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Bethpage Black
by Dominique Bois
| Links Corner Course Database ID Number - 908 |
Release Date |
CRZ Filesize |
Par |
Course Length |
| 2002-05-11 |
45,687,178 bytes |
70 |
7480 yards |
| Type |
Style |
CRZ Filename |
|
REAL |
PARKLAND |
Bethpage Black.crz |
| Course ID |
Course Key |
| e262b24c2bed450197c3d0bd42c72727 |
e357aaddfd498660832c26b8a13a6d08 |
|
LINKS CORNER REVIEW |
Reviewed by
Mike Nifong
June 2002
Course type: Bethpage Black is the APCD re-creation of The Black Course in Long Island's Bethpage State Park, near Farmingdale, NY. One of the most revered public courses in the country, this 1936 A. W. Tillinghast designed parkland-style course is considered to be not only one of America's best courses, but also (at under $40.00 per round) one of the best bargains in all of golf. In 1998, Golf Magazine ranked it #4 among the 'Top 100 Courses You Can Play in the US.' As any reader of this review is undoubtedly aware, 'the Black' is the site of the 2002 U.S. Open.
Historical perspective: Dominique Bois is no recent arrival to the world of golf sims. Although Bethpage Black is only his third APCD design, his reputation as a top designer was established in JN6 (for which he collaborated on a previous version of this course).
Dominique's previous APCD designs include a real course - Golf Club de Volcans at Clermont-Ferrand (also originally designed for JN6) - and a fictional one - Broken Arrow Championship Course. Volcans received a favorable LC review of 84, but was not enthusiastically received in the user ratings, with a single gold star (50-59%). Broken Arrow actually scored a point lower with the LC reviewer, but garnered much higher user scores (4 stars, or 80-89%). Both, for what it is worth, remain on my HD.
Bethpage Black was released as a public beta on 2/26/02, and then in its initial 'final' version on 4/28/02. A considerably more substantial undertaking than its predecessors (at 41.9MB, it was larger than both of them put together), it received rave reviews from the majority of the Links community (a 5-star rating from 45 players and the April 2002 Players' Choice Award as COM), but there were scattered complaints about 'steel weeds' from some who strayed too far off the short grass; consequently, a fixed version was released on 5/11/02 to similar response (5-stars again, although from fewer reviewers).
A second issue will, unfortunately, not be so easily banished, and that is the accuracy of the recreation. Specifically, several members of this community have complained that the hole lengths are not exact, with several playing longer than their actual counterparts. Overlooking for the moment the not insignificant issue of precisely how hole lengths are measured (and it is reasonably clear that the APCD does not measure them the way the USGA does), it does seem apparent at this point that Dominique's version will play some 260 yards longer than the real Bethpage Black in its Open guise (7480 yards versus 7220 yards). On only three holes, however, does the APCD hole length differ from that of the real version by more than 20 yards: #4 is 35 yards longer, #12 is 23 yards longer, and #15 is 46 yards longer. As Dominique explains in his read-me, 'the general feel is here, the length is rather correct and the greens give a good idea of the real ones even if each little slope is not rendered as it really is.'
My rating criteria do not include a score for how close a course comes to matching its real-life counterpart: any attempt to do so would be unduly subjective and would require specific knowledge that I simply do not have. But it appears that those of you who demand Microsoft/Access-level accuracy may want to look elsewhere (or try your own hands at the APCD). For me, the current effort succeeds admirably in capturing the feel of this venue. Certainly, had Dominique waited until all the details of the Open reworking were available, he could have given us a more precise rendition, but then we would not have the opportunity to play it at the same time the pros do. I, for one, am grateful that he made the choice he did.
What is included: Pretty much everything you would want. The read-me file contains a brief history of the design project (although not much information about the actual course) and some useful notes on the play of each hole. The customary splash screen and cameo are quite good in the Access/Microsoft tradition. The hole previews are excellent and very informative, although they may require a little more careful study than some more traditionally designed ones. There is also a recorded round (pro click B/F/F).
Technical merit
No problem here. While the mesh is not perfectly pristine, you will have to look awfully hard to spot any blemishes: I saw a tiny shadow at the front edge of the middle tee box on #3 and another at a texture boundary to the left of the fairway on #6; both were visible only in the top view. Everything else looked very clean, even in the hypercritical dynamic view. Edges are excellent.
Artistic achievement
When you begin a practice round (all alone, with no crowds) at Bethpage Black, you will most likely first be struck by its vast openness: it is apparent that this is a big course. And by big, I don't mean just long - the fairways, the bunkers, the seas of rough, the greens, all seem to exist in a scale unaccustomed by the average course. If it were not for the water tower and a few other structures visible in the distance, it would also seem very lonely, far removed from the urban environment one tends to associate with New York locales. Such is the beauty of Bethpage State Park, and it is captured in all its splendor in Dominique's offering. The textures are wonderfully chosen, with three different roughs that give a wild and untamed look to the venue (the burnt rough texture in particular bears mention), a look that is nicely counterbalanced by the careful precision of the ample fairways and large greens. But even this view is misleading. You can only appreciate the real scale of this undertaking, however, if you play with large crowds: nothing opens up the flattened perspective of the monitor view like the lines of colorfully clad spectators - literally thousands of them - snaking along the fairways and around the bends, gradually shrinking down to ant-like proportions. The effect is magical, and it really enhances the illusion that you are participating in a truly major event.
