I did the whole “sleep in the car” thing a few years ago and played Black twice and the Red once. The Black wasn’t much fun with the biggest culprit being my lack of distance. I couldn’t make the carry over the sand traps (5,7,12) or hit several greens that required long aerial shots (6,10,16). This effectively meant I was playing ten par fives. By this measure, my 86 was only four over par. The profile talks about it, but I would like to emphasize just how impressive the walk is. If Alt Trails was rating it, 5/5 would be the number. You need to be in good shape to tackle the Black. It’ll be fun watching the Ryder Cup.

Love this! Thanks, Abby!

I'm around that same skill level, and since I live in NY, I try to play it at least once a year. I still enjoy it even though it kicks my ass. As long as you are not too much of a short hitter, you can get around and still have fun. Plenty of people play it who are way worse than bogey golfers, despite (or perhaps because of) the sign. You just have to have the right mindset going in. For the average golfer, its a fantasy to get access to play on a course that hosts major championships, so having this as a place where you can achieve that dream makes it special.

Slope from the front tees is 144 On the Ocean Course, that’s like playing a combo of the middle tees. That’s the tips at Pac Dunes And one tee up from the US Open tees on #2 And that’s the front tees…

I have rarely left a course so conflicted as I did after playing Bethpage last year. This profile gets to the heart of it. It is a great piece of land with some potentially cool holes on it and yet just not fully realized. For just daily muni play, just widening fairways and dialing back on the difficulty of the rough would be enough. The greens are boring but the course is still long and tough enough that it isn't like all the hacks in New York would be shooting career rounds there just because they hit a few more fairways. But, yeah, if they are going to keep it as a championship venue then if they widen it at all then it really needs more interesting greens. Because with wider fairways a lot of pros today probably can take it apart given how plain the greens are. I suppose the fairways will still be narrow but if they do dial back the rough for the Ryder Cup next week it will be interesting to see if there are birdies made or if this is more of a static pars and bogies match.

I have occasionally had the thought to make the pilgrimage of a 4-hour drive, sleep in my car, etc. in order to play here. Would be neat to say I played on a US Open/Ryder Cup venue. What holds me back is: I'm a bogey golfer. Would I actually enjoy it? I think the course would destroy me. The photos really show the movement of the land, much more than anything I've seen previously. Thanks again for all of these profiles, they really are a pleasure to read.

When Kiara Romero, granted she is the best women "am", can make a tone of money The system is broken

Truly delighted to see KVV join TFE! Parenting question for KVV What sort of things did you do to introduce your kids to golf, and to help grow their affinity for the sport? My girls are 4 and 5, and while I want them to pursue the things they care about, I obviously would be delighted if golf was one of those things. Would love some advice from someone who is further down the parenting tracks than me

If you’re flying from the States, I’m pretty sure Dublin is your best bet.

In a forty MPH headwind in January, it may be an average player's only option.