Ryder Cup, PGA would play well on Bethpage Black
Fans at the 17th tee watch a tee shot head to the green at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black. (June 20, 2009) Credit: David Pokress
The atmosphere at the Ryder Cup is so frenzied that captains decide the lineups based, at least partly, on which players can withstand it. That much came out during the U.S. team's announcement at the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday. Imagine, though, just how frenzied the matches could get if they were held at Bethpage Black, where crowds make the floor of the stock exchange seem subdued.
It would be a perfect setting for the boisterous U.S. vs. Europe competition, in the view of many. "Many" includes tour pros who endorsed the idea during the 2009 U.S. Open, local golf fans and one distinguished visitor Wednesday. Ted Bishop, future president of the PGA of America, which runs the U.S. Ryder Cup operation as well as the PGA Championship, was on the grounds and saw what he hoped was the future.
"The Ryder Cup has never been hosted in metropolitan New York and New York, arguably, is the greatest sports venue in the world," said Bishop, currently the secretary for the PGA of America, in line to become vice president in November and president in two years. "Obviously a lot of things have to happen to make it possible, but I would have to think this place is on the radar screen."
Bishop was in Manhattan Tuesday as American captain Corey Pavin chose Tiger Woods and three others to complete the 2010 U.S. roster. Wednesday, Bishop made a side trip to Bethpage, where the Met PGA was holding its assistant pros championship on the Red Course - with a field that included Bishop's daughter Ambry (an assistant at St. Andrew's in Westchester and coach of the St. John's University women's team) before she missed the cut Tuesday.
He made it clear that it wasn't an official visit, that he is not the spokesman for the PGA and that the PGA Championship is booked through 2017.
"That being said, obviously, Bethpage Black has hosted United States Opens. The venue certainly lends itself well to hosting another major championship and I would hope the PGA of America would look at this as a potential venue for not only the PGA Championship but a Ryder Cup," he said.
Officials of the U.S. Golf Association, who brought the Open to Bethpage in 2002 and 2009, have not given any indication that they are looking to bring their marquee event back within the next 10 years, so the door is open for other events. While Bishop was at the course, he did speak with Ron Foley, the state parks regional director, and Dave Catalano, the Bethpage State Park director.
"We are capable of hosting any event that is on the horizon," Foley said. "I think we can't do it too often because we don't want to disenfranchise the public. This is their place. But we do think that those premier events bring prestige to the place and make it even more rewarding for the public. So we talk to people. The economic benefits that come to this region from an event like the U.S. Open are huge, and the area needs it. So that we would be thinking about such a thing is not any surprise."
The Ryder Cup has become known for its high pitched drama and the most partisan spectator rooting in golf, on both sides of the Atlantic. "Certainly, the atmosphere is great. It's fun to play in front of crowds that are that excited," Woods said Tuesday.
Bethpage ranks as one of the most raucous sites in golf, which would fit the template.
Of course, there is also the course. "I played there the Tuesday after Father's Day, about two months after I had played Augusta National," Bishop said. "Augusta National is perfect every time you play it. I walked off this golf course and I thought, from a conditioning standpoint, it was every bit as good as Augusta National was."
