Bethpage State Park (Blue course)

Bethpage State Park (Blue course): Four parkland courses (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow) lie in the shadow of Bethpage's world-renowned Black course. Designed by the great A.W. Tillinghast, the Blue and Red courses at Bethpage opened for play in 1935, a year ahead of the Black. In 1958 Alfred Tull was commissioned to design the new Yellow course for the park. He absorbed some holes from the Blue into his new layout, while designing replacement holes for the Blue and revising others. The Blue is therefore a hybrid Tillinghast-Tull creation.

Laid out in two nine-hole loops that set-off from the large Bethpage clubhouse (or to be more precise the parking area), the Blue is a popular course for both 18-hole and 9-hole rounds. It is generally regarded as third in line of the five Bethpage courses, with the Red course (aka "Black-light") bordering the Blue's closing four-hole stretch to the north. To the south of the first three holes lies the Yellow course.

In keeping with all five Bethpage courses, there is very little water to worry about, in fact there isn't any at all on the Blue course. Also in character with its siblings, the putting surfaces tend to be uniformly small and circular.

The typically tree-lined fairways, not mounded or sculpted, gently dogleg their way past mature trees and occasionally more open areas. The Blue's front-nine occupies some of the park's hilliest terrain, calling for a number of blind tee shots to hidden landing areas and elevated greens. The tougher front-nine gives way to a flatter shorter and easier-going back-nine.

Pick of the holes: the par-4 6th is often regarded as one of the toughest on the entire Bethpage complex. Requiring a draw from the tee, the hole heads downhill from the tee, then back-up to a well-bunkered small circular green.