U.S. Open at Shinnecock: How the 1986 event made Long Island course a major player

During a nationally televised preview of the 1986 U.S. Open, Lee Trevino buoyantly proclaimed, “Everybody should come see Shinnecock.” Up until then, very few people ever had the chance to do so.

Yes, the second-ever Open was held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 1896, but it was hardly a worldwide event. Plus, the layout back then was vastly different — some holes were on the other side of the Long Island Rail Road tracks — than the one Trevino and his fellow pros would see June 12-15, 1986.

The 1977 Walker Cup, an amateur team competition pitting the U.S. vs. Great Britain and Ireland, was held at Shinnecock. But while the participants included future Masters champion Sandy Lyle, future U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson and future Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley, it did not draw Open-caliber attention.

For the 90th anniversary of the 1896 Open, the U.S. Golf Association decided it was high time to let the world know what a hidden gem Shinnecock always had been: A charter member of the USGA, the first American club to have a clubhouse, the first to have 18 holes, the first to admit women.

Bringing America’s national championship to Shinnecock Hills also brought acclaim to the Native American Shinnecock Nation, from which the club took its name and much of its shape. Tribe members helped build the course and tended it for the better part of a century.

For the USGA, it was worth the logistical problems of holding a major championship on a busy two-lane road in a resort town. As Jack Nicklaus said at the time, “Shinnecock is a marvelous place to play the Open and a hard place to hold a tournament.”

Frank Hannigan, then the USGA’s executive director, told Newsday 40 years ago this week: “This is a one-shot thing. There is no thought of doing it again. It doesn't make economic sense for us. We have to pay for a lot of the services that are normally provided gratuitously by the host club. But it's worth it to do it at Shinnecock."

But the 1986 U.S. Open was so compelling and successful that the championship has returned again and again, and now again in 2026 for the sixth time. That quaint, boutique club has become an icon in world golf. And, thanks to that return to Shinnecock, the U.S. Open itself has blossomed in a way unimaginable 40 years ago — the USGA, having reluctantly taken the merchandising reins from a small, seasonal club membership, discovered what a windfall those sales can be.

This week, everybody will get a new chance to see what USGA officials call “a cathedral.” The course looks vastly different than it did 40 years ago — virtually all of the trees are gone. No matter. The 2026 U.S. Open will augment a legacy built on these moments:

1986

At one point on the back nine during the final round, nine golfers were tied for the lead. They weren’t just any golfers, either. They were future Hall of Famers and other stars: Raymond Floyd, Ben Crenshaw, Greg Norman, Payne Stewart, Lanny Wadkins, Hal Sutton, Bob Tway, Chip Beck and Mark McCumber. Trevino also had a share of first place earlier.

All of them had withstood the cold, pounding rain on Thursday and typically strong South Fork winds the rest of the week. Norman had endured a confrontation with a spectator Saturday. The whole field nonetheless enjoyed the experience on a course that The New York Times’ lead paragraph called “magnificent.”

Floyd, 43, broke free from the crowd with a birdie on the par-5 16th hole and finished at 1-under. To this day, he remains one of only three among 624 entrants in modern Shinnecock Opens to have finished the event below par. At the time, Floyd was the oldest champion in U.S. Open history as he won the last of his four majors.

It was life-changing for him. He fell so deeply in love with the course and community that he bought a house in the area and became a Shinnecock Hills member.

1995

Corey Pavin raced up the hill to catch a peek at what would become on of the most memorable shots in U.S. Open history. He had hit a 4-wood from 229 yards on the par-4 18th and was able to see it skip off the front fringe and gently roll within five feet of the hole late that Sunday. On the NBC telecast, Johnny Miller said, “Watch this one, it’s the shot of his life!”

Pavin briefly knelt in reflection, then walked up to a resounding ovation, smiling to the crowd.

Then he missed the putt.

But it didn’t matter. Pavin’s tap in for par turned out to be good enough to win by two after Norman, then ranked No. 1 in the world, bogeyed the 17th. His clutch 4-wood truly was the clinching stroke for the one major championship in Pavin’s solid career. What’s more, his reputation has carried even longer than his 4-wood shot: His agent named his son for the famous client. Thus, the Arizona Diamondbacks have a first baseman/outfielder named Pavin Smith.

2004

The most conspicuous figures in this U.S. Open were not the winner, the runner-up or any of the other golfers. The people who drew most notice were the U.S. Golf Association officials with walkie-talkies, discussing the deteriorating course conditions, and the workers who came out to water the baked greens during the final round — a sight about as unlikely as snow in June.

Wind gusts, which normally are Shinnecock Hills’ greatest defense, were virtually nonexistent during the first two rounds. So, the tournament committee allowed the greens to get bone dry and hard to toughen the challenge. But the wind did pick up on the weekend, especially Sunday, occasionally making it difficult to keep a ball on the greens (after his final round, Mike Weir called them “browns”). Despite the emergency “syringing” efforts, the average score for the day was more than eight strokes over par.

Still, nothing flustered Retief Goosen. He putted masterfully on those lifeless surfaces, overcame the crowd’s roars for Phil Mickelson (who briefly took the lead on the 16th hole) and secured his second U.S. Open trophy at 4-under — the best score for an Open at Shinnecock.

2018

Not since Curtis Strange in 1989 had anyone won a second consecutive U.S. Open. So, Brooks Koepka had precedent working against him, as well as a surging field in benign conditions on Sunday. Tommy Fleetwood shot a then-Open record 7-under par 63, but fell one short of Koepka, who shot 68 and finished the week 1-over.

Koepka matched Strange’s feat in close range of the man himself. Strange was now an analyst for Fox who walked all 18 with the champion’s group. “I will say this. Last year, there was some talk that he won on a non-U.S. Open-type golf course setup. Wide, wide fairways,” Strange said, referring to the 2017 Open at the unimpressive Erin Hills. “Is he really a U.S. Open player? He proved it today and all this week. He won on a classic."

Eleven months later, Koepka would become a repeat Long Island major titlist, winning the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black.