Holes of the U.S. Open

Here is a hole-by-hole description of Bethpage Black.

This is the United States Open our national championship.

It will be contested on the Black course at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, New York.

The length of the 18 holes total 7,426 yards.

The par of the 18 holes adds up to 35-35=70.

There are gentle hills and valleys.

Holes go left and right, up and down and basically all over the park.

The United States Golf Association sets up the golf course with a unique philosophy.

There are three par-4s over 500 yards for the first time in a U.S. Open.
The U.S.G.A. started utilizing "graduated" rough at the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot where basically the further you hit it from the centerline of the fairway the worse the rough gets in terms of how long and how difficult it is.
First there's a 6-foot-wide strip of intermediate rough where the player should have little problem playing his next shot and making a decent score on the hole.
Next will be a first cut of primary rough, roughly 20 feet wide and approximately 2½ to 3 inches deep. This is where it gets a little dicey. The player is not going to be able to get the club on the ball and control its spin and flight as well as the fairway or intermediate rough. Depending on the lie and the skill par will be a good score.
Furthest away from "right down the pretty" as they say in Scotland is the second cut of rough, measuring 4 to 6 inches in depth, and stretching to the gallery rope lines and beyond. Good luck here, take your medicine, hack it out to the fairway hopefully and get it up and down for a "pro par."
They will also vary the length of holes on a day-to-day basis on teeing grounds.

Hole locations will be adjusted to determine the difficulty of scoring for the day.

What they cannot control is the weather. What will be the firmness of the fairways and greens? How fast will the greens be?

The record score in any of the four Majors is 63 set by Johnny Miller at Oakmont CC in the final round of his victory in the 1973 U.S. Open. Since then it has been tied by 20 golfers including Tiger Woods who shot 63 in the second round of his victory at the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills CC.

The lowest round at Bethpage in 2002 was a 66 by Nick Faldo in the third round.

Here is a hole-by-hole description of Bethpage Black.

Ready-Set-Go the U.S. Open begins tomorrow!

Andy Reistetter is a freelance golf writer. He follows the PGA TOUR volunteering for the tournaments and working part time for NBC Sports, CBS Sports, and The Golf Channel. He resides in Jacksonville Beach, Florida near the PGA TOUR headquarters and home of The PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach. He enjoys pursuing his passion for the game of golf and everything associated with it. He can be reached through his website www.MrHickoryGolf.net or by e-mailing him to [e-mail]

Tee shot on No. 1

No. 1 is a dog-leg-right par-4 of 430 yards.

The tee is elevated with the rest of the hole relatively flat.

The "angle of play" is a factor off the first tee. How much of the dog leg right can be cut off? Though there are no fairway bunkers there is the graduated rough.

Dog-leg-right on No. 1

The inside of the dog leg is well protected by trees including some additional red maples to make the forest area a bit denser. With bunkers left and right of the green short or long is the best miss depending on hole location.

No.1 green looking back towards fairway.

Great opening hole!

Fairway of No. 2

No. 2 is a dog-leg-left par-4 of 389 yards.

This par- 4 is the shortest and only one of the 12 par-4s on the course less than 400 yards.

It plays uphill through a valley of oak trees. Like the first hole there are no fairway bunkers only graduated rough.

No. 2 Green

Both greenside bunkers are located short of the green.

No. 3

No. 3 is a par-3 of 232 yards.

The "Open Doctor" Rees Jones has added a new back tee to make this the longest par-3 on the golf course.

Bunkers guard the entire left side of this diagonally set green along with another bunker short right.

signature hole No. 4

No. 4 is a slight dog-leg-left par-5 of 517 yards.

This is the signature hole of Bethpage Black with dramatic bunkering the entire length of this gradually uphill hole. The tee shot plays like a slight dog-leg left around a huge bunker left of the fairway. The second shot must carry a series of cross bunkers that angle the entire width of the fairway. Two bunkers guard the green short and left.

Cross bunkers on No. 4

Either the long second shot or wedge third shot is to a green hidden by elevation. The green slopes from front to back away from the golfer. Long is a closely mowed down hill slope to high fescue.

Green on No. 4

This hole is the shorter of the two par-5s on the golf course and even shorter than par-4 7th hole.

Played the third easiest hole in 2002 though still over par at an average score of 5.011.

