, know your yardage.
18th Hole is down then up and there are alot of bunkers.
Arrive an hour before your tee time, once before I arrived 45 minutes before my tee time cause of a back up on the LIE, lost my tee time and was charged for not showing up.
You can ONLY walk this course NO CARTS!

Customer Service

Have gotten a little pricey since the OPENS been there, so stuff your bag with what you need.

Simply put, if you don't drive the ball 275 off the tee, you will not score on this course. Par 3's and 5's are fair. But two-thirds of the par 4's are unreachable by all but the longest hitters. Adding to the weariness is the 5 hour 45 minute round pace of play (weekdays!) because the course is completely unmarshalled. We're required to sign in 1 hour before tee time, but didn't get off till 40 minutes AFTER tee time. I cannot recommend 7-1/2 hours for one round of golf on an unmemorable course.

Customer Service

What service? There is no excuse for course managers not monitoring speed of play, nor for starters not getting people off on time. Management is cashing in on the USGA publicity about the place, and clearly could care less about golfer's experience while on the premises.

Chinks, Chinks and more Chinks

Customer Service

what customer service? The grumpy starters?

They want you there an hour before your tee time with a reservation. When you get there, they are 30 minutes delayed. So you have to wait 1 1/2 hours to tee off.
In the clubhouse where you pay you have a bunch of Asians trying to cut you off on line. When you say something, they sarri, sarri, like they didn't know.
After your hour and half wait you get to the tee box and all you see is chinks. And if you have ever played with them or behind them. You know its gonna be along day. And a whole day of hearing "nice shot".
They dress to impress and have the latest equipment, but I have never seen one that doesn't suck. There must be a link between driving a car and playing golf. The chinks suck at both.
Bottom line if your not a chink don't play Bethpage or NY golf

Customer Service

The Blue Course offer s a good challenge for both beginners and seasoned players. Stating out you would thing the course would play very flay. However once into it, it becomes hilly with some sharp doglegs. The play can be slow depending on the time of day you go out and the level of player in front of you. An early start for 9 holes shouldn't last longer than 2.25 hours and 18 holes should play about 4.5 hours. The grounds are well maintained and the greens are good.

Customer Service

Cashiers are a bit cranky. Maybe because they have to wake up too early. Fridge near green was being cut and rolled during play. It was a bit distracting and I had to wait until they finished.

Similar Products Used:

Spring Lake, Great Rock, Eisenhower Red, Bethpage Black, Yellow and Green.

Often overlooked by those praising the Black, this is a great course at a tremendous value. Highly recommended. However, they need to move the speed of play faster, with adequate staffing. It shouldn't take six hours to play this course.

Customer Service

Speed up play.

The courses

Out of place restaurant.

I played each of the 5 courses and was impressed with all of them. Whatever the USGA taught the staff here has produced some of the finest and reasonably priced golf courses in the country. Back in the 60's when I was a kid you hit off a rubber mat or a patchy tee box, sand traps were never raked even if you could find a rake and overall it was still fun. I still contend that the Black is too difficult for the average golfer but does give you a perspective as to how good the pros are. Aside from the Green course which had been aerated when I was there, the fairways and greens were great on the other 4 courses. My only grip is they did away with the cafeteria which used to serve up some of the best sandwiches on the Island and put in a fancy snooty restaurant.

Customer Service

ok

What can i say about the red course... its great! The greens are not too fast but extremely puttable and they are the same speed as the practice greens(unlike many courses). Some holes play extremely long, especially the first hole... Its an uphill 440 yard par 4 with fescue about 15 yards off the fairway on the left and right. Tough hole, 9, 13 and 18 equally tough. Par 5s are extremely manageable, they are the scoring holes. The scorecard yardages are off for the par 3s so use the posted yardage on each tee and walk it off. The rough is deep and the fescue makes for some interesting shots, so not only is it important to be a long hitter but also able to keep the ball in the fairway. The front 9 ate me up (46) but the back was manageable (40) and saved my score. Whether you play the black, red, green or blue, you cant go wrong, and yellow is just kind of blah. Have fun.

bunkers and great strategic layout

greens were being airated so i couldn't get a feel for the speed of them.

the red course was in great conditions even in november when i went. expect bunkers to come into play on almost every hole, as they are placed perfectly to come into play. thought the course was great and i would recommend it to any golfer in new york. challenging and fair.