Activities Sports & Athletics Golf Golf Courses Meet Shinnecock Hills, One of America's Historic Golf Clubs Print A view from behind the 18th green at Shinnecock Hills. David Cannon/Getty IMages Sports & Athletics Golf Golf Courses Basics History Gear Famous Golfers Golf Tournaments Baseball Bicycling Billiards Bodybuilding Bowling Boxing Car Racing Cheerleading Extreme Sports Football Gymnastics Ice Hockey Martial Arts Professional Wrestling Skateboarding Skating Paintball Soccer Swimming & Diving Table Tennis Tennis Track & Field Volleyball Other Activities Learn More By Brent Kelley Brent Kelley Brent Kelley is an award-winning sports journalist and golf expert with over 30 years in print and online journalism. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on 06/21/19 Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is one of the grande dames of American golf, a tony private club in Southampton, New York. It is built in sandhills and is one of the American courses that is closest to being a true links-style golf course: virtually treeless (except some areas around the perimeter), tall grasses blowing in the wind, a seaside location on Long Island. Key Takeaways Shinnecock Hills Golf Club is one of the oldest in the United States and one of the founding clubs of the USGA.It is located in Southampton, New York, and bears many resemblances to a true links-style golf course.Shinnecock Hills has been the site of numerous major championships including multiple U.S. Open tournaments.The club is private and the golf course can only be played by members and guests of members. The club takes its name from the Native American Shinnecock Indian nation, whose 750-acre reservation is nearby. (The Shinnecock Nation says the golf course is built over tribal burial grounds and for years has been involved in litigation attempting to reclaim land from the club and other area landowners.) Shinnecock Hills Golf Club dates to 1891; in 1895, the club was one of the five founding members of the United States Golf Association (USGA). Shinnecock Hills was the site of the second-ever U.S. Amateur Championship and U.S. Open, both played in 1896, and has hosted multiple other U.S. Open tournaments. The course — once called "golf's holy grail" by Johnny Miller — is routinely included in the Top 10 on lists of the greatest golf courses in the United States. On Golf Digest's biennial course ranking, Shinnecock Hills has placed as high as No. 2. Contact info for the club: 200 Tuckahoe Road. Southampton, NY 11968 (631) 283-1310shinnecockhillsgolfclub.org Can You Play Shinnecock Hills? Looking up the 18th fairway, whose green is to the left; with the ninth hole and clubhouse in the background. David Cannon/Getty Images Do you know anyone who is a member at Shinnecock Hills? No? Then probably not. Shinnecock Hills is a private and exclusive club. If you belong to a similar, high-end private golf club, you can request that your club's Director of Golf or General Manager send a reciprocal request to his or her counterpart at Shinnecock Hills, which might, depending on many factors outside your control, work. Otherwise, the only way to get on the golf course is as the guest of a member. (But if you do get on, you won't be charged: guests sign for all bills with the member's name, so the member incurs all guest charges.) The Origins and Architects of Shinnecock Hills The green on the par-3 No. 7 hole at Shinnecock Hills, named 'Redan'. David Cannon/Getty Images Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was founded in 1891. Its clubhouse opened in 1892 and underwent a major renovation in 2016. The golf course has had several major updates and renovations. The original course was 12 holes in length and designed by Willie Davis. In 1895, the course was expanded to 18 holes, with six new holes designed by Willie Dunn. Charles B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor were involved in later renovations. The golf course that exists today largely came into being in 1931, when a rebuilt course designed by William Flynn opened. Flynn, Macdonald, Raynor and Dunn are all considered part of the pantheon of early golf architecture giants. Pars, Yardages and Ratings at Shinnecock Hills The runup to the 11th green. David Cannon/Getty Images These are the hole pars and yardages that were in use during the 2018 U.S. Open, when the course played approximately 500 yards longer than it does for members: Hole 1 - Par 4 - 393 yardsHole 2 - Par 3 - 253 yardsHole 3 - Par 4 - 500 yardsHole 4 - Par 4 - 472 yardsHole 5 - Par 5 - 585 yardsHole 6 - Par 4 - 456 yardsHole 7 - Par 3 - 189 yardsHole 8 - Par 4 - 445 yardsHole 9 - Par 4 - 481 yardsOut - Par 35 - 3,812 yardsHole 10 - Par 4 - 412 yardsHole 11 - Par 3 - 158 yardsHole 12 - Par 4 - 468 yardsHole 13 - Par 4 - 370 yardsHole 14 - Par 4 - 519 yardsHole 15 - Par 4 - 403 yardsHole 16 - Par 5 - 616 yardsHole 17 - Par 3 - 179 yardsHole 18 - Par 4 - 488 yardsIn - Par 35 - 3,613 