Fairway on No. 5

No. 5 is a dog-leg-left par-4 of 478 yards.

The tee shot is downhill while the approach shot is uphill.

The right side bunker begins before the fairway and guards right while tall overhanging oaks guard the left side.

Looking back from the 5th green.

The relatively small green is surrounded by three bunkers.

No.6 fairway.

No. 6 is a par-4 of 408 yards.

This is the first hole with fairway bunkers left and right.

Past the bunkers the fairway falls off so that longer tee shots require a more blind approach into the well bunkered green. Two half moon bunkers almost totally encapsulate the green.

Looking back towards fairway from 6th green.

Longest par-4 in U.S. Open history!

No. 7 is a dog-leg-right par-4 of 525 yards.

With a new tee that added 36 yards versus 2002 this hole is the longest par-4 in the history of the U.S. Open.

No. 7 Fairway

There is a large bunker short right of the fairway and a bunker left and long right of the landing area.

The inside of the dog-leg is protected by large oak trees.

Looking back towards fairway on 7th green.

The bunkers at the green are short right and short left only exasperating the distance factor of this golf hole.

No. 8

No. 8 is a par-3 of 210 yards.

Open doctor Rees has restored the green to its original Tillinghast design. With a shaved front slope the front pond will come into play. With a front hole location the hole will likely be played from a front tee making it 150 yards.

Looking back towards the 8th tee.

Tee shot on No. 9

No. 9 is a dog-leg-left par-4 of 480 yards.

No. 9 Fairway

The tee has been moved back 40 yards since 2002 and a new left fairway bunker has been added. Fairway slopes right-to-left towards the bunker and complicates the partial blind shot to the elevated green.

No. 9 Green

There are two bunkers short left and right of the green.

No. 10

No.10 is a slight dog-leg-left par-4 of 508 yards.

This hole played the third most difficult in 2002 at an average score of 4.499

It is the second par-4 over 500 yards.

In 2002 golfers had difficulty reaching the fairway with their drives. It has been extended back towards the tee to insure all are able to carry the fairway in this U.S. Open.

The fairway is well bunkered left and right and the green is protected by two bunkers short left and right.

No. 10 Green

No. 10 Green

There is a tightly mowed swale behind green.

No. 11 Tee

No. 11 is a par-4 of 435 yards

The fairway is protected on both sides with bunkers.

Fairway bunker on No. 11

No. 11 Green

The green is guarded by bunkers short left and right.

No. 12 Tee Shot

No. 12 is a dog-leg-left par-4 of 504 yards.

This hole played the second most difficult in 2002 at an average score of 4.523

There is a large bunker left that may be challenged to cut the corner and a bunker right.

No. 12 Green

The green is guarded by bunkers short left and right.

No. 13 Fairway

No. 13 is a par-5 of 605 yards.

Though the longest hole on the golf course the 143th played the second easiest hole in 2002 at an average score of 4.941.

A tee shot hit left of the fairway will find a long bunker. Another bunker on the left must be navigated on the second shot.

No. 13 Green

The green is protected with a cross bunker that looks next to the green but is well short of the putting surface. Another bunker guards the short right side of the green.

No. 14

No. 14 is a par-3 of 158 yards.

This hole played the easiest hole in 2002 at an average score of 2.903

It is the shortest par-3 on the course.

The green has been enlarged by adding a front tongue. The wide in the back narrow in front green is well bunkered most of its length on both sides.

No. 15 Fairway

No. 15 is an uphill par-4 of 459 yards

The 15th played the most difficult in 2002 at an average score of 4.600.

The fairway is bunker less and flat with an approach shot to an elevated well bunkered green.

There are three dramatic bunkers short of the green in the hillside and a forth bunker green side short and left.

No. 15 Green Looking Back Towards Fairway

No. 16

No. 16 is a downhill par-4 of 490 yards.

The fairway is bunker less.

No. 16 Green

Two bunkers guard the green short left and right.

No. 17

No. 17 is an uphill par-3 of 207 yards.

The green is surrounded by bunkers- two in front, left, right and back right.

No. 18

No. 18 is an uphill par-4 of 411 yards.

The slightly downhill tee shot must miss clusters of bunkers left and right. They number six left and three right though their total surface area is about the same.

The approach shot is uphill to an elevated green with a huge bunker short right and one short left.

No. 18 Green

What will happen here on Sunday afternoon?