Humbled by The Black

[Jeff Spittel]

I got to play it a few weeks after the Open in 2002. From what I recall, there were only two sets of tees back then, tips and non-tips. We played the "up" tees in benign weather as the first group out in the morning. As a 9 handicap hitting the ball about as well as I could, I was thrilled with 98.

Since it was only a few weeks removed from Open conditioning, I'm sure it's probably not normally that tough. With the rough up, it is by far the hardest course I've ever played.

[Joe Hancock]

EDIT...it was just wrong.....

[Kyle Harris]

Hold on here Phil,

I've heard mentioned, COUNTLESS times, how the Bethpage authorities attempt to make the "Open" experience available to all who play there.

Yet, they never put the back tees or set the course like they do for the Open...

And Phil, they didn't stimp that high. Ever. Unless Currier has shaky wrists.

[Steve Kupfer]

The back tees are ALWAYS in the ground. They are the plaques. Perhaps they have been out recently being replaced for the new tournament year and yardages, but from the 02 Open through this past October, the plaques have been in the ground every time I've been out there. 

[Matt_Ward]

Kyle:

Let's get real -- the last thing regular players should even remotely consider is playing the tip tees. Frankly, the pace of play at BB would be better served if such back tees were chicken-wired to prevent such a thing.

BB is just too demanding and too intense from a tee game perspective -- frankly, nothing more than 6,500 yards is more than enough to handle 98% of those playing there.

Anyone deciding to tempt fate and decide otherwise is truly not playing with a full deck.

[Phil_the_Author]

Kyle,

You are wrong... I was there in the media center and there for when the USGA stated that they were 15+... Also, why else would Mike Davis state that they would want to keep the greeens this time around between 13.5 and 14.5 if they hadn't exceeded it the last time?

As far as the abck tees... they have to get the players finished now don't they. Other than that their reason for keeping the fairways narrow was for that specofoc purpose...

[Kyle Harris]

Kyle:

Let's get real -- the last thing regular players should even remotely consider is playing the tip tees. Frankly, the pace of play at BB would be better served if such back tees were chicken-wired to prevent such a thing.

BB is just too demanding and too intense from a tee game perspective -- frankly, nothing more than 6,500 yards is more than enough to handle 98% of those playing there.

Anyone deciding to tempt fate and decide otherwise is truly not playing with a full deck.

Matt,

I'll remove my tongue from my cheek. I was being acerbic to the notion that one of the reasons the fairway corridors have remained so narrow is to give the general public the "true" Open experience, yet they rarely actually do get that.

I certainly wouldn't set up the course at Open standards except for... the US Open - and that includes fairway widths.

Phil,

The problem with Stimpmeter readings is that they can definitely be influenced by the person taking the readings. Especially if that person knows the golf course. It's not a question of lying, but a question of using any of the million or so confounding factors to influence the number. I'll certainly buy into the idea that they were fast, challenging and all that the best players in the world could handle - but the number, given all the variables, is meaningless.