Golf-Open-Ogilvy prepared for long, laborious week at Bethpage

(refiles adding dropped words "par-four" in fourth para"

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

FARMINGDALE, New York, June 16 (Reuters) - A sign close to the first tee at Bethpage Black sums up the brutal challenge facing players at this week's U.S. Open, according to Australia's Geoff Ogilvy.

The placard reads: "The Black Course is an extremely difficult golf course which we recommend only for highly skilled golfers," an ominous caveat for the longest layout to stage the second major of the year.

"This is probably the only golf course with a warning at the first tee," former champion Ogilvy told reporters at Bethpage State Park on Tuesday. "I've seen lots of rules written down on the first tees but I've never seen warnings."

At 7,426 yards off its back tees, Bethpage Black features seven par-four holes in excess of 450 yards and will play extra-long this week after being softened by rain.

"The ball's kind of hitting and stopping on the fairways," said Ogilvy, who clinched his maiden major title in the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot.

"I hit a wood into multiple par-four holes this morning. As for three and four-irons; we were wearing them out. The difficulty of Bethpage is how long it is."

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