Bethpage Black

That championship pedigree is real: the Black has hosted the U.S. Open twice, a PGA Championship, and more recently the Ryder Cup, putting it in company with courses that never open their gates to the public at all. Yet it sits within Bethpage State Park on Long Island, alongside four other courses, in a corner of Farmingdale that blends Nassau County suburbia with rolling, tree-lined terrain shaped by glacial moraine — the same sandy, contoured ground that gives so much of Long Island golf its character.

What you're signing up for is a muscular, old-school test — punishing rough, doglegs that demand real shot-shaping, and greens that reward patience over aggression. The lore of golfers camping out overnight for a coveted tee time is part of the experience itself, a testament to how badly people want to measure themselves against a layout built for the pros but open, remarkably, to anyone willing to earn their spot.