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It is officially Ryder Cup 2025 week with all of the best golfers in the USA and Europe, at this exact moment in time, set to face off at the Bethpage Black Course on Long Island. Ahead of the action, we are ranking the nine most difficult golf holes at Bethpage Black so everyone knows what to watch for.
It should not even need to be said but Bethpage Black is among the most difficult golf courses on planet earth. As far as I know, it is the only public course with a warning sign alerting golfers that only highly-skilled golfers should play the course because everyone else is going to get demolished.
Ranking 9 Most Difficult Holes At Bethpage Black Course For The 2025 Ryder Cup
Home of the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, many of the competitors are familiar with the difficulty of Bethpage Black already but this week will be a new test. Team Europe practiced with virtual reality helmets to simulate the deafening boos and jeers from American fans.
But that’s the Ryder Cup fans, on the course they will contend with unforgiving holes. Here we break down the 9 most difficult holes at Bethpage Black and we start with a triumvirate of par-3’s. Let’s dive in.
9. Hole 8
The 210-yard par-3 Hole No. 8 at Bethpage Black was the 8th and 10th most difficult hole at the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens, respectively. Danger lurks here with a gargantuan bunker the golfers need to clear in order to have a shot at par or better.
After they clear the bunker they cannot go long. Long here is dead. So they will need to dial in that 210-yardage or risk scrambling for bogey every time they make it to the 8th green.
8. Hole 17
Ranked as the 9th most difficult hole in the 2009 U.S. Open by scoring average, Hole No. 17 at Bethpage Black is a 207-yard par-3. The green will have some of the most spectators of any hole on it and as the second-to-last hole on the course the pressure here will be immense for the European Team as the American fans will make this louder than MSG.
7. Hole 3
At the 2009 U.S. Open, Hole No. 3 was the 6th most difficult hole at Bethpage Black with a scoring average of 3.181. It actually had a higher scoring average at the 2002 U.S. Open but other holes played more difficult that year.
This 230-yard par 3 is actually ranked 18th on the handicap sheet and that’s because for those playing the closer tees it is 128 or 158 yards. But for the pros, a long iron is required into the diagonal green shrouded by sand. Going long here means they’re dead. It might as well be the Grand Canyon back there.
6. Hole 9
Hole 9 closes out the front and had a 4.109 scoring average at the 2009 U.S. Open. This 460-yard par-4 plays night and day for the pros compared to regular golfers playing the other tees.
While the hole is easier once they get off the tee box, it is considered to be the single most difficult tee shot on Bethpage Black. These guys are pros. They aren’t as impacted by those psychological elements as weekend warriors are but it will certainly weigh heavily on a few of the Ryder Cup competitors when they stand on the tee box and see the uphill tee shot over a grass wasteland with a bunker on the left.
5. Hole 7
Hole 7 is a 524-yard par-4 that ranked 4th in difficult at the past two U.S. Opens hosted by Bethpage Black. Despite tour players having more distance than ever, the average approach shot into the green is 200 yards.
It is a dogleg right where players can try and come in high over the trees or fail miserably attempting that. The other option is play it safe to the fairway they can see.
Only 46% of the pros hit this green in regulation. Scrambling will 100% be in play for each golfer here at some point throughout the competition. And it only coughs up birdies to 5.9% of golfers so birdies will be few and far between here. It won’t be surprising to see pars beating bogeys at this thole.
4. Hole 11
Bethpage Black’s No. 11 is a 435-yard par-4. It ranked as the 7th most difficult hole at the 2002 U.S. Open but I have a sneaking suspicion it will play tougher this week.
There is sand up the right, sand up the left and the fairway is about as wide across as a a Manhattan apartment. Suffice it to say the landing room for the pros is tiny.
If players are going to miss, they are better off in the right bunkers which have -.15 SG compared to the -.34 SG bunkers on the left. Only 55% of the pros hit this green in regulation. If they go over or left the green they are facing an average of -.55 strokes gained. But nobody said it was going to be easy!
3. Hole 10
Hole 10 at Bethpage Black is a behemoth. A 502-yard par-4 with over half a dozen bunkers flanking the fairway around the landing zone for the pros. So if they aren’t in the fairway off the tee then there’s a good chance they are hitting their approach shots from the sand.
The green looks like the Saharan desert with nary a flat surface to putt from. A 2-putt on this green isn’t guaranteed and pars will be extremely difficult to come by but this is the Ryder Cup and that will play to a lot of player’s advantage with match play formats.
2. Hole 12
The second most difficult hole at Bethpage Black for the pros is likely going to be #12. They will face an unbelievable challenge from hole 9 through 13, get a slight break with No. 14, and then get kicked in the face at No. 15 but let’s talk about hole 12 first.
If the pros try and shave any distance off this 501-yard par-4 they will then contend with a huge fairway bunker. From there, another blind approach shot will force them to rely on their distances and caddie to get the ball to the pin. At the 2009 U.S. Open, hole #12 was the 2nd hardest hole for the pros and there were only 20 birdies there the entire tournament.
1. Hole 15
This video from 9+ years ago posted by the PGA Tour really breaks down why the 15th hole at Bethpage Black is the most difficult hole on the course. The (then) Director of Golf at the Bethpage Black State Park flat out says the 15th hole “is by far and away the most difficult hole on the golf course.”
#4 is a long hole, but not the longest. Is the #1 handicap hole on the course though. A par-4, it plays 478-yards from the tips. But it is flanked by 4″ rough on either side of the narrow fairway that gobble up the ball. From there, the elevated green is protected by massive bunkers.
The green itself is heavily sloped and it is difficult for any golfer to get the ball to the back of the green. Anyone that winds up on the lower tier of the green is facing a putt so brutal they’ll be lucky go get out of there with two putts.
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