The sense of vastness is only enhanced if you should find yourself in one of the many huge bunkers that line the fairway landing areas and front the greens (in fact, the multitude of fairway bunkers were in many cases created by subdividing even larger bunkers, but they look so perfect as they are here that you will wonder how it could ever have been any other way). These bunkers are also very beautifully finished, looking spectacular both from a distance and up close.
Planting is just about perfect. One might have asked for a tuft or so of grass at the base of the more isolated tree trunks to keep their bases from looking too stark, but this is a very minor point that is pretty much obviated by the crowds anyway. It is also possible to notice, upon careful study, that a few trees repeat on occasion, but the fact that the forested areas generally keep their distance from the places your ball is likely to land means that you will really have to look for such repetition to see it.
In the final analysis, though, this is really a case where the whole greatly exceeds the sum of its parts. In Dominique's re-creation, you will actually understand why Bethpage Black is such a storied course. And if you are still not convinced of the thoroughness with which he has captured his subject, just visit the U.S. Open website for a few comparison photos, or watch the television coverage of the real thing - I think you will be amazed.
Play value
I'll cut right to the chase here: this is one of the most challenging APCD courses yet created. What is more, it achieves this distinction without the slightest hint of artifice. The formula for success here is remarkably simple: put your tee shots in the fairways, put your approach shots on the greens. Would that 'twere so simple to accomplish as 'tis to state (to wax poetic). And the difficulty is not so much the length of the course per se (although to be sure, it is long, especially for its par of 70) as it is the requirement for precision on shots that must carry 250 yards or more. The vast majority of the fairways are quite generous in the landing areas (usually somewhat wider than the usual 22-pace Open standard), but bunkers are often placed so that you will want to hit the ball a little harder to insure a carry, thereby jeopardizing your snap, or to adjust your line right or left, thereby sacrificing either angle or length on your next shot. If you do land in a bunker or find the 'U.S. Open rough' you can pretty much forget about besting par; indeed, par will come as a relief.
Even if you do find the fairway, you may not be home free. A second shot from the fairway will rarely find itself blocked by trees (although #9 is an exception to this rule: your drive must be not only straight, but also not too strong or weak), but you can still find yourself in a position from which the green will be hard to reach, or hard to hold. Most of the greens are elevated and well protected by bunkers in the front, which means that anything you leave short will likely wind up either in the sand or on an uphill lie in the rough (of these two choices, the sand may actually offer the better chance at recovery). These greens often drop off quickly on the backside as well, which can mean trouble if you need a fairway wood or long iron just to reach.
Such is the nature of risk/reward on Bethpage Black. It is present on virtually every hole, but it is often very subtle. Take the much-written-about #12, for example. If you choose to take a line that will allow you to reach the green in two (this is a par-4, mind you), you will have to carry a large bunker that cuts across the fairway about 250 yards out. Succeed and you will likely have at least a shot at a birdie; fail and you are looking at bogey or worse. If you play instead to the relatively narrow fairway right of the bunker, your third shot will likely be a short LW or chip to the green; par is a good bet, but anything better will be mostly a matter of luck.
Once you reach them, you will find that the greens themselves tend to be very large and relatively flat - flat in the sense that the slopes are not unreasonable and are generally fairly level with respect to the plane of the slope. This means that putts of less than 12 feet or so are usually pretty uncomplicated, and even long putts can usually be read easily enough to get close.
Water is present on only one hole - the par-3 #8 - and it cannot really be said to be in play. Even if the pin is placed at the front of the green and your tee shot comes up short, there is enough heavy rough on the slope that your ball stands little chance of getting wet.
Windy conditions can make the course especially difficult as they multiply the odds of missing the fairway. When I had my A.I. foursome (Clearwater, Garcia, Tanaka and Forsman) play the course in relatively benign conditions (B/M/M/M), they finished a combined 30 under par (-6 to -10, with no bogeys), FIR 80% (64-92%), GIR 80% (77-83%) - sad to say, I found it a bit tougher. But when the same group played under tough conditions (W/F/F/D), they were only 13 under par (-2 to -5, with 4 bogeys, in a round featuring many spectacular sand saves), FIR 53% (42-64%), GIR 55% (50-61%). The toughest holes, regardless of conditions, were #5, #9, #12, #15 and #17. Appropriately enough for an Open venue, whatever the conditions, there will be any number of holes on which par should be considered a good score.
The bottom line: Simply put, this is one of the ten best courses currently available. I think even those who have expressed disappointment in the level of exactitude would nonetheless have to concede that it is a remarkable APCD achievement in its own right, and frankly, anyone who would reject it merely for failing to capture the Open specs exactly is probably never going to be happy with any golf game played while sitting in front of a monitor with his hand on a mouse.
Enthusiastically recommended for everyone.
Course statistics:
Par 70; 5 sets of tees (although, to recreate the Open look, only the back tees actually have markers); 7480 yards from back tees; holes are handicapped. |
This course is available as a FREE download.
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