Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is the oldest of the five founding members of the United States Golf Association — established in 1891, eight years before the USGA itself — and has hosted six U.S. Opens including the June 2026 edition. The current William Flynn 1931 routing is the third on the property, after the original 1891 Willie Davis nine-hole layout and the 1916 C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor expansion to 18 holes.
Flynn’s 1931 work is the version that survived. Bill Coore led a sympathetic restoration between 2012 and 2017 that returned the bunkering to its 1931 footprint and removed several thousand trees to restore the sweeping prevailing-wind exposure across all 18 holes. The result is the closest thing in the eastern United States to a links course — fescue rough, wide aggressive fairway-corridor lines, and greens that present multiple angles rather than dictating one approach.
The 2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock was the subject of the most public USGA setup controversy in modern major-championship history. Saturday’s third round saw green-speeds rise above 14 on the Stimpmeter in 25mph wind; the 7th and 13th holes became effectively unplayable and the leaderboard whipsawed. Brooks Koepka eventually won at +1, the only over-par U.S. Open winning score since Retief Goosen at Southern Hills in 2001.
For 2026 the USGA has confirmed an early-week firmness target two-and-a-half notches softer than 2018, a hole-location rotation designed to avoid the most exposed corners of the 7th and 13th greens, and an irrigation overnight schedule that maintains a higher base moisture content through the entire weekend. The length has been pushed to 7,445 yards via tee additions on the par-5 5th, the par-4 6th and the par-3 11th. Par remains 70.
The par-4 14th — 519 yards uphill, dogleg right, green perched on an exposed ridge with views east toward the Atlantic — is the consensus signature hole and historically the most difficult on the property. Across the five U.S. Opens played on the Flynn layout (1986, 1995, 2004, 2018, 2026 pending), the 14th has averaged 4.43 strokes — the only hole on the course averaging above 4.4.
Shinnecock is a private member club that operates on a strict no-spectators-without-USGA-event policy. The course is closed to all non-member play.