Bethpage Black vs. GolfWRXers

[italianstallion]

Last week I posted a plea for three GolfWRXers to join me at Bethpage Black on August 1. I thought I would receive plenty of PM's offering me cash, equipment, and first born children for a spot in the foursome. I mean, how often do golfers get to play one of the hardest courses in the world under tournament conditions?

 

Truth be told, I twiddled my thumbs for days waiting for a PM to hit my inbox. It wasn't until the last minute that the foursome was completely full. Of course I (Vince) was playing. I'm from upstate New York, about 2 hours north of the city. But I needed people to play with.

 

The first member to contact me was Carlo (drpino), a highly regarded and well respected marshall in these here parts. He told me he was also from "upstate New York." Funny how anyone outside of New York City refers to themselves as an upstater, even if they only live an hour north of the City (as in Carlo's case). Next in was Chris (ProBowler), from the great state of Maryland. Chris just moved into the senior divison in life, recently turning 50. He also brought a fellow bowling friend along for the trip, James. James doesn't play golf as often as he likes. He plays either 5-7 times a year or 5-7 times a month....I can't remember exactly which it is but either way it's less than some of us play in a week. James is not a GolfWRX member so the Bethpage trip was more about recruiting him for the site than actually playing golf, but I digress....

 

So the foursome was set and everyone embarked on the journey to Bethpage...

 

When we arrived there were plenty of scattered showers in the area. Our group weatherman (Chris), with the help of his weather gadgets, assured us that we would be fine during the round. We hit some balls and got loose, albeit with every club but our drivers. The Bethpage driving range is not large enough to contain our massive 400 yard drives, so we stuck to irons and hybrids. This posed a peculiar problem for James, who was gaming a brand new driver given to him by Chris.

 

After a clinical exhibition of pure ballstriking on the range, we made our way to the first tee, ready to conquer the Black.

 

 

 

Our group finished in 5 hours exactly, teeing off at 11:30 and finishing at 4:30. There were many highlights from the day. Here's a quick rundown

• On the first hole Chris actually outdrives the youngest member of the group, Vince (23), by a yard. However Vince is in the fairway and Chris is not, therefore Vince is the technical winner of the long drive competition. Better luck next time Chris.
  

• James has a tough bout with his shortgame over the first few holes.
  

• Chris gets a great bounce off a large tree behind the second green, dropping his ball on the fringe. He nearly converts the birdie putt but settles for a barky par.
  

• James sticks a tee shot to 15 feet on the 3rd hole, but in his excitement to mark his ball he forgets to put on the brake on his push-cart. The cart slowly starts to roll down the 50 foot hill on the side of the green, gaining speed in a desparate attempt to escape James. James, not ready to part with his clubs, sprints after the runaway cart. Fortunately for James and unluckily for the clubs, the cart crashes into a giant oak tree 15 feet down the hill, tips over and falls to the ground. James' clubs are everywhere, but they escape unscathed.
  

• Chris hits a hybrid out of a fairway bunker on the left side of the fourth hole better than anybody has ever hit a hybrid...period.
  

• Vince is 1 over through five holes. Feeling the vibe he makes an agressively bad swing on 6, loses his ball in the hay and catches a train back to reality.
  

• Carlo hits his tee shot to 10 feet on the par 3 eighth hole. He pulls out his phone, looks at the radar, and this is what he sees:
  

 

But our real weatherman, Chris, politely shows us a different radar. Compared to what Carlo reported, it looks like this:

 

Always trust the professionals, it didn't rain at any point during our round.

 

• James finds a fairway bunker on the right side of the 10th hole. He hits a less than spectacular approach shot and leaves himself 100 yards to the pin. Unfazed, James knocks his third shot to 5 inches and waves to the crowd as if to say "thats how I meant to play this hole."
  

• Carlo hits another fairway on the 11th hole. However for the first time in the round nobody in the group makes a par.
  

• Vince hits a good drive on 12 and hits his approach to 15 feet. After the birdie putt tumbles into the center of the cup he looks to the sky almost as if to say, "Thanks, but I'm gonna need at least five more of those." Carlo hits another fairway
  

• The group is all but kicked off the back tees on 13. For fear of being kicked off the course, they hit from the tee markers the rest of the way in. Vince demostrates how to follow a birdie by blowing his tee shot into the woods, forcing him to retee. Carlo misses his first fairway in this millennium and also loses one right in the trees, but finds it and makes a great bogey. Chris makes a ho-hum par. James makes a putt and earns a "nice par" from Carlo. In actuality, James just made a birdie putt. James is a sneaky guy.
  

• James continues to own the back nine with a solid approach shot on 14. Carlo and Chris also find the putting surface. Vince, to be nice, doesn't even come close. But he narrowly misses a medium length par putt and happily settles for bogey.
  

