Bethpage Black's iconic sign won't be seen at Ryder Cup

Field Level Media|published: Mon 22nd September, 13:02 2025

May 15, 2019; Farmingdale, NY, USA; The warning sign outside the clubhouse seen during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at Bethpage State Park - Black Course. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-Imagn Images

Bethpage Black's iconic sign warning amateur players of the course's difficulty will not be seen at this week's Ryder Cup.

The sign reading: "- WARNING -- The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers," is arguably the most famous in golf.

However, it has been removed from the grounds for this week's competition due to the 5,000-seat grandstand that wraps around the first tee and the 18th green.

"The sign is gone," Ryder Cup director Bryan Karns told The New York Post. "The Ryder Cup will use a brand new (first) tee that's 40 yards in front of the existing tee. If we had built that grandstand with the existing tee, it would almost go into the clubhouse. (The sign) would've been underneath the grandstands. It just wouldn't have worked out."

Fried Egg Golf posted a photo Saturday of the black railing, which is still visible outside of the grandstand entrance. The Golf Channel reported that the sign was removed primarily to avoid people among the estimated 200,000 crowd from congregating around it to take photos.

For fans wanting to see the sign, it has been relocated to the Ryder Cup Live Fan Zone inside Rockefeller Center in Manhattan that will be open Sept. 25-28, per The Post. Massive replicas of the sign have also been placed around the Bethpage property in Farmingdale, N.Y.

"People can take photos with it," Karns said. "It just won't be the original one at the original location."