Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is a links-style

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

club located in an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...

of the Town of Southampton on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18 ...

, New York, situated between the

Peconic Bay The Peconic Bay is the parent name for two bays between the North Fork and South Fork of Long Island in the U.S. state of New York. It is separated from Gardiners Bay by Shelter Island. Peconic Bay is divided by Robins Island into the Great ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

. Shinnecock Hills is believed to be the oldest incorporated golf club in the United States (1891), to have the oldest golf clubhouse in the U.S. (1892), and to have been the first American golf club to admit women members, which it did from the start. It is also the only golf course to host the U.S. Open in three different centuries. Shinnecock Hills is a founding member of the

United States Golf Association The United States Golf Association (USGA) is the United States national association of golf courses, clubs and facilities and the governing body of golf for the U.S. and Mexico. Together with The R&A, the USGA produces and interprets the rules ...

. It has hosted several important events, notably five U.S. Opens, most recently being in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

won by Brooks Koepka. It is scheduled to host a sixth in 2026. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

It is routinely ranked as one of the greatest golf courses in the world."Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Southampton, N.Y. / 7,450 yards, Par 70 / Points: 69.2301"
''Golf Digest''. January 4, 2017.

History

The club traces its roots to an 1889–1890 trip by William K. Vanderbilt, Edward Meade, and Duncan Cryder, to

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...

in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

where they encountered champion golfer Willie Dunn, from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, who was building a golf course at Back in the United States, Meade and Cryder scouted for a place for a golf course near

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Meade, known for his cowboy-ish antics trading commodities, was convinced that

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York (state), New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upsta ...

would be the ideal location, but Cryder preferred a parcel of land in Yonkers. Ultimately, they chose the sandhills adjoining the

Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

just east of the Shinnecock Canal. The original parcel was purchased from developers for $2,500 and 44 original members signed up for $100 each. Willie Davis, the club professional from the Royal Montreal Club, designed a 12-hole course that opened in late summer 1891. Members of the

Shinnecock Indian Nation The Shinnecock Indian Nation is a federally recognized tribe of historically Algonquian peoples, Algonquian-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans based at the eastern end of Long Island, New York. This tribe is headqua ...

helped build the course, which sits on the large expanse of land the Nation claims was illegally taken from them by earlier settlers of the area in 1859. At the 2018 U.S. Open, members of the Nation protested the event, noting that several burial sites were desecrated during the courses' construction. Stanford White designed the 1892 clubhouse, said to be the oldest golf clubhouse in the United States. A nine-hole ladies-only course was designed and built at Shinnecock Hills in 1893, the first ladies’ golf course in American history. Shinnecock Hills Golf Club - Clubhouse (1901)

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club - Clubhouse (1901)

In 1894, Dunn arrived and added six more holes bringing the total to 18. That same year Dunn won the tournament which was an inaugural attempt to establish a national championship at

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, but this victory was not recognized as official. Later in 1894, Shinnecock Hills was one of five founding clubs of the

, established in New York City. The new USGA held the first U.S. Open in 1895 in Newport,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. In 1896 the then– Shinnecock hosted the second U.S. Open. Many players broke 80 in the 36-hole event, which led to demands to increase the course's difficulty. Participating in the 1896 Open was black professional player

John Shippen John Matthew Shippen Jr. (December 2, 1879 – May 20, 1968) was an American golfer who competed in several of the early U.S. Opens. Born in Washington D.C., he was the son of a former slave and Presbyterian minister, John Shippen Sr. and Eliza ...

, believed by many historians to have been the first USA-born golf professional. In 1901 the ladies' course was incorporated into a lengthened and redesigned course by

Charles B. Macdonald Charles Blair Macdonald (November 14, 1855 – April 21, 1939) was a major figure in early American golf. He built the first 18-hole course in the United States, was a driving force in the founding of the United States Golf Association, won the f ...

and

Seth Raynor Seth Jagger Raynor (May 7, 1874 – January 23, 1926) was an American golf course architect and engineer. He designed approximately 85 golf courses in about 13 years, his first in 1914, at age 40. His mentor was Charles Blair Macdonald, the crea ...

, retaining five of Dunn's original holes. William Flynn extensively redesigned the course in 1931 into a configuration. Flynn's design retains five of the holes by Macdonald and Raynor, and the green of a sixth hole designed by those two. Prior to the 2004 U.S. Open, the course was extended to a length of by the addition of extra tees. Shinnecock Hills was ranked second in ''

Golf Digest ''Golf Digest'' is a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit under its Warner Bros. Discovery Golf division. It is a generalist golf publication covering recreational golf and men's and women's competi ...

''s 100 Greatest Courses Ranking for 2007, 2008, and third in 2009. Its routing was retained, and several new tees were added, in preparation for the 2018 U.S. Open; the course was extended to 7,440 yards, retaining its par of 70. Shinnecock Hills is scheduled to host the 2026 U.S. Open. The club also maintains a nine-hole secondary course for use by its members.

Notable events hosted

* A sixth U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills is scheduled for 2026

Scorecard

References

External links

Official websiteSatellite Images and Photos of Shinnecock Hills Golf ClubGolf Club Atlas: Guide to Shinnecock Hills courseA True Golfer's Dream
{{Authority control Southampton (town), New York Golf clubs and courses in New York (state) Golf clubs and courses designed by Charles B. Macdonald Golf clubs and courses on the National Register of Historic Places Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Walker Cup venues Sports venues in Suffolk County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York Sports venues on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) 1891 establishments in New York (state) Sports venues completed in 1891 Golf clubs and courses designed by William Davis (golfer) Shinnecock Indian Nation

History

Notable events hosted

Scorecard

See also

References

External links