For those visiting Bethpage Park’s ‘Black Course,’ there is a warning sign on the first tee advising that it is an ‘extremely difficult’ golf course.
That’s not the only thing that is extremely difficult as newly-appointed double European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and many of his team heading to New York in late 2025 are already aware.
There have been two recent major championships hosted at Bethpage Black – the 2009 US Open and 2019 PGA Championship – among a few golf courses located within Bethpage Park, laid out less than 40 miles from the heart of the Big Apple.
The quietly-spoken Englishman says he’ll use the 22 months prior to the 45th hosting of the Ryder Cup to work hard so that his team will feel comfortable in returning home with the golden trophy for what would be a first time since 2012 in what subsequently became known as the ‘Miracle at Medinah.’
However, if Donald is to follow in Tony Jacklin’s footsteps and become just the second European Ryder Cup captain to lead his side to back-to-back successes, it will mean having to silence the noisiest and more boisterous sports fans on the planet.
“Certainly that’s part of the challenge,” Donald admitted.
“All Ryder Cups are loud and boisterous and New York won’t be any different and maybe even more so. But I played at Bethpage a few times and the New Yorkers love their sport and they love some jostling and all that kind of that goes with it.
“Obviously I have 22 months to try and figure out how to get the guys in the right frame of mind to deal with that, with the crowd.
“It’s the same every time you go away and New York might be a touch — a notch above that, but again, that’s to be seen. I’ve got 22 months now to try to figure that and those were sort of the things that will certainly be swishing around in my brain over the next few weeks.”
And while his appointment as 2025 European captain has only just been confirmed, Donald was asked his thoughts on whether he will retain the same ‘backroom staff’ he had with him in Rome.
“As I said, we created a great culture, but those decisions will start to form in my head over these coming months,” he said.
“I’m sure someone like Francesco (Molinari) would love to play in New York, as I’m sure he feels like he still has an opportunity to do it. You saw Justin Rose at age 43 or something have a great Ryder Cup himself. That’s inspiring, I’m sure, to someone like that.
“So I think, like any Ryder Cup captaincy, these decisions take time. I’ll certainly look at all the candidates and all the vice captains that were under me and have conversations with them and see where their mind is as well. So again, nothing has been decided yet. That process starts right now.”
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