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Before the sun even had chance to rise over the Empire State on Friday morning, thousands of fervent golf fans - and one president - were preparing to barrel onto the prestigious ground of Bethpage Black.
Nestled in Farmingdale, New York, the notorious golf course, one of the toughest in the United States, is this week’s battleground for the sport’s biggest tournament: The Ryder Cup.
And when that rope dropped at 6am ET, months of laborious planning, preparation and construction were finally put to the test.
A golf course accustomed to hosting around 3,000 people per day is suddenly accommodating 50,000 spectators - and over 4,000 more staff - as Bethpage is transformed into the stage for golf’s greatest rivalry.
Yet, the transformation hasn’t come overnight. Long before Europe’s Luke Donald and Team USA’s Keegan Bradley assembled their arsenal of players, the PGA of America was already ensuring Bethpage Black was battle-ready.
The tireless build to whip Bethpage into a championship stage has spanned four months. Yet, as recently as a few days ago the course was still a construction site.
Golf's biggest event is being held at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York this week
Tournament organizers have transformed the public park into a stage for the Ryder Cup
Before the sun rose on Friday, spectators were already barreling into the grounds
And looking from the towering gallery behind the first tee, it’s not hard to see why. Bethpage has been reshaped into a sporting spectacle that rivals even the Super Bowl or World Cup.
It’s one of the largest tournament infrastructures that golf has ever witnessed, manned by 4,200 volunteers and 200-plus PGA staff members.
It’s a sprawling infrastructure that one awestruck spectator likened to 'Disneyland'. And thanks to 60 months of design planning by the PGA of America, it truly is a golf fan’s ‘Happiest Place on Earth.’
Since May 19, Ryder Cup organizers have erected 362 structures across the 1,477-acre park, including hospitality ‘chalets,’ fan engagement pop-up tents, countless food markets and ‘pouring bars,’ and of course the merchandise megastore, which could fit as many as eight tennis courts.
Where immaculate fairway grass or treacherous rough once lay, 1,200,000 square feet of carpet and artificial turf have been rolled out, while 1,610,000 square feet of decking - the most in Ryder Cup history - has been laid down to protect the immaculate course from the trampling footfall of 250,000 spectators over the entire week.
Ten grandstands loom over sweeping greens, the most imposing of which offers as many as 5,000 spectators views of the action across the first tee and 18th green.
Those unable to snatch a front row seat from the elevated galleries are penned in behind 15 miles of rope. And when even that isn’t enough to keep the rabid New York fans at bay, 7.2 miles of chain-link fencing protects the Europeans from the home supporters frothing at the mouth to heckle and intimidate them.
Getting those raucous fans to the tournament venue presents a challenge in itself. With Big Apple traffic to and from Bethpage getting thicker by the day, the Long Island Railroad has added numerous extra trains to its schedule in order to shuttle the city’s Manhattanites out to the suburbs.
The hospitality 'chalet' one of the hundreds of structures built, can be seen behind the green
Fans raced into Bethpage early on Friday morning at a chance at snatching a seat in the gallery
Countless buses have been recruited to the mission, constantly ferrying spectators from Farmingdale’s train station and parking lots up to the Ryder Cup’s front gates in a perpetual loop with the first arriving at the course before first light.
For those whose VIP status and wallets warrant more luxurious transportation, they can take to the air. The nearby Bethpage Red Golf Course is home to 20 helipads for the week with scheduled trips from the city provided by BLADE costing $1,250 - a far cry from ‘The People’s Country Club’.
However, this Ryder Cup faces more challenges than its iconic setting or its boisterous spectators. This tournament is getting the presidential treatment.
On Friday, golf's biggest event joined the Super Bowl, US Open and the New York Yankees as the latest pit stop on Donald Trump’s presidential tour of sporting spectacles.
Just two weeks after his close friend and political ally Charlie Kirk was fatally shot dead during a public debate at Utah Valley University, Trump was among the crowd of his fellow New York natives as the USA opened its battle against Europe.
Yet, the Commander-in-Chief’s decision to drop into Bethpage has provided a ‘hiccup’ to say the least, as PGA of America digital general manager Rob Smith diplomatically put it.
Unlike Trump’s recent trip to the Yankees’ clubhouse, US Captain Keegan Bradley insisted that he has no plans to invite the president into the locker room to deliver a war cry to his team. ‘I think President Trump is a pretty busy guy,’ he said Tuesday.
However, predicting Trump’s next move is never an exact science. It’s a constant guessing game that has left organizers on high alert.
The nearby Bethpage Red Golf Course is home to 20 helipads for the week
Chartered helicopter company BLADE is providing flights from Manhattan for $1,250
Rigorous security measures have been implemented at the main entrance to the venue
Trump took his place inside a box of perplex glass amid a wave of security fears at the event
Trump’s insistence to throw himself into the spotlight alongside his lackey Bryson DeChambeau and co. only added another layer of complication to an already vast security operation.
Drones, bomb-disposal dogs as well as chemical, biological and radiological units descended on the public park, while a perplex glass box was erected on the first tier of the first tee grandstand to safely house the president during Friday afternoon's fourball matches.
‘Enhanced security measures’ were announced on Wednesday morning, warning spectators of the chaos Trump’s arrival is expected to herald.
A string of items have been banned from 'the first tee grandstand or clubhouse area' on Friday.
Range finders will be stripped from the shelves in the merchandise megastore for the one day, slated to return when doors open again on Saturday morning.
Fans have also been barred from bringing the piece of golf equipment into the event, which was reportedly used by Thomas Matthew Crooks in the attempted assassination of the president last year.
Other items prohibited from Friday’s opening session include portable folding chairs, torch-style lighters and large vaping devices.
Spectators had to pass through TSA-style security at the main gate and the first tee
State troopers and secret service agents patrolled the restricted area with bomb sniffer dogs
Laptops and tablets are also barred from the course, while 'all bags, personal items and their contents may be subject to inspection.'
The use of umbrellas, meanwhile, 'may be restricted in certain areas of the course and main grandstand,' with ponchos 'strongly encouraged', leaving fans praying the torrential downpours that bombarded Bethpage early Thursday morning will have long passed over.
Officials also warned fans to expect delays and airport-style security as Bethpage Black braces itself for the president's visit. Gates will now open at 5am ET on Friday as the Ryder Cup bids to avoid the chaos of the recent US Open men's singles final, which saw the clash between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz pushed back half an hour due to extra security protocols with president in the stands of Arthur Ashe.
But the PGA of America will hope that even Trump’s theatrics will be unable to derail its mammoth undertaking of staging the Ryder Cup.
