Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

William Flynn's 1931 layout on windswept Southampton hills, a six-time U.S. Open site where holes run in every direction and wind decides club selection.

Shinnecock was founded in 1891, was a charter member of the USGA in 1894 and hosted the second U.S. Open in 1896. Its Stanford White clubhouse, opened in 1892, is often called the first purpose-built golf clubhouse in America. The course went through versions by Willie Davis, Willie Dunn and C.B. Macdonald with Seth Raynor before a highway project pushed the club to commission a new routing.

Toomey and Flynn's course opened in 1931, and the routing played today is essentially theirs. Holes point in many directions across open, sandy ground, so the prevailing southwest wind keeps changing angle. Fairways are wide, but the firm, undulating greens demand precise approaches. The Redan 7th and the uphill 9th and 18th are the best known. A Coore and Crenshaw restoration in the 2010s removed trees and brought back width and fescue. The club has staged U.S. Opens in 1986, 1995, 2004, 2018 and 2026, and is scheduled to host both the men's and women's Opens in 2036.

Holes to know

7

Par 3 · 187 yd

A Redan whose green slopes away front-right to back-left; dry, firm conditions made it close to unplayable at the 2004 U.S. Open.

9

Par 4 · 482 yd

Plays steeply uphill to a green just below the clubhouse, usually needing a long second shot.

14

Par 4 · 469 yd

A long par 4 where bunkers reward a drive played close to trouble with a better angle into the green.

Championships

• U.S. Open 1896, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2018, 2026
• U.S. Amateur 1896
• U.S. Women's Amateur 1900
• U.S. Senior Amateur 1967
• Walker Cup 1977

Design history

• 2012–13: Bill Coore & Ben Crenshaw restoration; trees removed, fairways widened, fescue roughs and lost green edges recovered
• 2010s: Course lengthened for the 2018 U.S. Open