Bethpage Black 2006
by Dominique Bois & Robert Miller

Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 1672 Release Date CRZ Filesize Par Course Length 2006-05-18  120,565,760  bytes 70  7548 yards Type Style CRZ Filename REAL  PARKLAND  Bethpageblack2006v2_locked.crz  Course ID Course Key     COURSE SCREENSHOTS COURSE NOTES The famous Black course at Bethpage State Park, home of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. open. Version 2. LINKS CORNER REVIEW REVIEW BY JON WEINRIEB For several years now, there have been a select handful of truly great real course renditions for Links 2003 - Augusta, Merion and Pebble Beach come to mind immediately. There is now one more. Rob Miller, in his shockingly good first effort as a designer, has brought us a genuinely fantastic version of Bethpage (Black). This once little known (or perhaps simply forgotten) course staged an epic battle in the summer of 2002 between Tiger Woods and New York favorite Phil Mickelson on a steamy and glorious Sunday at the United States Open. An instant classic was born and this now fabled venue has already received another opportunity to torture the best players in the world at the 2009 U.S. Open. Apparently now a mainstay on the USGA's radar screen, Bethpage is firmly ensconced among such storied U.S. Open venues as Pebble Beach, Olympic, Congressional, Oakmont and Torrey Pines. It is also now a renowned course among the very best in the United States. The best part? It's public; truly public. Sure, Pebble is 'public' but you have to reserve your tee time 19 years in advance and sacrifice your kids' education to play there. But a short, sticky, smelly sleepless night in your car and a lot of java is all you need to fork over to play at Bethpage. Located in the suburbs of New York City, the mobbed Black course is known not only for its length, menacing bunkers and treacherous rough but also for its tortuous 6-hour rounds. That is mainly because no one pays any mind to - nor is there any enforcement of - the unique and slightly terrifying sign at the entrance to the Black course; a sign who's message begins in large, red, all-capped lettering with a simple word: -WARNING-. The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.' Now, however, no one need sleep in his car. No one need set aside an entire day for a mere 18 holes of golf. And no one ever again need wonder just what lurks out there on the Black course behind that foreboding sign. We now know, thanks to Robert Miller, beyond a shadow of a doubt where every bunker sits, where every green slopes and what the course, at its best, really plays like. The foregoing praise for Rob's version is simply that - praise for the version at hand. It is in no way a commentary on Dominique's original, effort. Rob has simply taken what was a great course and made it outstanding; placing it among the finest of real courses we have. The upgrades constitute a complete overhaul of an already great track by Dom. Rob used a multitude of newer tools and techniques unavailable to Dominique three-plus years ago (including the stunning texture set from MJ and the multitude of newer custom grasses) Rob took this one to the next level. But the improvement in overall course design has not been limited solely to importable textures and objects. The superior bunker lip blending techniques such as those created by people like MJ and Hewi have benefited many in the design community and Rob was perceptive enough to obtain and utilize those skills to make the most of this redesign. What resulted was a perfect marriage of Dom's imagination and craftsmanship coupled with the technical precision of Doctor Rob. In addition to the choice in textures and the outstanding blending done on the bunker lips, Rob's semi-public experimentation with a variety of tall fescue-like grasses was supremely done, capturing with near precision what the Black course really looks like - the light brown, homogenous, Shinnecockian (couldn't resist making up a word) prairie grasses in large wispy zones of dread waiting to ensnare the inaccurate shot. Many of these areas are cut sharply against the much shorter and much greener and more playable rough. It is rare on the Black course to find these areas fading gently into the less petrifying green rough, even in areas that one would expect to find softer transition zones based on the normal practice of most superintendents maintaining courses with such semi- or pseudo-links-style features. It makes for a manicured ruggedness that is quite rare in golf and even rarer still in Links. Rob nailed this somewhat unique facet of the Black's real life planting, contributing to the realism of the recreation. Bethpage (Black) suffers from no obvious APCD errors based on 4 18-hole rounds that I played in writing this review. The course plays like a dream. It is as challenging as a U.S. Open venue should be yet, unlike some bowling alley-like U.S. Open tracks, the variety of shots required is better than most, really enhancing not the challenge itself but the fun of that challenge. Creativity at Bethpage is a must. Many will say well that's just the mark of a great course and not necessarily a great designer - it's a real course so give the course the credit. That is true in small part but there are many ways to make a real course for Links and more times than not, people fail to bring out the best in a real course for Links the way Rob has here. In redoing Bethpage, Rob embraced the capabilities of the Mod and highlighted the course's inherent fairness with some extremely well-chosen hole locations and accurate sloping on the greens. The fairway slopes, where appropriate, allow for extra kick when a tee shot lands in the right spot. Everything, in fact, appears to be just as it should be. No wonder really, as Rob went out to the course in the dead of winter to examine bunker lips, yardages, green slopes, grasses, and a host of other things. Overall, Rob's attention to detail on this project appears to be nothing but top-notch; and that is the only way to get a real course right. Rob got this one right. Simply put: this course is tough to pick apart. My one jab at Rob's chin is the supremely annoying choice of birds planted as a global sound throughout the course. It sounds like a custom import but it doesn't matter -- it is overused and should have been taken out in beta testing. But the fact that I chose that upon which to spend a paragraph should tell you just how good the APCD work is. I can't really find anything to complain about when playing normal rounds out there -- and I did visit a great many bunkers and a series of trees and high rough. It is just superb. If you don't have this course, you need to get it as quickly as you can. I just hope that your ensuing regret for waiting will be somewhat mollified by your inevitable enjoyment of this true 'Ace' of an effort. I don't throw that grade around lightly. But there's no other grade that could fairly be bestowed in this case. It is a true gem. This reviewer, for one, hopes that this is not both the opening and final chapter in Dr. Rob Miller's designing career. That would, indeed, be a shank among an otherwise flawless bit of golf. This course is available as a FREE download. Download course Please support Links Corner