Golf enthusiasts are surely familiar with the warning sign hanging behind Bethpage Black’s first tee box: “The Black Course is an extremely difficult course that we only recommend to highly skilled golfers.” What it doesn’t say, however, is that even highly skilled golfers have a tough time in the public Long Island layout.
We’ve certainly seen him in the years the best golfers in the world played there, at the US Open in 2002 and 2009, at the 2019 PGA Championship or at the FedEx Cup Playoff events in 2012 and 2016. In just one of those tournaments he has made the winner ends in double figures below par, the 2012 Barclays when Nick Watney barely came in at 10 under. It’s a tough course that came in at number 7 the last time Golf Digest listed America’s toughest courses.
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a lower tier of professionals clash with the AW Tillinghast project every time they host the New York State Open. However, some of this year’s scores have been incredibly high.
The tournament always boasts a strong pitch, largely due to the Met section of the PGA which is one of the strongest in the country. But this time, the 36-hole cut came in at 14 on par. Yes, FOURTEEN beyond. And there were a total of 75 scores in the 1980s during the 54-hole event.
Again, these are really good players. Rob Labritz, three-time winner and two-time author of the cut at the PGA championship, advanced to the final round at seven. And he still managed to finish the T-19 despite a 78th round of the second round. Here you can see the whole ranking, not really pretty.
All of which makes James Nicholas’ winning score of six under seem much more impressive. The 23-year-old Yale product and Korn Ferry Tour rookie fired off a final 68 round winning with two hits over Jason Caron and Josh Goldenberg.
Former PGA Tour pro Andrew Svoboda, two-time New York State Open champion and three-time Korn Ferry Tour winner, was the leader of the 36 holes. But a Thursday 75 took him to T-4.
The moral of the story? It’s probably best to stay away from Bethpage Black if you’re not a highly skilled golfer. And even if you are, don’t beat yourself up for scoring bad there.
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