Shinnecock Hills Golf Club

The verdict

Shinnecock Hills is woven into the origin story of golf in the United States. Founded in 1891, it was one of the five charter clubs that formed the USGA in 1894, and it hosted the second US Open in 1896 when the championship was barely an idea. The course has passed through several hands over its long life, from Willie Davis and Willie Dunn Jr. to Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor, but the layout that the modern game admires is essentially the 1930 to 1931 rebuild by William S. Flynn, who routed a heathland links across the open, rolling sand of the South Fork.

It plays today as a par 70 of about 7,440 yards in championship dress, and its reputation rests on wind, angles and exposure rather than sheer length. There is no water of consequence and few trees of note; the defense is fescue, firm turf, tilted greens and the breeze that rarely rests off the Atlantic. The membership keeps Shinnecock close, so for a traveling golfer it is a hard ticket reached through a member, and a course every serious student of the game wants to see at least once. It pairs naturally with its neighbor across the road, the National Golf Links of America, in one of the great golf corners on earth.

The holes worth the trip

Shinnecock opens with one of the great starting tee shots in golf, played from beneath the windmill topped clubhouse on the hill down toward a fairway that bends right, and the round climbs back to that ridge at the finish. In between, Flynn used the natural movement of the land so well that holes seem to have been discovered rather than built, each green sitting on a knob or in a hollow that gathers good shots and repels weak ones.

The par 3s are a particular strength, none more so than the 7th, the Redan inspired one shotter that demands a running draw to a green that falls away, and the short 11th, perched and exposed, where the wind can turn a wedge into a long iron. The closing stretch is relentless, a sequence of long, uphill, into the breeze tests that has decided more than one US Open, and the 18th plays back to the clubhouse as one of the hardest finishing holes in championship golf.

What stays with visitors is the openness of it all. There is nowhere to hide from the wind, the fescue framing every fairway, the sea light over the dunes. It is American golf at its most honest, a links in all but name, and a course that reveals more the more times you play it.

Where to stay nearby

The Hamptons supply the lodging, from the inns and boutique hotels of Southampton village minutes from the gates to the larger resorts along the South Fork toward East Hampton and Montauk. It is a summer playground, so book early and expect peak season rates between June and September.

Shinnecock Hills sits at the heart of one of the densest pockets of great golf in the world, alongside the National Golf Links of America, Sebonack and Maidstone, so it anchors a Long Island trip beautifully. We can help with the introductions where possible and build the lodging and transfers around your rounds.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts around the Hamptons.