Forget the cheap $130 green fees or the fact that Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open here in 2022. The first thing any amateur golfer in Farmingdale, New York, will tell you about Bethpage Black is to check out for the warning sign.
It reads: "WARNING -- Bethpage Black is an extremely difficult course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers."
It is an omen to any player out on one of the most unique courses in the U.S., and none more so than the stars on Team Europe and Team USA battling it out for the 45th 2025 Ryder Cup this weekend.
Not many courses are made like this one. For a start, it is a publicly owned municipal course, one of five in the Bethpage State Park, meaning that when it was designed, they didn't need to make it super playable -- everyday members wouldn't want to play a course like that every week.
Instead, the joy here is in the design. "There's a lot of thinking players have to do, especially off the tee," Rees Jones, a famed golf course architect who has re-designed Bethpage on multiple occassions over the past two decades, said.
"That's not the case for some of these championship golf courses, where they've taken out the trees and widened the fairways to 50 yards. Quite often, courses are penal. This is a penal golf course, but there's also a lot of strategy."
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How each team attacks Bethpage Black will go a long way to deciding who will win the 45th Ryder Cup.
ESPN spoke to Jones to get an inside look at each of the holes and how things are likely to play out this weekend.
Hole 1 - 'The format will change things'
Par 4, 430 yards
Pro tip: "We moved the tee for this year's event from the normal tee -- the existing tee will be used for the stands. It's a sharp dog leg normally, but less so now. They will probably have a choice of going over the trees and trying to get short of the green or playing a hybrid or an iron off the tee and play the dog leg around the trees.
"It's one of the few holes where the trees really come into play dramatically. Most of the trees on the course frame the holes but really don't come into play very much. Not on No. 1, though.
"It is not a hard hole. The format will change things. It's a very narrow entrance into the green, so they'll probably lay up. In foursomes, I think they'll be careful. In four-ball, I think one player will go for it.
Hole 2 - 'They'll probably lay up'
Par 4, 389 yards
Pro tip: "The second hole is another birdie opportunity, so you really get off kind early on the golf course. It's a short par four, a straight hole with an elevated green. They'll probably lay up with a hybrid or fairway wood because they might want to hit a full shot into the green, and they won't see the bottom of the flag on this hole because the green is that elevated. That's the only problem they might have.
"They don't want to hit in the right rough because that's a side hill lie out over the rough and they wouldn't be able to really spin the ball they want to, but if the pin's in the front, it won't be that hard. They just won't be able to visualise the shot."
Hole 3 - 'Used to be shorter'
Par 3, 230 yards
Pro tip: "The third was shorter before the 2002 U.S. Open when we took the tee back substantially.
"They will probably have one of the few days they'll have the pin in the back left. The organisers may have that on a day when they want the birdies.
"Remember it's the Ryder Cup. It is not like the PGA or the U.S. Open. They are going to set it up a little more gently. They want to see birdies, and they want some excitement. So Keegan Bradley is going to have the fairway rough at about two and a half inches, he's going to have the green side rough at over three. He wants the ball to stay near the surface if they miss it. I think he thinks it favours the skills of his players. That's usually the mantra."
Hole 4 - 'Hard for amateurs, easiest for the pros'
Par 5, 517 yards
Pro tip: "This is a famous golf hole. It's a part short par five, which is going to play like a par four during the Ryder Cup. It's the hardest hole or the second hardest hole for the everyday player at Bethpage and it's the second easiest hole for the pros when they play the events on it.
"The everyday player has a hard time with that second shot because they have to carry the very deep glacier bunker and then the fairway elevates after that. But for these guys, they're going to be going forward with probably a mid-iron off the tee, they can hit it 300-odd yards and they'll be just short of the glacier bunker.
"The green pitches from front to back, so if they hit it to the back of the green without any spin on it and the ball can go into a chipping area. It could even go further down. So they have to be careful not to take too much club, but it will be a definite birdie hole. So three out of the first holes four holes are birdie holes."
Hole 5 - 'Where Bethpage starts to show its teeth'
Par 4, 478 yards
Pro tip: "The fifth is where Bethpage starts to show its teeth. It's sort of patterned off the 16th hole at Pine Valley because of the tree line on the left really kind of blocks your shot to the green. You have to carry a major sand area that we extended down the right side because you have to favour the right side.
"If you hit it left, you're going to be blocked out, so you have to flirt with that sandy area.
"These guys, because they hit it so far, aren't going to worry about it, but then it's an elevated green, a lot of undulations in the green, a lot of little nuances and it's heavily bunkered, so this is a good par."
Hole 6 - 'All about the drive'
Par 4, 408 yards
Pro tip: "The sixth is a hole that really is all about the drive because it's a short par four that drops substantially from 280 yards onward. They have to flirt with the bunkers if they can't fly them, but it's off to the side where they hit a short shot and keep it on top of the ridge.
"They can decide to go through the slot, leaving a little flip shot into the green. But if they keep it on top, they'll have a 170 to 180-yard shot, and then the green is completely encircled with bunkers.
"It does benefit the golfer if he goes through the slots, but it's a difficult choice off the tee."
Hole 7 - 'The hole players whine about'
Par 4, 524 yards
Pro tip: "We converted it from a par five to a par four for the 2002 U.S. Open, they've played it that way ever since. [Former USGA director] David Fay and I were going around the course and we were just discussing whether or not we converted from a five to a four.
"I said the players are going to really whine about it because the trees come in on the right because it's a sharp dog leg. He said that's really good because if they whine about this hole, they won't whine about the whole course.
"The drive is important because the trees come into play and the dog leg is fairly substantial now as a par four, so they will probably want to flirt with the trees and have a shorter shot in. As a par five, they would have played it further left. It's a well-contoured green, but it's got an open entrance."
