Golf instruction is always changing, but the best advice is timeless. In GOLF.com’s new series, Timeless Tips, we highlight the greatest pieces of advice from teachers and players in the pages of GOLF Magazine. This week, we look back at our June 2018 issue where Dave Pelz provided a description of the toughest holes at Shinnecock Hills.
This week, the world’s best golfers will head to the eastern tip of Long Island for golf’s toughest test — the US Open.
Anytime the USGA hosts a tournament, you can expect a tough test. And no tournament lives up to that more than the US Open.
Of all the courses in history the USGA has hosted a national championship, perhaps no host is as feared as Shinnecock Hills. In the last four US Opens contested at Shinnecock, only three players have finished the week under par. There may be no course better suited to present a test for the US Open than Shinnecock.
So, what makes William Flynn’s design so challenging? Before the 2018 US Open, the famous coach Dave Pelz joined GOLF Magazine demolishing some of the strongest holes in the area.
Shinnecock’s unique challenge
When I think of Shinnecock Hills, two words come to mind: “national treasure.” As a researcher and golfer who has dedicated nearly four decades of his life to developing swing techniques and course management to help players shoot better scores, it’s still a big test if you can get past this area, you can imagine anywhere. I visited William Flynn’s artwork last fall, walking down the street with my son, Eddie, and even playing a few shots. It was as painful as ever. The goal of my visit was to paint a picture of the challenges that await the best players in the world so that you can better appreciate the drama that is sure to unfold before your eyes during the 118th US Open, whether you are there in person or catch it on TV.
Even among its large area brothers, Shinnecock stands alone in its ability to squeeze every era of the art of the shot and the heart in the players’ games – a test firmly embedded in the structure of the course, the inclination and the concert of the greens and the ever-present atmosphere. When these elements come together – and you can bet they will – watch out.
It’s not all purgative. Most Shinnecock greens are quite friendly, with raised edges that capture the funnel in the middle of the putt. Most, however, are designed to drive the shot away from the flagstick and, in some cases, off the green entirely. Be warned: everything green includes a large offset. A few are so tilted that you can’t imagine the ball standing on its own
Adding to the difficulty is the fact that Shinnecock’s greens are running faster than Flynn originally intended. Shortly after redesigning the course in 1931 (Shinnecock dates back to 1891), the USGA began measuring how fast and far balls hit the putting surface, calling the measure “green speed.” At the time, Shinnecock greens were measured in the 4- to 5-foot range, and even then they were considered too slanted, too undulating and too difficult to putt. Come June 14th, these same greens will roll to a 12-foot green-speed, which requires a very slow green read and touch of the ground.
Good luck, guys.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the toughest holes in the area.
No. 2, Par-3
Shinnecock opens with a wide and fair 399-yard par 4 (played as the easiest fourth hole during the 2004 US Open). Then it slaps you. It’s difficult. No. 2 is a 250-yard-plus par 3 with sand on both sides of the green and a large fairway to the left. The second largest green on the course, with a consistent drop in elevation of four feet from back to front (although a gentle setback facilitates channel shots to the middle of the green). Depending on the wind direction, don’t be surprised to see some players swing the driver here. It is a complete animal.
For entertainment, | go there PGA Tour ShotLink data says the average distance to miss a shot taken by a Tour player from 260 yards of the target – about the yardage players will face in the Open No. It’s not where you want to be, especially in the big time.
I was able to swing the ball onto the green (it ended up going behind). That’s right – I pulled an “o-fer.” I left three of the six guns in the rough and drove one into the basement. The remaining ball? I think it’s still buried somewhere in the fescue. I never got it. The long grass at Shinnecock – here and on all courses – can be so difficult that I discussed with some players going to this year’s Open the often unthinkable option of taking an unplayable penalty and going down between two club lengths if and when they find a patch of grass that bad. As absurd as this idea may sound, my experience proves it to be an effective, shot-saving 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 worst greens you’ll find. It will play anywhere from 175 to 205 yards, and to the largest green on the course. Classic Redan— the putting space is a distance from the tee box, from a high point on the front right of the green to seven feet below the back left. Bunkers to the left and right of the green are there to punish accuracy. Heaven help the player who gets the sand right will experience a huge change in elevation to a green that runs directly downhill from his flight line.
