Bethpage State Park — Black Course
Farmingdale, N.Y.
Owned by New York's Parks and Recreation Department, Bethpage State Park's Black Course was built in the mid-1930s using stimulus money from F.D.R.'s New Deal. Golfers driven to distraction by this beast may argue that, as a public-works project, it hasn't served the public much good at all. The par-4 10th hole requires a golfer to strike the ball at least 250 yards in the air — just to reach the fairway. On the second day of the 2002 U.S. Open, only 15% of the players managed to find the short grass on this infamous hole. Some golfers didn't even bother to try: "If you can't hit it 280 in the air around here, you might as well go home," said 2001 U.S. Senior Open champion Bruce Fleisher before withdrawing a few days before the U.S. Open began.