Southampton Village to stream U.S. Open golf on jumbotron at Agawam Park

The Village of Southampton will host a jumbo screen viewing of the U.S. Open Golf Championship in Agawam Park while the tournament runs next month at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

The park is three miles from the club and will broadcast the tournament on a 17-by-10-foot outdoor video screen on the north end of the park’s lawn for visitors and residents, officials said.

“It’s great that they’re thinking about trying to also present the Open right in the heart of the village,” Southampton Village Mayor Bill Manger said in an interview. “It’s going to be great motivation for people to want to come into the village, go to our stores, go to our restaurants and then watch some of the Open.”

The United States Golf Association, the tournament’s organizer, is providing an unspecified number of seats in the park, and people are welcome to bring their own seating to the park, USGA spokeswoman Julia Pine said.

There will also be a shuttle bus running from the park to the course, so that tournament attendees can shop and dine in the village, village trustee Roy Stevenson said.

The village is also hosting a Juneteenth celebration in the area that week, “so Agawam Park will be a hopping place over the weekend of the U.S. Open, for sure,” Stevenson said.

The U.S. Open is expected to have a daily peak attendance of about 40,000, USGA officials have said. That is expected to bring a flood of visitors and traffic to the South Fork. Many spectators will park as far as Calverton and be shuttled to the course, while others will take the train to a temporary station being built nearby.

The U.S. Open has a long history at Shinnecock Hills, a private course founded in 1891. The tournament has been played there five times, including the second U.S. Open in 1896. Shinnecock Hills is scheduled to host the tournament again in 2036.

“We are excited to return to Shinnecock Hills and to once again bring the U.S. Open to the Village of Southampton,” Pine said in a statement. “Championships of this magnitude create a tremendous sense of energy throughout the community, and we look forward to working alongside the club and our local partners to deliver a successful and memorable week for players, fans and residents alike.”

The USGA has agreed to pay Southampton Town $850,000 for police and other expenses incurred by the town while the tournament is running, and Suffolk County will receive $100,000 to improve the county’s four golf courses and up to $150,000 for two years of “turf consultant services,” Newsday has reported.