Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley Once Faced Coach’s wrath for Bethpage Black Trespass
Ahead of captaining teh U.S. team at the Ryder Cup next week, Keegan Bradley recounted a youthful indiscretion involving his beloved Bethpage Black course: sneaking onto the grounds while it was closed for maintenance. The incident, occurring during his collegiate golf days at St. John’s University, resulted in a stern reprimand from his coach and even drew the attention of local law enforcement.
Bradley, the current cover star of GOLF Magazine, detailed how he and teammates exploited a loophole on the course, utilizing the 13 holes located across Round Swamp Road where they where shielded from view. “The inside loop you are on the other side of the road, so no one can see you when you are out there,” Bradley explained. ”And when you cross over the road from 14 to 15, you are on the other side where the clubhouse is and people can see you everywhere. So we would sort of play the inside loop so no one saw you as the course was closed; I’m sure you weren’t supposed to do it.”
The clandestine rounds continued until Bradley’s senior year when he and a friend, George, openly defied the closure. “Finally my senior year my buddy George and I,we went and played it and we got in so much trouble. It was really bad. That’s as mad as I have ever seen my coach. Finally my senior year we were like, screw it, we gotta go do it – and it was ugly.” A police officer was dispatched to investigate the report of golfers on the closed course, an event Bradley now calls a “huge mistake.”
despite the trouble, Bradley emphasized the deep connection New Yorkers have with Bethpage Black. “People don’t realize, if you are not from New York, just how important Bethpage Black is to the locals,” he said. “Winged Foot is great, Shinnecock is amazing, but if you talk to a real New Yorker, Bethpage is the home course.”
More of Bradley’s story can be found in a feature by Dylan Dethier here and in a full-length YouTube video here.
