I had the pleasure of playing the Bethpage Black this past Sunday, as part of a truly US Open weekend. A friend and I watched the open at WF on Sat., and played BB on Sunday afternoon. The pace of play was abominable (5.5 hrs), as we played the last 3 holes in near-darkness, but what a golf course.
This 1-2 handicapper shot 80 on this par 71 from 7366 on the card (playing about 7200...76.6/144). I think i could shave a couple on second playing, as there were a few tricky holes requiring some local knowledge. I had birdies on 2, 7 (tees up to 490 par 5, down from 553), and 13, with double bogeys on 5 (leaked into the fescue), 6 (same) and 15 (wow).
The course is quite a test, with 7 par 4s in the 430-480 range (and 3 more from 410-430) and 3 of 4 par threes over 200. The conditions are very good, as it seemed an open could be held with a couple days' growing of the rough and a cutting and rolling of the greens. I drove the ball quite well for me, in the 260-290 range all day, hitting many of the fairways, but even drives of this length leave very, very difficult approaches to the tightly bunkered greens. There were several holes where I thought I hit a great drive, only to be left with my 5th or 6th 3- or 4-iron approach of the day. Numbers 5, 10, and 15 were the most tough, as 280-yd drives left 200+ remaining to elevated greens fronted by deep bunkers. 15 was especially difficult, as the green is probably 50 feet above the fairway on top of two 20 ft. deep bunkers, and the hole measures 478 from the back tee.
What struck me the most about the course was the "bigness" of everything. The wide open spaces, the huge waste bunkers, and the large, flat greens. The tree lines are pushed way back from the lines of play, leaving ample room to test your iron play. The greens were flat, true, but with the undulations of a course like WFW, the Black would be close to unplayable. The design definately gives a break on the greens in this way, although you have to convince yourself to play less break, sometimes more difficult than playing alot of break. It seemed to me that the restoration preceding the open is still very evident, as the changes still haven't completely matured into timelessness.
With the several newer courses I've seen that imitate the style (wide open, windswept, waste bunkers w/islands and fescue) and some that I've read about and seen pictures of, the Rees-stored bunkering does give the course a much newer look than I was expecting. Honestly, not having seen the Black before the restoration, if someone told me the course was 5 years old, I wouldn't have had a hard time believing it.
Regardless, it is one of the most demanding courses I've ever played. It is playable, but has a few shots that a good number of tour pros would have a tough time pulling off. If measured aggression is undertaken, a low handicap player could get around in the mid-70s, but add US Open conditions, and good luck....