Bethpage Red (Farmingdale, NY)

The Red is overshadowed and often overlooked by enthusiasts eager to play the Black, but to get a local flavor, one should incorporate it into their Bethpage itinerary. It’s more playable and more forgiving than the Black yet still packs a punch with a stable of long par fours. Locals gravitate towards it as opposed to its famous brother and one gets the New York experience when paired with those who call the area home. 

(The 419/401 yard par four eighteenth is a wonderful finishing hole that plays across the slope while climbing to a green in a natural amphitheater…

…a large bunker fronts the green forcing a high shot to find the putting surface…

…officials mulled over its inclusion as the final hole when the Black hosted major championships. The logistics have prevented it thus far. A championship tee has been added pushing its total length to 463 yards. At some point they will find a way to work it in.) 

The Red puts the golfer on high alert with its opening hole. The starter shed and tee box are adjacent to the clubhouse in a spot where everyone has a full view of your swing. On any other course it would be a short par five, but here it’s a bruising par four. This is a common theme on the Red. From the tips, seven of the par fours play over 450 yards. Many of them dogleg with a set of bunkers and hillocks guarding the turn. Very few play straightaway. 

(The 471/459 yard par four first is a total beast. The green sits way up on the hill and plays longer than it’s listed yardage…

…thankfully there is room to run it up the hill so one can be as close as possible. From the green, you can see the clubhouse plus the eighteenth hole on both Red and Black. A four here is a good start.) 

(The 181/171 yard par three fourth is all carry to a green fronted by a bunker short left. The view from the green is fantastic as you tower over the seventeenth green on the Black. Several other holes are visible too including those on the Green course.) 

The Red comes alive at the eighth hole when the golfer reaches the scrubby flatland. This stretch (8-15) is filled with strong powerful par fours. Gone are the mature hardwoods that defined the playing corridors and in its place are wide open tracts of land dotted with stands of pines and high grasses. It is a different look but one that allows the player to open his shoulders and let it fly! I personally love the change of scenery. The holes glide effortlessly over it! Two of the best holes are found in this area. The giant centerline bunker at the thirteenth is a unique feature. The golfer must trust his line if he wants to take it down the left fairway and have an open view to the green. The fifteenth is as natural a hole as you’ll find as it follows the contour of the land. If you can play this eight hole sequence close to even, then you’ll gain strokes on the field. 

(The 400/385 yard par four thirteenth is dominated by this large hazard that extends within forty yards of the green. The dual fairway is open on the right but blind on the left…

…the left fairway leaves a clear view into the green while the right fairway must carry the green side bunker. It’s a great hole and one that shows the ingenuity of Tillinghast.) 

(The 450/438 yard par four fifteenth is one of my personal favorites on the course. Look how it doglegs right to shallow valley where the players in cart are…

…from a good drive, it’s a long iron or fairway metal up a rise with sand guarding the left side and a tree well back hedging the approach to fade into the green. Just a beautiful golf hole!) 

It’s understandable why the locals love this course. It’s big and brawny like the Black but it also has moments of finesse like the short par four sixth. The par threes are all solid and a couple can be had. The only drawbacks are some of the trees need trimmed when the course is playing through the hardwoods, and the conditions are very municipal-esque with thin spots and hard pan in the rough areas. The Red reminds me of combination of two local courses, Mill Creek in Youngstown and Goodpark in Akron. Both are good courses and I feel the Red Course fits in that category. Golf Magazine actually rated it in their top 100 public which I feel is an overreach. I like the Red very much and you have to play it if you’re headed to Bethpage. I give Bethpage Red a 5 (good)(worth driving an hour to play).

[we played the middle tees at 6570 yards. It seems manageable until you realize it’s a par 70! Check out the course rating from the middle and back tees. It’s 2 and 4 over par! This was our second eighteen after playing Black in the morning. I think we played the front nine pretty well, especially me with a 39. I had birdie putts inside 15 feet from 5-7. The back nine, where the meat of the course is, was where both of us started to struggle, me especially. I had a chance to push my match on the last hole but tried to get too cute on the third shot and left it in the front trap.]

Addendum 12-1-24

Golf’s 2024/25 Top 100 Public in America came out and Bethpage Red was ranked #65. Either this is East Coast bias or Bethpage Black has long coattails. I think the conditioning of the course and the lack of great greens discounts it from being on the list. While the opening and finishing holes are fantastic, there’s a lot of average holes too. (3-4 16-17 instantly come to mind) I’m not surprised by its inclusion as seems Golf has been building it up, most recently on their Top Municipal list, rating it at #4. There’s several courses on that list which would have made a better addition, Keney Park being one of them.