• Three players find the fairway on 15. Surprisingly Carlo is not one of them. But he makes a great bogey from the first bunker on the hill. The rest of the group acknowledges James has a birdie attempt. He makes par.
  

• James, Carlo, and Vince all find the right greenside bunker on 16. Vince, convinced his ball is the one closest to the green, stands around waiting for someone to play their shot. After a full minute, he realizes he's the one furthest away facing a 20 yard bunker shot. He knocks it to 5 feet and makes a sandy par. Chris blows his birdie attempt 10 feet past the hole, but makes the comebacker for par.
  

• James and Chris find the putting surface on 17 to the delight of the galleries. Vince pulls an 8 iron convinced he has the right club. He comes up 30 yards short in a bunker. Catching too much ball on the first bunker shot, he finds himself in the bunker behind the green, this time with a fried egg. He leaves that bunker shot in the bunker, but knocks the next bunker shot on the green and makes a 6 footer for a double bogey 5.
  

 

 

 

• Chris finds the fairway on 18 but gets a tough break on an otherwise good approach. Carlo makes a great 4. Vince looks for his drive in the hay (again). James finishes with a 6. Vince's push cart picks a fight with James' push cart, and loses. The GolfWRX champions thank the crowd and head for the bar to take in the views.
  

 

 

 

And here's the damage

[scratchswinger]

Wow!!! Awesome write up. Always nice to meet new people. Some pretty solid rounds.

I have go play that track before I die.

[Pure745]

Awesome write up!! Sounds like great times out there among fellow WRX'ers. I played the Black once from the tips, played one of my better rounds and managed a 75.. felt like I shot my career best. One of my favorite courses ever, a truly pure golfing experience.

[drpino]

Thanks for the write-up, Vince. Great job with the recap. You have a similar uncanny ability to recall nearly every shot of the foursome after the fact like I do (a useful skill when betting and/or debunking "fishing stories" at the 19th hole!).

More importantly, thanks for the generosity with your efforts and tee time...I sure as hell was trying to snag one leading up to this week but had no luck at all.

Good times with great guys. I've played the Black dozens of times and this was the best scoring foursome I've been a part of. Pace of play in the group was FANTASTIC as well. I wouldn't hesitate an iota to tee it up with Vince, Chris and James again...whether at BP or anywhere else (Lehigh Valley Am, you say, James?!).

We all left a few out there but also got away with some...so just like many rounds of golf, things mostly evened out in the end. Hindsight shows we would've had a fairly competitive small money game but considering none of us had ever met (and I was likely going to be the short knocker of the group), I didn't want to get too "familiar" before sticking the first peg in the ground.

Course was in good shape having just hosted the NY State Open a couple weeks ago and in light of the upcoming Barclays. Greens weren't the fastest I've played them...we were guessing 10.5ish. Rough was definitely not near what it was when I played a couple weeks prior to the '09 US Open but as always it was sneaky thick...still a few balls that were only to be found once standing on top of them.

Vince hits a long ball with a solid swing and has got legit game. Chris ain't no slouch and definitely milks his newly found "senior" status...congrats on taking home the Sr Danbury Am at Richter Park, bud! James has one of the best games of someone who only gets to the course a single digit number of times in a season that I've ever seen...the natural.

BP Black is my favorite course that I've played and this round just served to reinforce that sentiment. Always helps when the group you're in has stand-up, easy-going, passionate and quality golfers in it (excluding myself, of course).

Had a blast, fellas...looking forward to playing with you all again soon!

[glenbrookchamp10]

Guys. Saw your lehigh valley am mention. I play in it and live 25 min from Green Pond If you're up for playing a practice round one day let me know. I'm playing in the eastern pa amatuer fri and sat of this week at whitetail and southmoore if you know where those are.

[ProBowler]

Ahhh these young whippersnappers ........ First of all thanks for getting the tee time Vince.
Secondly I did out drive you on a few holes BUT when you hit it straight it was 30 yards past me ( and yes it was 300+ yards )
I had a awesome time with you guys and yes the rain held off ....... It was raining right up until we teed off and the started right when we hit the last putt !!!!
James will be joining golfWRX today ....... Just wondering what his screen name will be ???
James was scratch until he got married and had two cute kids .... No time for golf now.
I was a foot from having a close birdie putt on 18 to break 80 but catching the lip and back into the DEEP bunker in front of the 18th green. I then promptly caught the ball clean and hit it into the bleachers behind the green and ended up with my only double bogey of the day !!!
But how can you two young single guys not mention the SIGHTS after the round while we ate ????????
Strong Island has some smoking hotties that show up on Wednesday nights at Bethpage for the band that plays there every week !!!
And the bartenders ...... WOW !!!!!

