Golf instruction is always evolving, but the best tips stand the test of time. In GOLF.com’s new series, Lifetime Tips, we’re highlighting some of the greatest advice that teachers and players have shared in the pages of GOLF Magazine. This week, we look back at our June 2018 issue, in which Dave Pelz provided an overview of the toughest holes at Shinnecock Hills.
This week, the world’s best golfers will head to the east end of Long Island for the toughest test in golf – US Open.
Anytime the USGA hosts a championship, you can expect a tough test. And no tournament fulfills that more than the US Open.
Among all the historic USGA courses that have hosted national championships, perhaps no host is as feared as Shinnecock Hills. In the four previous US Opens contested at Shinnecock, only three players in total have finished the week at even par. There could be no better course to present a test of the US Open than Shinnecock.
So what is it that makes William Flynn’s design so challenging? Before the US Open 2018, legendary instructor Dave Pelz they joined GOLF magazine to break down some of the more difficult holes on the property.
Shinnecock’s unique challenge
When I think of Shinnecock Hills, two words come to mind: “national treasure.” As a researcher and golfer who has devoted nearly four decades of his life to developing swing and course strategies to help golfers achieve better results, the ultimate test remains if you can think this place, you can think anywhere. I visited William Flynn’s masterpiece last fall, walking the streets with my son, Eddie, and even played a few shots. It was just as disturbing as ever. The purpose of my visit was to paint a picture of the challenges that await the world’s best players so that you can better appreciate the drama that will unfold before your eyes during the 118th US Open, whether you are there in person or watching it on TV.
Even among its major brethren, the Shinnecock stands alone in its ability to squeeze every ounce of ingenuity and putting heart out of players’ games—a test tied to the course’s layout, the slope and contour of the greens, and the ever-present wind. When these elements combine – and you can bet they will – watch out.
It’s not all purgatory. Many of Shinnecock’s greens are completely friendly, with raised edges that send shots toward the center of the putting surface. However, most are shaped to deflect shots away from the flagstick and, in some cases, off the green entirely. Be aware: every green contains serious undulation. Some are so steep that it is impossible to imagine the ball stopping on its own
Adding to the difficulty is the fact that Shinnecock’s greens run faster than Flynn first thought. Shortly after he redesigned the course in 1931 (Shinnecock dates to 1891), the USGA began measuring how fast and far balls rolled on level surfaces, calling the measurement “green speed.” At the time, Shinnecock greens measured in the 4- to 5-foot range, and even then they were considered outrageously steep, too undulating, and too difficult to hit. Come this June 14th, those same greens will roll at 12-foot green speeds, requiring the most deft green reading and putting touches into the ground.
Good luck guys.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the more difficult holes on the property.
No. 2, Par-3
Shinnecock opens with a 399-yard wide and fairly decent par 4 (it played as the fourth easiest hole during the 2004 US Open). Then he slaps you in the face. Difficult. No. The 2nd is a 250 yard plus par 3 with sand on both sides of the green and serious play off the left. The green is the second largest on the course, with a consistent four-foot elevation drop from back to front (though slight undulations help channel shots toward the center of the green). Depending on the wind direction, don’t be surprised to see some players swinging their driver here. It’s an absolute beast.
For fun, | went as far as PGA Tour ShotLink data says is the average distance a Tour player misses a shot from 260 yards of the target — relative to the field players they’ll face in the Open at no. 2. This miss pattern places the ball in the approximate depth near the bunker left of the green. This is not where you want to be, especially during a Masters.
I managed to put the ball on the green (and it eventually rolled off the back). That’s right – I drew an “o-fer”. I left three of six shots in the rough and dropped one into the bunker. The remaining ball? I assume it’s still buried somewhere deep in the fescue. I never found it. The long grass at Shinnecock — here and throughout the course — can be so severe that I’ve discussed with several players heading into this year’s Open the usually unthinkable option of taking a unplayable penalty and falling within two club lengths if and when they find a patch of grass that bad. As absurd as this idea sounds, my experience proves it to be a viable and cost-effective strategy.
No. 7, Par-3
7th hole at Shinnecock Hills.
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I have to warn you: The seventh hole features one of the meanest fairways you’ll ever find. It will play anywhere from 175 to 205 yards and to the largest green on the course. It’s a classic redan – the putting surface slopes away from the tee box, from a high point on the front right of the green to a lower seven feet on the back left. The bunkers left and right of the green are there to punish inaccuracy. Heaven help the player who finds the sand to the right will face a huge elevation change on a green that runs downhill from his flight line.
