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Bethpage State Park is a 1,475-acre New York state park. It is located in Farmingdale in Nassau County on Long Island, though its name derives from the hamlets of Bethpage and Old Bethpage, which the large park also borders. It opened in the 1930s and has picnic facilities, bridle paths, hiking and biking trails, playing fields, tennis courts and cross-country skiing trails, but it is best known for its golf faclities. Bethpage State Park has five eighteen-hole golf courses: the Black, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. In 2002 the Black Course became the first publicly owned and operated course to stage the U.S. Open. The event was won by Tiger Woods. All other U.S. Opens have been staged at private golf or country clubs, or at extremely expensive resort courses (e.g., Pebble Beach). The USGA's choice of Bethpage was seen as an egalitarian move; most U.S. Open venues are exclusive and typically have green fees of a hundred dollars and upwards, but as of 2005 Bethpage Black's top price for 18 holes is $49 for New York State residents. Bethpage Black has been chosen to host the U.S. Open again in 2009.
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