[italianstallion]

[quote name='drpino' timestamp='1343909823' post='5395258']
Thanks for the write-up, Vince. Great job with the recap. You have a similar uncanny ability to recall nearly every shot of the foursome after the fact like I do (a useful skill when betting and/or debunking "fishing stories" at the 19th hole!).

More importantly, thanks for the generosity with your efforts and tee time...I sure as hell was trying to snag one leading up to this week but had no luck at all.

Good times with great guys. I've played the Black dozens of times and this was the best scoring foursome I've been a part of. Pace of play in the group was FANTASTIC as well. I wouldn't hesitate an iota to tee it up with Vince, Chris and James again...whether at BP or anywhere else (Lehigh Valley Am, you say, James?!).

We all left a few out there but also got away with some...so just like many rounds of golf, things mostly evened out in the end. Hindsight shows we would've had a fairly competitive small money game but considering none of us had ever met (and I was likely going to be the short knocker of the group), I didn't want to get too "familiar" before sticking the first peg in the ground.

Course was in good shape having just hosted the NY State Open a couple weeks ago and in light of the upcoming Barclays. Greens weren't the fastest I've played them...we were guessing 10.5ish. Rough was definitely not near what it was when I played a couple weeks prior to the '09 US Open but as always it was sneaky thick...still a few balls that were only to be found once standing on top of them.

Vince hits a long ball with a solid swing and has got legit game. Chris ain't no slouch and definitely milks his newly found "senior" status...congrats on taking home the Sr Danbury Am at Richter Park, bud! James has one of the best games of someone who only gets to the course a single digit number of times in a season that I've ever seen...the natural.

BP Black is my favorite course that I've played and this round just served to reinforce that sentiment. Always helps when the group you're in has stand-up, easy-going, passionate and quality golfers in it (excluding myself, of course).

Had a blast, fellas...looking forward to playing with you all again soon!
[/quote]

No problem, thank you for playing, for keeping score, and for the pictures. And don't be too modest: you may not hit the ball 400 yards but you can definitely play and hold your own. You definitely represented for the mods out there. And yes James is definitely "the natural." Considering it was his first round on the Black I've gotta say that was the most impressive round of the day.

[quote name='ProBowler' timestamp='1343911622' post='5395402']
Ahhh these young whippersnappers ........ First of all thanks for getting the tee time Vince.
Secondly I did out drive you on a few holes BUT when you hit it straight it was 30 yards past me ( and yes it was 300+ yards )
I had a awesome time with you guys and yes the rain held off ....... It was raining right up until we teed off and the started right when we hit the last putt !!!!
James will be joining golfWRX today ....... Just wondering what his screen name will be ???
James was scratch until he got married and had two cute kids .... No time for golf now.
I was a foot from having a close birdie putt on 18 to break 80 but catching the lip and back into the DEEP bunker in front of the 18th green. I then promptly caught the ball clean and hit it into the bleachers behind the green and ended up with my only double bogey of the day !!!
But how can you two young single guys not mention the SIGHTS after the round while we ate ????????
Strong Island has some smoking hotties that show up on Wednesday nights at Bethpage for the band that plays there every week !!!
And the bartenders ...... WOW !!!!!
[/quote]

In the recap of the 18th hole I mention the views, but I sure wasn't referring to the golf course . And you played a good round, just got bit on the last hole.

[SheriffBooth]

Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

I'm surprised they made you move up from the back tees even though everyone was playing better than bogey golf. What was the logic there?

[Titleist 4 me]

It sounded like to me, they might have been playing a tee box that was closed. it might have been closed in prep for The Barclays. I could be wrong, but that's the jist I got.

Either way, good rounds by everybody.

[KuTeAzn1]

Wished I would check WRX more often... I would of jumped on this in a heart beat and used a sick day.... and even pay for the round for the finder... always a day late and a dollar short....

Glad to see you guys had a blast

[italianstallion]

[quote name='SheriffBooth' timestamp='1343916235' post='5395730']
Thanks for sharing your experience guys.

I'm surprised they made you move up from the back tees even though everyone was playing better than bogey golf. What was the logic there?
[/quote]

Like Titleist 4 me said, the back tees were technically closed in preparation for the Barclays. We knew that but we decided to play back tees on select holes when maintenace crews weren't in sight. We pushed our luck far enough, we didn't want to get kicked off the course entirely.

[kekoa]

Awesome write up. I played with Probowler once and he's got to be one of the nicest guys around.

If i ever make it to New York, i'll tee it up at the black for sure.

[Golfer1659]

Thats strange I played the tips the other day and saw plenty of maintenance people and no one said a word.

