FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — We’re still more than 350 days out until the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, but one thing is clear: The course, normally known as one of the toughest tests in golf, will be a birdie-fest for the Ryder Cup.
“We’re going to have more birdies than bogeys,” said Mike Hadley, Bethpage Black’s course superintendent, during a Metropolitan Golf Writers Association gathering at the course.“That’s what this tournament really is. It is all about more action. So I’m excited about it because, for every other tournament we’ve had, it’s the players are trying to beat par, and I’m trying not to let them beat par.”
Bethpage Black has hosted three major championships: the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens and the 2019 PGA Championship. The winning scores of those events were 3 under par by Tiger Woods, 4 under by Lucas Glover and 8 under by Brooks Koepka.
Bethpage Black also hosted two editions of the Barclays on the PGA Tour, and the winning scores for those were 10 under in 2012 and 9 under in 2016.
We should see more fireworks in 2025 thanks to a few major changes to the course.
The first and most notable comes on the first hole. The normal championship tees play from 430 yards, but to accommodate the Ryder Cup's customary massive grandstand that surrounds the tee box, the PGA of America and Bethpage superintendents collaborated to build a new forward tee that will make it potentially drivable for the longer hitters.
Another major change will be on the par-3 17th hole. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley requested stadium seating around that tee box, too. To accommodate that, they’ll need to play the middle and forward tees. That means shots from 170 to 190 yards instead of 200-plus.
Perhaps the most critical change that could affect the outcome is the rough. For a major championship, the rough at Bethpage Black ranges from 3 to 5 inches deep and grows longer throughout the tournament. It’s also thick, so the penalty for stray drives is severe.
For the Ryder Cup, the rough is expected to be cut to 2½–2¼ inches. That’s because the presumed American team will have an overall length advantage off the tee.
While the team roster won’t be finalized until late summer 2025, it should feature big hitters like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and possibly Bryson DeChambeau. Cutting the rough short limits the penalties for them missing the fairway.
“He wants bombers,” Hadley said of Bradley.
Other changes include extending the fairways on the par-4 sixth, par-5 seventh, par-4 10th and par-4 11th holes to again be more lenient toward stray drives. The current par-5 seventh could play as a par 4, though no decisions have been finalized.
The greens are expected to run at normal tournament speed, roughly 13 on the stimpmeter.
Weather could also play a major factor in setup. If New York gets a wet September, it will play softer. If it’s dry like in 2024, the greens and fairways will firm up. We won’t know that until we get closer to the event.
Pro golf’s regular season will start the first week of January and go right up until a few weeks before the 2025 Ryder Cup. But one thing seems certain even 350-plus days out: Bethpage Black won’t grit its teeth when the U.S. plays Europe next September.
Whether that decision leads to a U.S. victory remains to be seen.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bethpage Black Is Already Being Tweaked to Favor U.S. Team at 2025 Ryder Cup.
