Yankees who golf are in awe of Shinnecock, pros playing in U.S. Open

The world’s best golfers descended on Shinnecock Hills in the Hamptons this week for the U.S. Open, and more than a few of them called the historic layout their “favorite” course.

“I think it's the best championship test in the country,” six-time major championship winner Rory McIlroy said.

And a course, for the golfers in the Yankees' clubhouse, that is at or near the top of their personal bucket lists.

“Oh my God, yeah, I would love to play it,” third baseman Ryan McMahon said.

“It’s a dream of mine,” shortstop Anthony Volpe said.

“I would love to play it,” Cody Bellinger said, the word “love” getting extra emphasis.

“Of course. Who says no to that?” Paul Goldschmidt said with a smile. “Have just heard so many great things about it.”

“It’s been a top-three [ranked] course in America the last 30 years, so yeah, that would be of interest,” said the generally low-key Trent Grisham, a proud Texan who is a member of the storied Colonial Country Club in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

The Yankees' clubhouse, like pretty much every Major League Baseball clubhouse, has its share of serious golfers, an activity typically reserved for the offseason and the occasional off-day during spring training.

But even when they're not on the course, golf is a year-round passion, with many of those players following the weekly PGA Tour events. Seldom does one of golf’s majors take place without it being on at least one clubhouse TV, whether the Yankees are home or away.

(The U.S. Open was on multiple clubhouse sets before Thursday night's and Friday night’s games. It was not on after Saturday afternoon’s 10-2 loss to the Reds, as no clubhouse TV is on after a loss.)

“The challenge of it,” McMahon said of why so many baseball players are into golf. “We’re sickos that love playing one of the hardest sports out there, and I think that’s [golf] No. 1 or No. 2. I think baseball/golf are 1 and 2. I don’t know which order, but they’re 1-2.”

McMahon is the best golfer among the current crop of Yankees who could be categorized as regular players in the offseason. That list includes Bellinger, Volpe, Goldschmidt, Grisham, Will Warren, Clarke Schmidt, Max Schuemann, Gerrit Cole and Austin Wells.

Though not quite at the level of former Yankee Aaron Hicks — a scratch golfer during his playing days who in retirement the last two summers has twice tried, and failed, to qualify for the U.S. Open — McMahon plays to a 2-handicap, consistently shooting, he said, between “1 to 6 over.”

“I’m not as good as Aaron,” McMahon said. “He’s another level.”

The players whom McMahon and the others watch on TV are several levels above that.

“For me, it’s the makeup shots,” Bellinger, a 15-handicap, said of what stands out the most when he watches the pros. “If they put themselves in bad positions, the recovery shots are so incredible. They never let it go too far south. The consistency of the recovery shots. They’ll flop it over the bunker and put it two feet from the hole, and that might take me four shots to get to the same spot.”

Among the things Warren focuses on while watching professional golfers is how “routine”-oriented they are, comparing that to his day job.

“How we have our routines, pitchers have theirs and hitters do theirs,  [golfers] do that for every single shot,” he said. “And they do their homework [pre-round] like we do [before games]. Their caddies and them, it's ‘this is the game plan and this is what we’re going to do.’ And their execution is like freaking perfect, almost.”

Said McMahon: “Dude, their putting. They’re so much better at putting than us. You have a real respect for it. Being a guy that plays a lot of golf, I know how hard that is. And then tee to green, the way they plan out each hole to attack it, their game plan is so cool. To me, I’m kind of nerdy about it, I would love to get that specific and be good enough to do all that, but we’re not.”

Grisham, a 5-handicapper whom McMahon with a laugh called “a dangerous 5” because “he can stick a 68 or 69" on the scorecard,  spoke in more generic terms in expressing his admiration for those who play golf for pay.

“They’re really good,” said Grisham, the lone player in the clubhouse who plays golf lefthanded. “There’s not many sports you get to watch on TV and play yourself. They’re just really good, and you can appreciate that more because you get to play.”

Though Shinnecock is high on many of the Yankees golfers’ wish lists, they have played their share of top courses.

Goldschmidt, a 13-handicapper, has played Augusta National, home of the Masters, multiple times. McMahon has played Congressional, the D.C.-area course that has hosted three U.S. Opens and one PGA Championship. Volpe and Grisham have played Baltusrol, the legendary course in Springfield, New Jersey, that has hosted seven U.S. Opens and three PGAs. Warren has played Cherry Hills, the suburban Denver course that has hosted three U.S. Opens and two PGAs.

“It kicked my [expletive],” Warren, who plays to an 8-handicap, said with a laugh. “I think I shot 115 because I couldn’t get out of the rough and I wasn’t smart enough to just take my pitching wedge and get back into the fairway.”

Being a Yankee has its privileges, including gaining access to some of the elite area courses. That can be a phone call — or a mere mention to the right person in the organization — away.

Volpe smiled when considering how his “dream” of one day playing Shinnecock might be realized.

“It’s one that, if you win the World Series, you feel like you could pull some strings,” he said. “And that’s one of those courses.”