Can Europe tame the Bethpage beast to regain the Ryder Cup?

But on Friday, Bethpage Black will host the Ryder Cup. It is a far cry from posh clubs, like Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons, where the US Open has been three times in the past three decades. Bethpage is in blue-collar, Republican Long Island, a few miles from America’s first purpose-built suburb, Levittown, childhood home of the singer Billy Joel and former host to US defense contractor Northrop Grumman, which produced the Apollo Lunar Module and F-14 Tomcat plane.

And it was not founded by a group of wealthy men. Rather, it was part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal public works scheme, which hoped to rebuild America after the ravages of the Depression. More than 1,000 labourers, many hired off Long Island’s welfare rolls, descended on the former Lenox Hills estate. Some were veterans of the First World War. They were paid 50 cents per hour. Among the archaeological finds unearthed during construction were arrowheads from the native Matinecock tribe and Revolutionary War-era musket balls.

Bethpage State Park prides itself on being “The People’s Country Club”, open to anyone with a bag of clubs and costing a modest green fee of $38 (£28) on weekdays and $43 at the weekend for state residents (non-residents pay $140 and $160 respectively to play on Bethpage Black). An average 300,000 rounds are played each year on the five courses – Red, Yellow, Blue and Green, as well as Black ­– with many golfers camping out overnight in the parking lot to secure a dawn tee time. Unlike most clubs, no carts are allowed during prime hours.

As a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary, Bethpage is also at the forefront of preservation, with cutting-edge irrigation schemes and pollinator sanctuaries that support swarms of monarch butterflies. Foxes, deer and red-tailed hawks are also abundant. There are even beehives off the fourth fairway. Of the five courses, the most famous is the Black, nicknamed the Beast and reputed to be the toughest municipal course in the US. The force behind it was the urban planner, Robert Moses, who was responsible for many of New York’s bridges, highways and parks. Most of Bethpage’s courses, including the Black, were designed by Albert Warren “Tillie” Tillinghast, the dashing, Philadelphia-born son of a rich rubber magnate, who went on to become one of America’s most-celebrated golf architects and a writer for magazines like American Golfer during the sport’s Golden Age.

His signature features include deep bunkers, like the mammoth Glacier bunker which cuts across the fourth fairway like a scar; and hazards that only increase the course’s savage contours, including thrilling, 150-foot plunges in elevation, and rough derived from Scottish fescue grass sourced in unmarked crates to evade import scrutiny. The Championship par of 70 was smashed by American Brooks Koepka when he hit a 63 en route to winning the 2019 PGA Championship, one of three of golf’s majors the Black has hosted.

“Every now and again there are to be encountered courses that snarl like a sabre-toothed tiger,” wrote Tillinghast. Tiger Woods, who won the 2002 US Open here, evoked another animal when he compared playing the Black course with “wrestling a bear”. Jordan Spieth said it was “probably up there with the hardest five courses I have played in my life”.

A surprising number of people I spoke to at the Embassy Diner, a couple of miles from the course in the town of Bethpage, don’t actually know that the Ryder Cup is coming to town, even with an estimated 50,000 spectators expected over the weekend, roughly three times the population of Bethpage. “The Ryder Cup?” queried one man in surprise. When I explained what it was, he shook his head: “I’m into baseball.” But most people are positive. “I’m not a golfer,” said 84-year-old John Pepi. “But I think it’s a good thing for the area.” The diner’s exterior is festooned with American flags. Over the door a large sign says: Home of the Brave. Stickers from the State Police and NYPD adorn the door. “I’m so excited! I can’t wait,” said Gus Tsiorvas, the Greek-American owner. “It’s an honour to have the competition here.”

Andrew Darmen, 20, one of three young guys who were tucking into giant portions of burgers and fries, is more excited that NFL quarterback, Josh Allen, is going to be in attendance. One of the group, 19-year-old Dominic Genise, was the son of the man delivering Pepsi to the site. “Right now, we are delivering three or four tractor-trailer loads a day.”

“Absolutely, it’s good for local businesses,” says 67-year-old local attorney, James Di Michele. “It’s a big boost for the local economy, and Long Island as a whole.”

“As I teenager, I used to clamber under the fence surrounding the course, so me and my friends could go tobogganing on the snow-covered fairways,” says the now 51-year-old, Deneen Taormina. “I wish I rented out my house now!”

Luke Donald’s European team are already in New York, having flown in on Monday to practise. To prepare them, Rory McIlroy revealed they have been using VR headsets to simulate the crowd noise. But nothing can compare with the real thing. The American team will be roared on by a hugely partisan crowd. Patriotism can easily boil over into jingoism, as happened in 1999 at Brookline near Boston, when the crowd heckled and verbally abused Europe’s players. Dealing with that and the Beast will make it Europe’s toughest Ryder Cup.

Photograph by Gary Kellner/Getty Images