1 - Yardage: 430 Par: 4
This hole couldn't be lengthened because the tee backs up to the infrastructure of the club. So, while it's a fairly long hole for mere mortals playing from the white tees (421 yards), it's not a demanding opener for the pros. The big hitters can try to carry the trees from the elevated tee and hit a wedge into the green. Others will play the safe route, staying left of the trees and hitting an 8-iron. The green isn't particularly challenging on approach shots or putting.
2 - Yardage: 389 Par: 4
Most players will hit a long iron or 3-wood off the tee to the narrow fairway and still have only a wedge into the green, making this a birdie opportunity. The second shot is up a steep hill. The hole locations will likely all be toward the front of the green near the bunkers, so if a player becomes too greedy or is playing from the rough, he could find the sand.
3 - Yardage: 205 Par: 3
Players will hit a mid-iron to a shallow green.that sits on an angle. The toughest hole location is back left, where the green falls away from the player and the ball could easily bounce over the green in firm conditions. It's a tough up-and-down from the rough behind the green.
4 - Yardage: 517 Par: 5
The fairway bunker on the left is in play for the tee shot, but the cross bunker is not a factor on the second even after a bad drive. Players will be tempted to go for the green in two, especially if they can get home with an iron. But it will be very difficult to hold the putting surface, since it's an uphill shot to a green that slopes away and then down to a chipping area in the back. The front bunker will catch short approaches. If they can resist the lure of a possible eagle, the pros can make a birdie fairly easily by playing safely to the part of the fairway that bends to the right of the green and pitching close.
5 - Yardage: 452 Par: 5
Players will want to favor the right side of the fairway for a better approach; from the left of the fairway you have to hit over the trees. The huge fairway bunker isn't a major factor with the distance the players hit it off the tee these days, though they could catch the far end of it if they push their drive. The approach to the elevated green, with a 7-iron or less, will be difficult on a shot from the rough. The bunker behind the green is a deep one.
6 - Yardage: 408 Par: 4
The USGA has ensured that players will lay up off the tee by eliminating the fairway where the hole turns downhill some 250 yards out. Without that rough, a player could have hit a driver down to the bottom, leaving a sand wedge into the green, if he dared thread the needle between two fairway bunkers or tried to blast over the left one. Now it will be an iron off the tee and an 8-iron or so to a narrow green that is closely flanked by sand.
7 - Yardage: 489 Par: 4
The trees to the right keep players from cutting the corner, making the hole play its full length and blocking them if they stray to the right. Players need to fade the ball off the tee or possibly hit a 3-wood to avoid going through the fairway into the left fairway bunker. It will be a tough par if a player doesn't hit the fairway. The hole's most striking visual feature, a vast waste bunker, doesn't come into play for the pros from the front tee. It's the only bunker on the course that was left alone in the redesign.
8 - Yardage: 210 Par: 3
There's some room to move the tee back, so the hole could play 230 yards to a back hole location. The USGA says the hole will be toward the back all four days, close to the bunkers but not the water. This green has more contour than most at Bethpage, with a terrace in the back.
9 - Yardage: 418 Par: 4
Before the most recent tee addition, pros were able to cut the corner of the dogleg and hit a half wedge to the green. Now, not only will they not be able to cut the corner, they will have to contend with an upslope in the landing area. If they fail to carry it, they can roll back down toward the tee, leaving a blind shot with a mid-iron. The fairway was moved to the right so players on that side will have a view of the flagstick. Long hitters have an edge: They should carry the hill and have a wedge to the green.
10 - Yardage: 492 Par: 4
The tougher back nine begins with a brawny challenge. It's a demanding driving hole, with bunkers on both sides outlined by fescue rough. With the length of the hole and an elevated green with rough and bunkers in front, it will be hard -- if not impossible -- to reach the green if you miss the fairway.
11 - Yardage: 435 Par: 4
With bunkers on both sides, the drive is similar to the parallel 10th hole. Since they head in opposite directions, the 11th will be into the wind if the 10th is downwind, and vice versa. In normal conditions, the 11th is easier, because it's shorter and the green is easier to hit. This is one of the few holes where Rees Jones added a greenside bunker rather than just redesigning existing ones. Sloped from back to front, the green is tougher to putt than most at Bethpage.
12 - Yardage: 499 Par: 4
Tom Meeks, the USGA official in charge of course set-up, spent a day at the New York State Open last summer, and he didn't like what he saw on this hole. Players were hitting it farther around the corner than he thought they would, catching a downslope, and hitting 7-irons into the green. He decided the tee should be extended back 10 yards, stretching it to 499. If the tee is set all the way back -- which Meeks says isn't a certainty -- the carry over the fairway bunker is still not intimidating for the pros at 243 yards, but they will have to aim farther to the right to catch the angled fairway. This should keep them from having a short iron into the green. The putting surface has some contour.
13 - Yardage: 554 Par: 5
If they drive it in the fairway, many players will be able to go for the green in two. The large fairway bunker to the left isn't in play for the pros. The next bunker well short of the green isn't a big factor, either, but the angle of the green makes it difficult to run a second shot onto the putting surface. Jones considered adding greenside bunkers to the left in addition to reestablishing the one to the right, but decided that rough would be just as much of a penalty.
14 - Yardage: 161 Par: 3
This is a chance for a birdie before the tough finishing stretch. The green is fairly shallow and it's a difficult recovery from either the deep bunker to the front and right or down the slope behind the green. With a short iron, though, there won't be many players missing the green. Lengthening the hole by moving the tee back across a road was considered, but it would have required lowering the existing tee, so the idea was rejected. The plan might be revived in the future.
15 - Yardage: 459 Par: 4
A new tee was built about 15 yards farther back after the redesign, but the USGA has elected not to use it for the Open. This is partly to aid gallery movement, mostly because the hole is plenty tough anyway. The green is very elevated, with the fairway ending some 40 yards short of the putting surface and bunkers built into the hill. It's a difficult approach from the fairway, even with a mid-iron, and an impossible one from the rough unless you catch a good lie. The green is the most sloping one on the course, mostly back to front. The front part of the putting surface is so severe that there are no hole locations there at U.S. Open green speed. It's a tough up-and-down from any direction.
16 - Yardage: 479 Par: 4
The tee shot is downhill, so the hole doesn't play as long as the scorecard indicates. Players will have about a 7-iron into the green -- less for long hitters unless they hit a 3-wood off the tee. The hole will be located close to the large bunker on the right for at least three days, possibly all four. That's a tough spot because the green slopes away from the player, making it a challenge to get close.
17 - Yardage: 207 Par: 3
This is another par three with a shallow green, and it's well bunkered. The front middle bunker has a high lip that hides the putting surface from the tee, guarding the shallowest part of the oddly shaped green, the center (it's only 13 yards front to back at that point). The new portion of the green on the right side adds another difficult hole location.
18 - Yardage: 411 Par: 4
This hole, originally a mere 370 yards to a bland green, has been totally redone. It's still a fairly short par four by modern standards and not the brutish finishing hole many expect at the U.S. Open, but Jones added some character and a touch of difficulty. The most noticeable feature is the fairway bunkering, with 10 bunkers pinching both sides of the fairway from the 260- to 315-yard mark from the tee and the fairway narrowing to a small neck at about 290 yards. This takes the driver out of play. The choices are to stay short of the bunkers entirely, leaving an uphill, 170-yard shot to the green, or to challenge the first bunkers and shorten the approach. The smaller green doesn't offer an easy target and the hole will be located near the right bunker three days.