The flag hovering over the crest of the hill? My 6’5″ son holds it as high as he can so I can see it. It’s a ridiculously hard shot. Like I said, the Shinnecock is beauty and the beast.
No. 10, Par-4
Can you believe that a relatively short, 415-yard downhill par-4 — with no water, out of bounds or obviously penalty hazards — could play as the highest hole in US Open history? It seems so harmless. You simply lay 220 yards from tip to tip of the hill or roll a 5-wood or hybrid to the bottom, and then either play a 190-yard 7-iron or 75-yard shot onto a nice-sized green. Two-shot for par. It looks – and looks – so simple.
And it can be – under normal circumstances. It’s not too difficult if the course is playing soft and slow, despite the fact that the green is seriously steep, elevated in relation to its surroundings and crowned two-thirds of the way from the front. Its reputation as a monster stems from the fact that, in 2004, the winds completely dried out the green and made it play extremely hard and fast.
If you decide to push your shot to close to the green, most shots are coming from 20 feet below the putting surface. This means that a normal trajectory wedge that tops out at 35 feet hits this green more like a 15 foot shot, or what you would get from a slightly thinned out wedge. When the green is hard and fast, these effectively lower-trajectory wedge shots bounce hard, run over the green, and then land on the eight-foot slope behind the green.
It gets worse.
From behind the green, the odds of stopping a putt near the hole are long. In fact, many efforts roll to the front side of the crown, off the green, down the fairway, and all the way down the hill 75 yards from the green—right where the player started. Madness! More than any other hole, No. The 10 rolls all of Shinnecock’s mysteries into one: elevation, slope, contour, wind and firm, fast greens.
No. 13, Par-4
This hole looks easy but plays downright nasty if the wind blows. From the fairway, the green looks subdued. What’s hard to get hold of is the false, extended front, significant right and left leaks (in the bunkers, no less); a sloping ear at the back and a soft crown in the middle. Put it all together and players will have a small effective landing zone to stop shots near the flagstick In 2004, No. 13 – the shortest par on the course – surrendered just 54 birdies in 442 attempts.
Missing the green left or right will require hitting a flop for third – other short game shots simply won’t hold the green. And getting hit in a headwind is no picnic. You can sail long or go short without warning.
No. 16, Par-5
The 16th green is the third smallest at Shinnecock and drops nearly five feet as it slopes steadily from the back to the front. Its soft contour will yield birdies, and you can expect many of the bigger hitters to go for the green in two.
The danger is hitting your approach beyond the hole. Get this wrong and you’ll be facing one of the most challenging shots imaginable.
From a back-left to a front-right pin, it’s a roller coaster ride. Even with my TrueRoller rig, it took me six tries to get this putt correctly aimed and rolling at a reasonable speed. (| missed the remaining 12 feet on my first attempt and ran it 15 feet too long.) Can you imagine going down in two strokes from here? It was hard on my well-tuned TrueRoller. Expect a lot of three-hitting.
No. 18, Par-4
18th green at Shinnecock Hills.
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Standing on the 18th drive at Shinnecock – with the fairway disappearing beautifully into the distance and the magnificent clubhouse on the horizon – is one of golf’s special thrills. As I watched this grand final, I thought about the players who will have the same perspective come June 17, a potential US Open in their hands. What a moment.
Then it hits you, “Wow, what a tough hole!”
At 484 yards, it requires an accurate drive into the fairway and another 200 yards plus uphill to an elevated green. Corey Pavin needed a 4-wood to get home in two on No. 18 during the final round in 1995 en route to victory. Today’s players are a lot taller than Corey, but so is the hole, and there’s only so much you can bite off the tee shot. Access remains a literal killer.
Even if a player hits two good shots, it’s still a matter of keeping your approach in the right spot. Players better hope they haven’t gone over the hole, or that the ball hasn’t rolled to the back end or onto the green, because it’s nearly impossible to stop any fairways or putts in the opposite direction.
I tried this shot during my fall visit to Shinnecock. I gently slid a 64-degree open wedge under the ball, hitting the putt just three feet short of my lie. I played this shot as well as I could have played it. Then, for the next 25 seconds, I watched the ball slowly drift away from me, down the green and past the hole. He eventually rolled off the front of the green, stopping only after traveling 10 yards back onto the fairway. Unfair? Maybe. Difficult? Absolutely! But this is the US Open.
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