Bethpage State Park (Red course)

Bethpage State Park (Red course): Four parkland courses (Red, Blue, Green and Yellow) lie in the shadow of Bethpage's world-renowned Black course. The out-and-back Red course, which opened a year before the Black, is the classiest of the "other" four. In terms of length, and quantity and quality of bunkering, the Red makes an excellent foil for its more revered sibling. The long and testing par-4 1st first hole (one of very few straightaways in the layout) even gets to share a group of fairway bunkers with the Black's finishing hole.

Known by some Long Islanders as "Black-light," the Red course heads down and away from the large clubhouse, the start of an enjoyable tour of the northern section of Bethpage State Park's golf courses and woodland.

Tree-lined and relatively lightly bunkered for the first seven holes, the layout's middle section is considerably flatter, more open and more heavily bunkered. On occasions it almost hits the sand volumes of the Black course ..... almost!

This elegant Tillinghast-designed layout possesses many excellently crafted parkland holes. Apart from the almost bunkerless straightaway opener, most holes dogleg to left or right. If not tree-lined, the holes are stylishly defined by bunkers. In keeping with all five Bethpage courses, there is very little water to worry about (in fact none on the Red course). Also in character with its siblings, the greens tend to be uniformly small and circular.

Pick of the holes: the wonderful short par-3 4th played to a pudding-bowl green, and the excellently bunkered elevated-tee to elevated-green par-4 18th.