For the pro golfers ready to represent Europe and the U.S, and for the professionals who’ve tended Bethpage State Park to greatness, the road to the Ryder Cup begins on the grounds. As both groups prepare for the 2025 Ryder Cup, we hear from Bethpage’s team – dedicated stewards of the park – as they share details about their day-to-day work to make the park shine.

Between the staff and the pro athletes, it seems everyone has roots in the Long Island course. Team USA is led by Captain Keegan Bradley, a St. John’s alumnus who regularly played at Bethpage State Park with his college teammates. Team Europe is captained by Luke Donald, who has played the Black course several times and made a separate visit this year to encourage some local fan support.

This spring, the European Captain and his wife Diane took a Bethpage tour that included the Nature Discovery Garden, a special spot off the seventh hole of the Green Course. It borders Northside Elementary School in Farmingdale. School staff and Alexa Hoffman, the horticulture technician at Bethpage State Park, led the garden tour and showed wildflowers and native grasses, binoculars, signs explaining the plants, plus hummingbirds and turtles. The young students help take care of the garden and spend time with friends exploring and birdwatching from a lookout stand called “Central Perch.” During his visit, Donald learned more about this community partnership and how the Bethpage State Park ecosystem is maintained.

“They came and asked questions about all of the environmental things that we do, and sustainability and how the golf course works,” Hoffman said.

As a token of thanks, Donald took the opportunity to hand out royal blue Team Europe hats and Ryder Cup passes to the kids. Perhaps that would secure a few local European fans for what will surely be an American-leaning crowd.

“I think it’s a really big privilege for us to be able to have the Ryder Cup here at this park, at a New York state park, a public park, where it is accessible to the public and we can showcase all the hard work that we do here for everybody,” said Hoffman, who has been growing grass and flowers at Bethpage for five years.

The horticulture team of Hoffman, Esther Sherry (two years) and Victor Azzaretto (26+ years), loves to get into the dirt. They maintain the greenhouse and keep Bethpage Black, Red, Blue, Yellow and Green Courses and the rest of the 1,500-acre park – that includes polo grounds, soccer fields, hiking trails and picnic areas – looking their best.

“Victor’s done so much for this park, lots of beautiful gardens. Most of the gardens are created by him,” Hoffman said. “We all enjoy working together outside. Just making this park more beautiful and helping the wildlife as well.”

Bethpage’s beauty will be showcased worldwide from September 26-28 for the 45^th Ryder Cup matches between the U.S. and Europe.

SUPER-intendents are ready

Each of the five courses at Bethpage State Park is meticulously maintained by its own superintendent and team.

“The park has five really great golf courses that everyone can enjoy at all levels whether you’re a good golfer or just a beginner,” said the man entrusted with keeping the Black Course in tip-top shape, Michael Hadley. He’s in charge of “how it plays, how it looks, the turf, how we water it, how we spray it, how we mow it.”

His favorite part of the workday is sunrise. He doesn’t miss many. Hadley is usually out by himself on a morning loop of the course to check holes, irrigation and trouble spots.

“The sun’s coming up and you’re the only one out here,” he said. “It’s pretty peaceful before the day really gets going and then you’re going in a million different directions. So, I do cherish that time in the morning.”

Hadley has been at Bethpage for 25 years.

“It’s amazing to be preparing for a Ryder Cup,” Hadley said. “That’s something I never thought when I originally got in the business would be an option. And I’m very fortunate and lucky to have this opportunity.”

“That’s what I like to do, is keep sustaining the level of a great championship golf course that is meant for the best in the world,” he added.

Another superintendent getting his hands into the Bethpage grounds is Vincent Herzog, who hops from course to course every day, wherever he’s needed. He’s been here for 15 years and does not let grass grow under his feet.

“I’m not sure I could measure how much pride I feel,” Herzog said. “But it’s there.”

In early 2009, Herzog read an article in GCM (Golf Course Maintenance) magazine detailing Bethpage’s team preparations for the U.S. Open “and I thought, wow, that seems like quite the thing to be a part of.” He was graduating from college and found an internship application. He applied, was hired “and basically packed my whole life up from South Alabama and came up here to work.”

“The team here is fantastic,” Herzog said. “Anybody’s welcome here and that’s unique in the golf industry, to have a course, a championship golf course like this, that anybody can just come and play…I wish there were more places like this for people.”

[Note: Bethpage accepts interns from the SUNY Delhi turf program, Rutgers, Penn State, Virginia Tech, UMass, plus this year, Texas and Royal Melbourne in Australia.]

“I feel like I’m somewhat part of the team and if they win, I’ll feel like I’ve won too and I really want to have that feeling,” Hadley added.

“I have a great team that works for me. Anything that’s asked of us, we can produce, and I feel confident with the guys I have that we’ll get the job done, whatever the captain asks us to do as far as agronomically, we’ll be able to complete the task.”

A little slice of Long Island

If you ever visit in person, or watch the Ryder Cup on TV, enjoy the natural beauty of Bethpage State Park. Experienced staff diligently and lovingly prepare every inch of the property.

“Preparing for a Ryder Cup is fantastic,” Herzog said. “It feels special – there’s really no better word. This is the biggest golf event in the world. It’s truly a privilege to be a part of it.”

The horticulture team produces native grasses that use less water and require less fertilizer to bolster the ecosystem. The park has eight pollinator gardens and does a lot of invasive species management, all to keep the park beautiful and the patrons coming back.

“I think it’s really important that we’re going to be in the spotlight here with everything that we do, environmentally and with sustainability,” horticulturist Alexa Hoffman said. “It’s a really good thing to showcase, especially because it is a public golf course.”

Hoffman’s favorite “g” word is not “golf” but rather “grounds.” She loves to talk about watering, weeding, broomsedge and little blue stem. She and her team leave the rough high, which helps with storm water sequestration and allows wildlife to hunt at night and in the wintertime.

“We try to interact with the patrons as much as we can and tell them about what we’re doing and the benefits of native plants,” Hoffman said. “I love being outside. I love advocating for the environment. I think what we do really makes a difference when it comes to climate change and environmental sustainability.”

So, whether it’s the captain of the European team, fans from all over the globe or those who make a special trip to play at the park, Hoffman wants them all to leave with memories.

“It does make me feel really proud to be able to show off all of the hard work that we do all the time and the things that we care about,” she said. “We really care about this course and…the whole park and how it benefits our local ecosystem and how we how we fit in here, in our little slice of Long Island.”

— Written by John Craig, Digital Content Specialist