They come in darkness, adrenaline surging, imagination unchained. They drive through silent suburban streets, equipped with beer, snacks and childlike enthusiasm. They curl up in discomfort, in cars turned cots, accepting what little sleep they get before the 4:30 a.m. wake-up knock — presenting a ticket to their dream.

“I needed to check Bethpage Black off the bucket list,” Missouri native Ben Czarnacki said. “When you decide to fly from out of state, you have no idea if you’re even gonna get a tee time. We knew we were gonna have to sleep in the car to ensure we did. … We woke up around 1:30 a.m. because cars were piling in. Every spot was filled.

“When you get that ticket and you walk in, the butterflies in your stomach, I can’t explain it. There’s no other golf experience like it.” 

A fixture on lists of the world’s top 100 golf courses, Bethpage Black is open to all. It is the rare truly public course deemed worthy of hosting golf’s grandest events — made incalculably more iconic by the sign affixed to the railing behind the first tee, where all pose for photos before embarking on an 8-mile trek (carts are prohibited) down a track that’s vexed the world’s best: