{"id":176502,"date":"2025-09-23T14:36:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176502\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:36:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:36:09","slug":"ryder-cup-getting-a-tee-time-at-bethpage-black-requires-an-open-schedule-patience-and-sleeping-in-your-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/176502\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryder Cup: Getting a tee time at Bethpage Black requires an open schedule, patience and sleeping in your car"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you want to secure a tee time at Bethpage Black once the Ryder Cup is over? Come prepared because the adventure will be like few other golf experiences you\u2019ve ever had \u2014 one that could result in you playing one of the most-famous courses out there.<\/p>\n

Getting on Bethpage Black for 18 holes isn\u2019t as easy as walking into the clubhouse and putting your name down or going online and making a reservation. It\u2019s possible to do both, but with the post-COVID golf boom, coupled with the badge of honor that comes with playing the course that has hosted five major PGA tournaments, including two U.S. Opens and the 2019 PGA Championship, acquiring a tee time requires an open schedule, patience and a blanket or two.<\/p>\n

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Rated annually as one of the best golf courses in the U.S., Bethpage Black will host this year\u2019s Ryder Cup between the Americans and Europeans. The famous public municipal course is closed to golfers now, but will reopen sometime in October. That\u2019s when the mad rush to grab a tee time will resume, especially before the winter break.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Golfers line up their cars in a parking lot at Bethpage Black golf course for a chance to play ahead of the Ryder Cup. Because the course allows members of the public to secure first-come, first-serve tee times, many sleep in their cars to save their walk-up spots. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(The Washington Post via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re hoping to play Black at some point and want to be ensured of a decent tee time, have a plan.<\/p>\n

Many hopefuls will arrive at Bethpage State Park the day before and grab a numbered parking spot in the lot. Once you\u2019re in your parking spot that\u2019s when the experience begins, and by that we mean the wait. Consider it an overnight tailgating experience.<\/p>\n

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You\u2019ll be waiting until the wee hours of the morning for a park employee to come around and distribute numbered tickets, which you will then bring to the pro shop to find out what time you\u2019re teeing off \u2014 either as a foursome or an individual who will join with a group.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a time consuming process, but it\u2019s also an experience and, most important for you, the golfer, totally worth it in the end to say you were greeted by the infamous sign at the first hole and played the Black.<\/p>\n

\"FARMINGDALE,<\/p>\n

The Bethpage Black course warning sign greets everyone at the first hole. (Ross Kinnaird\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

(Ross Kinnaird via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Playing Black wasn\u2019t a new experience for Chad DeCarlo, a loan officer from Long Island. He was well-versed with the track, but staying overnight and sleeping in his car to get a tee time? That was a first, and the unique method many golfers must go through in order to get a tee time helps play into the allure of the course.<\/p>\n

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\u201cTo have to sleep in a parking lot is pretty unique,\u201d DeCarlo told Yahoo Sports recently. \u201cI think just that kind of draws people, the blue-collar golfer, and since COVID everybody\u2019s playing golf now it seems. It just makes it for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeCarlo and his group were prepared for their night in the parking lot. Cold cut sandwiches were secured and a truck bed was used to prop up a television that was necessary for some video game<\/a> play, which included Mario Golf because there\u2019s no better way to prepare to tackle Black than to work on your backswing and develop a few swing thoughts while at Koopa Park.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy<\/p>\n

(Courtesy Chad DeCarlo)<\/p>\n

(courtesy Chad DeCarlo)<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot of time to kill waiting in the parking lot. Video games and snacking are one thing, but it\u2019s not a tailgate without a few beverages, right? DeCarlo and his group made the most out of their overnight stay and maybe, just maybe, the drinks and the very hot summer morning could be blamed for his round of 106.<\/p>\n

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But that\u2019s all right. It\u2019s not often you get to grab some shut eye in your car in a parking lot to play a highly-rated golf course with your friends. Yet, for DeCarlo, the overnight Bethpage experience may be a one-time deal.<\/p>\n

Unless another major tournament comes to Black, DeCarlo said he\u2019d pass on the parking lot tailgate again. The allure of playing the course with the grandstands lining holes and the course set up a specific way would be appealing enough to go through a night of video games and a few beverages to get in a round.<\/p>\n

As for the Ryder Cup itself, the Bethpage Black experience will be a unique one. The U.S. fans will be loud, boisterous and rowdy \u2014 everything you\u2019d expect from a New York crowd.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be like nothing we have ever seen,\u201d DeCarlo said. \u201cSome of these guys are in for it, especially a guy like Rory [McIlroy]. It\u2019s going to be wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bethpage<\/p>\n

Bethpage State Park is also known as “The People’s Country Club,” a public municipal course that is open for play.<\/p>\n

(Bruce Bennett via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

New Hampshirite Brett Bosse had never played Bethpage Black. When he decided he was going to finally make an attempt to grab a tee time in July he did his research and knew an overnight stay was \u201cpart of the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

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After attending an afternoon New York Mets game in Queens, Bosse changed his mind. He originally planned to arrive at Bethpage State Park between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., but decided to head to the course immediately after the game.<\/p>\n

A food stop was made along the way and Bosse got to the course around 5:45 p.m. and took parking spot No. 27 as a single. A group he spoke with after he arrived told him they had been there since 11:30 a.m. that morning in order to get a round for the following day.<\/p>\n

With the night still young and plenty of time to kill, Bosse walked around the park grabbing pictures of the scenery and the ongoing Ryder Cup setup around the grounds. A little after 7 p.m., he noticed a large number of cars were arriving in the parking lot and grabbing up the numbered spaces. These weren\u2019t people coming to play Black the next day \u2014 they were dressed in Hawaiian shirts, flip flops and leis ready to enjoy a luau in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019d shown up when I\u2019d planned to originally, I would have thought, \u2018Oh, crap, everything\u2019s already filled. I\u2019m screwed.\u2019 When in reality it was people at this party,\u201d Bosse said.<\/p>\n

\"(Courtesy<\/p>\n

(Courtesy Brett Bosse)<\/p>\n

(courtesy Brett Bosse)<\/p>\n

Bosse only managed about 90 minutes of sleep before he got his ticket and learned of his 11:10 a.m. tee time. Too much money was spent in the pro shop before he headed to the first hole to watch the early groups tee off and then venture to the driving range to get dialed in.<\/p>\n

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Playing the middle tees, Bosse, a 7-handicap, shot an 89. He knew the challenges that Black presented ahead of time: thick rough, difficult bunkers, a hilly walk. \u201cNothing overwhelmed me, it was just a tough-ass golf course,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There aren\u2019t many golf courses that people would sleep in their cars overnight to play, but it\u2019s a badge of honor to do so in order to play the Black. The famous phrase “golf is a good walk spoiled” doesn\u2019t apply here. Everyone knows what they\u2019re getting into.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a challenging course with such a history connected to major golf,\u201d Bosse said. \u201cThe course itself stands on its own as being a major venue, but it\u2019s \u2018The People\u2019s Course\u2019 because it\u2019s a state-run muni.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, would Bosse do the whole overnight thing again?<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, in a heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So you want to secure a tee time at Bethpage Black once the Ryder Cup is over? Come…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":176503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[72968,102170,105147,105144,105146,2934,427,21846,105148,1189,105145,11383,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-176502","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-bethpage-black","9":"tag-bethpage-state-park","10":"tag-brett-bosse","11":"tag-chad-decarlo","12":"tag-decarlo","13":"tag-getty-images","14":"tag-golf","15":"tag-golf-courses","16":"tag-municipal-course","17":"tag-new-york-mets","18":"tag-parking-spot","19":"tag-ryder-cup","20":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}