Hole 8 - 'Only hole with water'
Par 3, 210 yards
Pro tip: "It's the only hole that has water on it. It's a par three downhill shot.
"For the back pin location, they're going to have to release the ball to the pin. If they try to fly it and go over, they're going to definitely have a lot of trouble recovering.
"For the front pin location, if they don't spin it too much, they might put a little backstop in the green, but they have got to be careful. If they spin it too much, they might spin it into the water. So this hole is going to play very differently every day. When Keegan wants birdies, they'll probably put the pin in the middle."
Hole 9 - 'Watch the massive bunker'
Par 4, 460 yards
Pro tip: "It's another dog leg that plays very efficiently as a dog leg because we added a really massive bunker on the turn, and they have to flirt with that bunker to stay on top of the deck and not roll to the right.
"The players will have to hit it a long distance and hit it over that fairway bunker just to have the easiest shot into a well-protected, low-profile green. It's a low-profile green that is not going to be protected by the slopes, but it's got a lot of bunkering, as do most of the greens."
Hole 10 - 'Where Sergio gave the crowd the finger'
Par 4, 502 yards
Pro tip: "It was the hole at the 2002 U.S. Open where the players could not hit the fairway because the rough extended out so far, and the wind was blowing into their face, and it was a rainy day. That's the day that Sergio Garcia gave the crowd the finger, but it wasn't hittable. The fairway wasn't hittable for shorter hitters.
"The fairway now extends further back towards the tee.
"The whole fairway is bracketed by bunkers so it doesn't matter where the tee is located. The bunkers are going to come into play on both 10 and 11 off the tee, there are several. It's a tougher tee shot, but it's a wide target for these guys.
"This is a hard hole. No. 11 is shorter, but 9, 10, 11, 12 is the meat of the golf course."
Hole 11 - 'Can change on any match, day'
Par 4, 435 yards
Pro tip: "The course turns there and goes the opposite direction of Hole 10. So one will be downwind, one will be into the wind, or they could even be a crosswind.
"This is a hole where it's got a little angle to it, so they can change its character on any given day, any given match of the Ryder Cup by moving the pin around. The back has a little elevated spot and that's a hard spot. When Keegan wants birdies, he'll probably put it in the middle front."
Hole 12 - 'Only hole that requires driver'
Par 4, 515 yards
Pro tip: "No. 12 is the only hole that requires the driver to hit the ball 280 yards off the tee over the bunker. That bunker extends a little bit to the left a little further, so if they pull it and they don't hit 280 yards, they might still get in the sand.
"Golf has changed, though, so I don't think they'll be intimidated by it. Some players were in the 2002 U.S. Open. I think most of them will go over the cross bunker."
Hole 13 - 'A birdie hole'
Par 5, 608 yards
Pro tip: "No. 13 is a birdie hole. There's a cross bunker about 30 yards short of the green. That really won't come into play for them unless they're in the rough off the tee.
"The tee got pushed back and back, but they'll probably play it a bit shorter.
"It's a fairly simple green. You'll see a lot of birdies on this hole."
Hole 14 - 'Easiest on the course'
Par 3, 161 yards
Pro tip: "Hole 14 is the easiest hole in the golf course. It's a short par three with a bunker on the front and on the left. The green has a little tongue to it, a narrow little slot in the front left, which is the hard hole location. I hope they use it one day because it's very hard to access.
"They may want to play it safe to the middle and put back to it, but if they want to go for that pin position, it is a small target. Other than that, it's going to be a birdie wall."
Hole 15 - 'Hardest on the course'
Par 4, 484 yards
Pro tip: "No. 15 is the hardest hole in the golf course. It has the most contoured green. No fairway bunkers at all. They can bomb it away. The rough on the right will come into play, except there's going to be a lot of hospitality area over there. I don't know how much they'll be affected unless if they hit the hospitality area.
"The green is a two-tier green that is so steep in the front. They really can't use the front, so they'll have to use the back of the green. So the second shot is probably the hardest.
"It's a very elevated green with three substantial bunkers, and if you miss it right, then you're down a huge slope and have a very difficult recovery. The second shot is critical and it's a very small target."
Hole 16 - 'Drive has to go left'
Par 4, 490 yards
Pro tip: "The green is protected by two large bunkers on the right, so you really want to hit it left. Although the way it sets up, you have to really kind of fight your own visual effect and you have to hit it away from what you normally would hit. You want to hit it left, you don't want to come in over those two bunkers, especially if the pin is tucked to the right.
"They can hide the pin pretty effectively for a couple of days on the right side of the green, so the drive is very important to go to the left side to have the best angle in."
Hole 17 - 'A muscle-tightening hole'
Par 3, 207 yards
Pro tip: "No. 17 is a dramatic, wonderful par three.
"They're not going to play at the length that we designed it to because they're going to put stands back there.
"It's a two-tier green with a lower area on the right and an upper area on the left, heavily bunkered, and it's not that deep. They could go long into a bunker. They could go short depending on how they strike the ball. If the matches get to that point, this is when the muscles tighten. This is a muscle-tightening hole."
Hole 18 - 'The hole Scheffler, Rory like to play'
Par 4, 411 yards
Pro tip: "This is a real birdie opportunity. It's bracketed by lots of bunkers on both sides.
"If they do lay up and hit it right, they're going to be penalised. They probably won't hit driver on this hole due to the long left bunker. If they do go for driver and fly it, they do have a penalty opportunity there.
"The green is heavily bunkered and elevated. It's a small target, but this is a very good birdie opportunity if they get off the tee effectively.
"There's a lot of thinking they have to do, especially off the tee, which is not the case in some of these championship golf courses where they've taken out the trees and widened the fairways to 50 yards.
"In this case, they're going to have to think off the tee. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have stated this is the kind of hole they like to play."