FORECAST FOR BETHPAGE BLACK FULL OF RAIN
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — It’s almost impossible to find a golfer who doesn’t use the words difficult or long in describing Bethpage Black.
It is impossible to find anyone connected with the U.S. Open who doesn’t want to keep the rain away.
With a recent rain history approaching biblical proportions, and a forecast that has umbrella salespeople smiling, the 7,426-yard, par-70 public course that is hosting the U.S. Open for a second time this decade is throwing a wet blanket over the chances of a lot of golfers.
“When I practiced (Tuesday, it was) the first time that I saw one of the more difficult golf courses in my life, probably because of the rain,” Eduardo Romero said Wednesday.
When the Open was played at Bethpage Black in 2002, it was the longest course in Open history at 7,214 yards. Since then, three Open courses were longer and only Torrey Pines, which played last year at 7,643, will be longer than this year’s layout.
Bethpage Black will have three of the longest par 4s in Open history, including the 525-yard seventh, the longest non-par 5 ever played.
The forecast called for rain to begin Wednesday and carry into today, the first day of competition.
“From tee to green, this golf course is all you want,” said Tiger Woods, the defending champion and the winner the last time the Open was played on Bethpage Black. “With the weather coming in here this week, it’s only going to get longer and harder and it’s going to be even more difficult.”
Footnotes.
Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark pulled out of the tournament because of an ear infection. He was replaced in the field by Steven Conway of Murrietta, Calif.
• The USGA announced that Oakmont in Pennsylvania, reputed to be the toughest golf course in America, will host the U.S. Open in 2016.
• The USGA Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History has launched the “Tiger Woods Championship Scrapbook,” an online exhibit that shows each of Woods’ nine USGA titles — three each at the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur. Denver Post wire services