The flag flying at the top of the hill? My all 6’5″ son held it up as high as he could so I could see it. It’s ridiculously difficult. Like I said, the Shinnecock is a beauty and a beast.
No. 10, Par-4
Can you believe that a short, downhill 415-yard par-4 — with no water, no boundaries or obvious hazards — could play as the most par-hole in US Open history? It looks innocent. You simply putt 220 yards from the top of the hill or roll a 5-wood or hybrid to the bottom, and play a 7-iron or 75-yard shot to a beautiful green. Two putts per par. It looks – and seems – very simple.
And it can be – under normal circumstances. It is not too difficult if the course plays soft and slow, despite the fact that the green is very smooth, raised 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 the green and made it play very hard and very fast.
If you decide to push your shot up near the green, most approach shots are taken from 20 feet below the putting surface. That means that a typical trajectory wedge that reaches a maximum height of 35 feet lands on this green like a 15-foot shot, or what you can get on a small fairway. When the green is firm and fast, these effectively low-wedge shots bounce off the green, run over the green and drop down an eight-foot slope behind the green.
It gets worse.
From behind the green, the chances of landing a return pitch close to the hole are long. In fact, most attempts go down the front side of the crown, from the green, down the fairway and all the way down the hill, 75 yards short of the green – right where the player started. Crazy! More than any other hole, No. 10 wraps all the mysteries of Shinnecock into one: height, slope, curve, wind and greens that are firm and fast.
No. 13, Par-4
This hole looks easy but plays badly when the wind is high. From the fairway, the green looks soft, What’s hard to pick up is the hard, extended false front, great flow to the right and left (in the bunkers, not the bottom); a steep ear of fall behind, with a gentle crown in the middle. Add it all up and players are left with little practical space to stop shots near the flagstick In 2004, No.13 – the shortest number on the course – surrendered just 54 birdies in 442 attempts.
Missing the green left or right will require you to hit the flop shot on your third — some short game shots won’t hit the green. And hitting the wind is no picnic. You can sail long or short without notice.
No. 16, Par-5
The 16th green is the third-smallest at Shinnecock and drops nearly five feet as it slopes continuously from back to front. Its gentle contouring will produce birdies, and you can expect many big hitters to hit the green twice.
The danger is to beat your way through the hole. Make this mistake and you will face one of the most difficult putts imaginable.
From the left rear to the right front pin, it’s a roller-coaster ride. Even with my TrueRoller device, it took me six tries to get this putt right and roll it at the right speed. (| I missed by 12 feet on my first attempt and hit 15 feet too long.) Can you imagine going down two putts from here? It was hard on my well-tuned TrueRoller. Expect a lot of putts.
No. 18, Par-4
18th green at Shinnecock Hills.
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Standing on the 18th tee at Shinnecock — where the fairway disappears gracefully into the distance and the stately clubhouse on the horizon — is one of the joys of golf. As I watched this great finish, I saw the players who will be playing the same way come June 17, a tournament that could be the United States Open Championship within them. Wait a second.
Then it hits you: “Wow, what a difficult hole!”
At 484 yards, it requires an accurate drive down the fairway and another 200-yard-plus shot up to the 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 much taller than Corey, but so is the hole, and there’s only so much you can take off your tee shot. This method is still a real killer.
Even if a player hits two good shots, it’s still a matter of putting your approach in the right spot. Players better hope they don’t go over or over the hole, or that the ball hasn’t rolled off the back edge or onto the green, because it’s nearly impossible to stop any shot or putt on the other side.
I tried this shot during my fall visit to Shinnecock. I slowly slid a 64-degree wedge wide open under the ball, and shot just three feet in front of my lie. I played this shot as well as I could. And then, for the next 25 seconds, I watched the ball slowly roll away from me, down the green and past the hole. It eventually rolled off the front of the green, only to stop after traveling 10 yards back down the fairway. Is it wrong? It is possible. Is it difficult? Absolutely! But this is the US Open.
;)
