Oheka Castle might be well paired with the challenge of Bethpage Black, the king of all U.S. municipal courses.
Wow, judging by the number of comments it received, many of you were quite interested in our tip on “How to Get on Bethpage Black Golf Course, site of the 2009 US Open.”
While this definitive guide clarifies and provides insider advice on how to play Long Island, New York’s Bethpage Black Golf Course as a walk-on or by using the tee time reservation system, the two questions many of you still want to know are:
What’s the best way to get to Bethpage Black Golf Course if I’m staying in New York City?
and…
What hotels do you recommend if I want to stay near the Bethpage Black Golf Course?
If you’re staying in New York City, and you don’t have access to a car to take you the 30 miles due East to Bethpage Black Golf Course, the simplest options are to hire a taxi, a car service, or to take the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR).
A taxi would cost nearly the same as a car service, between $75-$85, so unless you’ve never experienced a New York City thrill, er, cab ride (something everyone should do at least once), I’d recommend the cleaner, more comfortable car services, such as Dial 7 (dial7.com) or Carmel (carmellimo.com).
The most economical option, however, is the LIRR. Leaving from NYC’s Penn Station at 8th Avenue and 31st-33rd streets, take the Ronkonkoma train to either the Bethpage or Farmingdale station. The trip takes a little less than an hour, costs just $7-$15, and you don’t have to worry about missing your tee time due to traffic, the major X-factor when driving in the New York metro area.
Both train stations are less than two miles from Bethpage Black Golf Course. Not impossible to walk, but I’d advise hopping in a local taxi (All Seasons Transportation, 516-931-2900 or Farmingdale Taxi, 516-694-0200).
If you’d rather stay much closer to Bethpage Black Golf Course, there are plenty of independent motels and major chain hotels in the area, including those from Hilton, Marriott, Sheraton, and Holiday Inn. Just do a Google search for Bethpage, New York hotels, and you can see how close they are to Bethpage Black Golf Course.
For a more upscale experience, try the Garden City Hotel (gardencityhotel.com), about 15 miles from Bethpage, or the Oheka Castle Hotel & Estate (oheka.com), just nine miles away.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
If you take the train, the closest station to the clubhouse is Farmingdale. Bethpage is a little farther. I sometimes walk from the station to the clubhouse. It’s about a mile, or 20-25 minutes if you take the shortest route, approaching from the back of the range. Most of the walk is very pleasant, but there is a tad dodgy triangular intersection with no sidewalks you have to negotiate, otherwise if you take the long route, it’s an extra ten minutes. Just map the route from Google Maps. The cab is $6 when I last took it in November 08. The most common question is “Are you playing Black?” I notice some car service companies get people to take the cab to/from Hicksville – a much higher fare – don’t fall for that.
Thanks for these additions, Steve. I must admit, I’m not hard core — I usually just drive out there.
I’m heading out there to play the black on Thursday next week. I have registered for a tee time so I’ll try that route but I’m not to optimistic about that. My issue is that I’m leaving Rochester (playing oak hill) and driving down Wednesday night, we prpbably won’t arrive to bethpage until 1 or 2 am. Will we have a chance to get on the walkon list? We are a twosome. Thanks for the insight.
In the area in second half of October from Australia and travelling on my own
any tips on getting on?