Bethpage Red is the little sister, but still a fine golf course

The first hole is a bruiser. From an elevated tee this 450 yard par four plays all of it. Fairway bunkers right. If you are even after one, buy a lottery ticket. Sanity prevails on the dogleg left 2nd. A high draw is the weapon of choice off the tee. There is a greenside bunker left. The 3rd is just about opposite hand of the 2nd. The first par three is mid-length with a long deep front bunker. The first par five is reachable for big hitters. A dogleg right with bunkers on the outside elbow and trees on the inside a high fade is the preferred ball flight off the tee. The sixth is a sharp dogleg left, when I say sharp almost 90 degrees. For first time players the best option may be to lay up. I said to heck with it and tried to hook it around the corner. That ended up poorly. The 7th is blasé par 3, mid-length bunkers left and right. The 8th is a long straight away par four with fairway bunkers on both sides. The green is well-protected as well. The 9th, like 1, is a beast. A slight dogleg left the best tee shot is over the bunkers on the inside corner. This will give you a chance to go for it but the green is well protected with moguls and bunkers. Tough hole.

The back starts with two long doglegs right, the 10th has more bunkers and the 11th utilizes trees. The 12th is the longest par three. Two bunkers left and one right and yours truly went bunker to bunker twice. Not my favorite hole. I really liked 13, even though I did not birdie it. Just left of center in the landing area is a colony of bunkers. Left provides a better angle and a shorter approach, but there are also bunkers left. Right has more room, but your approach will need to carry a deep bunker. The 14th is along dogleg left with bunkers on the inside elbow. Best tee shot is a high draw over the bunkers. How does a 482 yard dogleg right par four sound? Welcome to 15. An elevated green with bunkers right and long. The par 5 16th was my favorite hole. A reasonable length par 5 dogleg right. Two mediocre shots and a great (lucky?) wedge gave me an insta-birdie. The 17th is the shortest par 3 but it does have a ball eating front bunker. It should be no surprise that 18 is another long par 4. Both the tee and green are elevated and the fairway is squeezed on both sides by bunkers. The two-tiered green also has bunkers on both sides.

Tough course, the length of the par fours was almost demoralizing. Good value.