The par-3 17th hole on the Black Course at Bethpage was a tranquil setting yesterday. Groups of golfers lumbered through, hitting one or two tee shots before putting from various points on the two-tier green.
Once they had committed enough information to memory, players like Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Charles Howell III, and Scott Laird began their trudge up the hill toward the 18th tee. Some stopped to sign a few autographs along the way, but the only real cheer of note came when Mickelson handed a golf ball to 4-year-old McKenzie Lall, who was sitting atop the shoulders of her dad, Keston.
Expect the atmosphere to be much more energized when The Barclays begins play tomorrow. By Sunday, it should border on surreal. The 17th green has been transformed into a mini-amphitheater that figures to be the loudest spot on the golf course.
An estimated $2 million worth of corporate tents border the sides of the green, while grandstands behind the green are large enough to seat about 2,000. Add the standing room along the ropes and figure about 5,000 people will be surrounding the 17th hole waiting for the leaders to come through for a FedEx finish.
“I’ve said before that that’s my favorite hole in golf — my favorite par 3, for sure,” said 2011 PGA champion, Keegan Bradley, who played the course often while attending St. John’s. “I just love it. It’s going to be a lot of fun. As usual, the New York fans are going to be loud. We were hearing them a little bit [yesterday]. It makes it more fun for us.’’
The additional skyboxes and grandstands should only add more character and characters to a hole that produced a number of memorable moments during the 2002 and 2009 U.S. Opens. It was at the 17th where Scott Hoch made a hole-in-one on Sunday of the 2002 U.S. Open and received extended chants of “U-S-A…
U-S-A” for wearing a golf shirt depicting an American flag and the skyline of New York. It spoke to the hearts of a crowd still recovering from the devastation of 9/11.
It also was on the 17th where the gallery serenaded Mickelson with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” in 2002 to honor his 32nd birthday. Just as memorable was the rain delay in 2009 when former New York Gov. George Pataki was caught in the middle of a verbal tug-of-war between grandstands on opposite sides of the green. In an attempt to appease his former constituents, he slogged through the mud going back and forth, prompting cheers from one side and boos from the other.
With the added spectator seating around the green, Dan Nickola, who will marshal the 17th just as he did in 2002 and 2009, expects the atmosphere to be lively.
“There’s going to be a whole lot more people and whole lot more beer drinking,” he said.
There’s going to be some important golf played on the hole, too. It measures 207 yards, just as it did for the two U.S. Opens, presenting an uphill shot to a horizontal green surrounded by three bunkers in the front, one to the right and one to the back right. There’s not much room for error.
“Hit the middle of the green. That’s my strategy,” said Johnson, who won last year’s Barclays at Plainfield Country Club. “You’ve got to get it on the right level. If the flag is on the left, you want to be on the left side. If it’s on the right, you want to be down on the right.”
A good shot is sure to produce a roar much like the par-3 16th green in Phoenix, which is known for its rowdiness.
“You’re going to hear the people,” Fowler said. “You’re going to hear glasses chattering. It’s not going to exactly be perfectly quiet. It’s hard to recreate 16 at Phoenix. But it’s just cool to see other places getting fans involved. It gives the fans a little bit of a stadium atmosphere.”
Bring your earplugs.
george.willis@nypost.com