yardsTotal - Par 70 - 7,445 yards These are the course yardages and ratings for members: Red tees: 6,940 yards, 74.4 USGA course rating, 140 USGA slope rating Green tees: 6,530 yards, 72.3 course rating, 134 slope rating Blue tees: 6,141 yards, 70.3 course rating, 129 slope rating White tees: 5,396 yards, 72.5 course rating (women), 131 slope rating (women) Shinnecock Hills Hole Names No. 4 green at Shinnecock Hills. David Cannon/Getty Images All of the holes on Shinnecock Hills' golf course are named. It's mostly a mix of Native American names plus names borrowed from Scottish links courses. Hole 1 — Westward HoHole 2 — PlateauHole 3 — PeconicHole 4 — Pump HouseHole 5 — MontaukHole 6 — PondHole 7 — RedanHole 8 — LowlandsHole 9 — Ben NevisHole 10 — Eastward HoHole 11 — Hill HeadHole 12 — TuckahoeHole 13 — Road SideHole 14 — Thom's ElbowHole 15 — SebonacHole 16 — ShinnecockHole 17 — EdenHole 18 — Home Peconic, Montauk, Tuckahoe, Sebonac and, of course, Shinnecock are names of Native American tribes that once lived (or still do) on Long Island. Probably the most famous of the hole names at Shinnecock is Redan, the club's seventh hole. Redan refers to a specific type of golf hole design; the name originated at a links in Scotland and Shinnecock's Redan is considered among the best examples of a "redan hole." Significant Tournaments Played at Shinnecock Hills Looking across the 15th hole. David Cannon/Getty Images The 2018 U.S. Open was the fifth time that major was played at Shinnecock Hills. The course has also been the site of other big tournaments. That list includes these professional and amateur majors and international team events (winner is listed for each): 1896 U.S. Amateur: H.J. Whigham defeated Joseph G. Thorp 8 and 7 in the championship match. 1896 U.S. Open: James Foulis won by three strokes; finishing second was Horace Rawlins. 1900 U.S. Women's Amateur: Frances C. Griscom def. Margaret Curtis 6 and 5 in the championship match. 1977 Walker Cup: United States defeated Great Britain & Ireland by a 16 to 8 score. 1986 U.S. Open: Raymond Floyd won by two strokes over second-place finishers Chip Beck and Lanny Wadkins. 1995 U.S. Open: Corey Pavin won by two strokes over second-place Greg Norman. 2004 U.S. Open: Retief Goosen won by two strokes; Phil Mickelson was runner-up. 2018 U.S. Open: Brooks Koepka finished one stroke ahead of runner-up Tommy Fleetwood. The club is scheduled to host the U.S. Open again in 2026. More History and Trivia about Shinnecock Hills The Shinnecock Hills clubhouse sits perched behind the No. 9 green. David Cannon/Getty Images Shinnecock Hills was the first golf club in the United States to admit women. The club allowed women golfers and members from its start. At the 1896 U.S. Open, John Shippen, an African American caddie at the club, and Shinnecock Indian Oscar Bunn both entered. Some of the other golfers signed a petition demanding their removal and threatening a boycott if the field was not all-white. The USGA refused to cave in, and Shippen and Bunn played. Shippen finished tied for sixth place and Bunn 21st. Both Shippen and Bunn lived on the Shinnecock reservation near the golf course. Shippen was the first African American to play in a U.S. Open, and also the first native-born American to play in a U.S. Open. Having hosted that 1896 Open, two more in the late 20th century, and then again in 2004, Shinnecock Hills is the only golf club to host U.S. Opens in three different centuries. The club is located adjacent to National Golf Links of America (literally across a road from Shinnecock Hills) and Sebonack Golf Club, a very high concentration of very highly rated golf courses in one small area. Is there a dress code at Shinnecock Hills? You bet there is. And how strict it is can be deduced from the fact that the club specifies that shirts must remain tucked in at all times and that caps must be worn with the bills facing forward at all times (except when inside the clubhouse, where caps and hats must be removed). Shinnecock Hills is a walking-only golf course, no carts allowed. Caddies are available for members and guests who want one. Margaret Curtis was the loser in the championship match of the 1900 U.S. Women's Amateur at Shinnecock. Curtis later became one of the founders and namesakes of the Curtis Cup. The first golfer to shoot 29 over one of the nines in a U.S. Open did so at Shinnecock Hills. Neal Lancaster scored 29 on the back nine during the 1995 tournament. Something else notable happened in that 1995 Open: Tiger Woods played the tournament for the first time. Woods, age 19, withdrew with a wrist injury after opening with a 74. The Shinnecock Hills turfgrass was pushed to the edge during the 2004 U.S. Open, with many golfers complaining the USGA ruined the tournament by nearly (or actually, in some cases) killing the grass on greens. That tournament was one of the times the USGA received the harshest criticism from golfers over the course setup.