Shinnecock Hills: Historical, Unique and Challenging
What do Muirfield, host of 16 Open Championships and Shinnecock Hills, host to this year’s US Open, have in common?
They both opened in 1891!
Hard to believe, isn’t it? When we hear of these clubs in America, we don’t think of them as being that old and linked to the old heritage of Scottish courses. The design of Shinnecock, on the rolling hills once inhabited by the Shinnecock tribe, has evolved over its 135-year history. It started as a 12-hole layout and had the last of four restorations in 2016, by the best links design team in the business, Ben Crenshaw & Bill Coore. They took great care in realigning the renovation with the original layout and strategy.
The links' design strategy was driven by the expectation of winds blowing in from the Long Island shores and the Atlantic Ocean. However, unlike many traditional links routings in the UK and Ireland, with 9 holes out and back, Shinnecock has groupings of holes in triangular sets that showcase multiple wind directions. It features offset angles from tee to green with over 150 bunkers carved naturally into the rolling landscape.
Two short holes in particular stand out: the 7th, “Redan”, was named and styled after the famous Redan at North Berwick, and the 11th, called Hill Head, is a 159-yard uphill Par 3 and one of the most feared short Par 3s in Championship golf.
Many will remember the fiasco at the last US Open there in 2018. When the greens became unplayable, Phil Mickelson mocked the USGA by hitting a moving ball on the 13th green for a two-shot penalty! Interesting to note that the leading pack on that last day in 2018 was Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, and Brooks Koepka. With Koepka eventually winning. All three later deserted to the LIV Golf disruptor tour.
The Day of the Jacklin
The US Open always reminds me of Tony Jacklin and the part that he played in inspiring Europeans of that generation to beat the Americans. Jacklin was one of a group of very talented tour pros at the time, which included Seve, Peter Oosterhuis, Peter Townsend, Faldo, and Clive Clark. It was also the time that I was ‘on tour’ and I remember vividly how charismatic and influential Tony was back then. He was a good friend of my father, and we often played practice rounds together in Spain.
Tony worked out that the Americans didn’t like to see the Europeans coming to the PGA Tour to ‘steal’ their money as they saw it. Their strategy was to isolate these invaders, never mix with them, no going out to dinner (as we all did on the European Tour and African tours in those days), make them feel lonely. It worked well for years until Tony and his wife Vivien decided they would move to America to overcome the feeling of isolation commuting to play there. It was an inspired move, and he went on to win the US Open at Hazeltine in 1970 by seven shots! When you look now at the top European players, many of them, including Rory and Shane, live in the USA. It also struck me when watching the polite, unassuming English gentleman, Aaron Rai, winning the PGA Championship recently, how much Tony must have enjoyed watching that from his home in Florida.
Patience Key for Scheffler
The four Majors in golf stand above all the rest and always will. For European’s, The Open and the Masters rank one and two. For most modern American players, the Masters and US Open rank the highest. It’s been fascinating to see how many times international players have won the US Open in the last 32 years; 13 in total.
There is little doubt that all eyes this week will be on Scottie Scheffler, chasing the immortal Grand Slam club membership recently joined by Rory. The burning desire Scheffler displayed in recent weeks gives an inkling of how badly he wants this one. Patience always pays off at the US Open, as we saw last week with Nelly Korda. She played patiently until the last two holes to secure her victory. Scheffler is the ultimate patient, silent assassin!
The Contenders for 2026
Shinnecock will suit the shot makers like Rory and Shane, especially if the wind blows. Soft hands and imagination will be required around the tricky green complexes. Of the ‘horses for courses’ on Shinnecock, Reed, Koepka and Fleetwood stand out. Koepka has been a man on a mission since eating humble pie (after earning hundreds of millions of dollars on LIV) and rejoining the PGA Tour. He came back because he wants more Majors, nothing else. Reed has the touch of a safecracker around the greens and loves the course. Fleetwood is also chasing a Major and has happy memories of a 63 in his final round here in 2018. Shinnecock will also suit the classic grinders like Schauffele and Fitzpatrick, who thrive on US Open set-ups.
All in all, it will be a very different US Open on a non-traditional links-style course near the Big Apple. I hope there will be no repeat of the behaviour by the New York fans, which we witnessed at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage and that they will respect whoever wins.
I also hope Mother Nature gives them a few slaps along the way, as that will separate the men from the boys!!
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