[italianstallion]

The signs in the clubhouse mentioned that after July 25th the back tees would be closed. Not sure when you played.

[ProBowler]

The funny part was that I asked the starter if the back tees were open and he said no but if you want to play from the plates it would be ok except for the par 3s ........ No one said anything until the caddy behind us said that someone got kicked off a couple of days ago for playing the back tees so we didn't want to take the chance !!!

[ProBowler]

[quote name='kekoa' timestamp='1343921567' post='5396262']
Awesome write up. I played with Probowler once and he's got to be one of the nicest guys around.

If i ever make it to New York, i'll tee it up at the black for sure.
[/quote]
Kekoa,

That must be some other guy you met !!!

Still loving my R11s !!!

Let me know when you head this way !!!

[GolfChicago91]

Awesome write up! I was there back in May to play. Unfortunately for me, unlike you, it did rain and they closed the black course I had to settle and play the blue Shot my best round ever though

[tembolo1284]

Very entertaining post!

[pga43]

Nice write-up on the round and great job on the photos.

I'll be there for the Barclay's and plan on getting some hole by hole photos of the golf course.

Thanks.


Greg

[Sean2]

Solid golf right there.

[tembolo1284]

[attachment=1287480:IMG01087-20110921-1258.jpg]

[glenbrookchamp10]

Ok to bump this to the top I am now talking to James in the driving range I work at. What an unbelievable coincidence. Persuading him to join the site.

[fore]

Nice read.

I'm only a couple hours "upstate". I'll get to BP eventually.

[Noyes26]

guys that is awesome! im in South Jersey and am able to meet up for rounds pretty much every day except Sundays and Mondays. Im always looking for cool trips like that to play some great courses! Add me to the list if you ever need some one to play these kind of "events". And great writeup!

[golfheaven69]

Tell me more about the bartenders.

[JLo_73]

Awesome report. Played BPB in 2009 including the sleep over experience in the parking lot and all including getting linked up with 3 guys from Canada. Great course and experience that i hope to do again soon. Still $100 for out of towners?

[Swingthoughts]

I begin my golfwrx forums experience with this post. I am James, one of the four who played in the group from story starting this thread. I first have to thank Vince for getting the foursome arranged and Chris (probowler) for inviting me. It was a sensational day of golf and the fact it really was with strangers from the internet it is more amazing. Meeting strangers on the internet can result in meeting a "girl" with an adams apple the size of a Taylor Made Penta (so I hear) so connecting with high quality guys like this was certainly a pleasant surprise. Carlo is a solid player and real interesting guy who has a wealth of golf knowledge I hope to tap into in the future.

This day reminded me of the kind of people and kind of sportsmen the great sport of golf can produce. I also soon learned the power and reach of this website/forum when I popped into my local driving range the following day and got talking to a good local golfer that I had not seen in a while. When he asked what is new I obviously had to mention having played BPB the day before. After a minute or two of my describing the day he put 2 and 2 together and realized I was playing in the group from the above story he had been reading earlier that day. Amazing coincidence if you ask me.

It was a wonderful day, even with some sloppy shots. The course was amazing and it was a treat to play a renowned course that the PGA's best have played and will be playing again next week. the physical toll it takes on an out of shape person like me is pretty profound! I think the story about my push card rolling down a hill underestimates how disasterous that COULD have been. If that cart had not hit that tree I am almost certain it would have lost it or ended up with broken clubs given how much further it would have rolled down a ravine. I started the day fighting my swing with issues with rhythm and the transition from back to downswing. I was able to trick it around the course some and finish the day with some dignity. I look forward to communicating here with great golfing minds as I get back into this great sport on a more serious level!

[gopherguts]

[quote name='J LO ' timestamp='1344088955' post='5405926']
Awesome report. Played BPB in 2009 including the sleep over experience in the parking lot and all including getting linked up with 3 guys from Canada. Great course and experience that i hope to do again soon. Still $100 for out of towners?
[/quote]

$130.

[Orlimar1]

Wow, those are some amazing scores!!

Congrats to all of you. Color me impressed. I consider myself a mid-teen capper. I'm not sure if I could keep it in double figures there.

[drpino]

[quote name='gopherguts' timestamp='1344100455' post='5406424']
[quote name='J LO ' timestamp='1344088955' post='5405926']
Awesome report. Played BPB in 2009 including the sleep over experience in the parking lot and all including getting linked up with 3 guys from Canada. Great course and experience that i hope to do again soon. Still $100 for out of towners?
[/quote]

$130.
[/quote]

Pretty sure it's $140 (m-f) and $160 (wknd) for non-NYers now. Double the NYer rate. Still one of the best values in greens fees IMO.