SOUTHAMPTON, NY — On Tuesday afternoon, Halla Arnadottir and Sveinn Ogmundsson were following their son Arni Sveinsson during practice for the US Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, which they had never visited, when a companion told them something about the course that might strike a new visitor as unusual.
The fairway between holes 13 and 14 was actually a fairway.
“Really?” Arnadottir said.
Indeed. Occasionally, the person said, cars will stop and take a photo – when the club isn’t hosting a big tournament.
“Oh, my!” Ogmundsson said.
Indeed. At Shinnecock, there are humps and bumps, and lefts and rights, and wind, sand and fescue. And the road. Tuckahoe Road is its name, and it cuts through the venerable course. On the west side of Tuckahoe are holes 1 through 9 and 14 through 18, and holes 10 through 13 are on the east side of the fairway.
It is also played on holes 12 and 13 – the 472-yard, par-4 12th, is just before the green, and the 367-yard, par-4 13th, is in front of the tee box. Below, you can see videos of the flyover, shot by the USGA.
Here is the 12th flyover.
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Here is the 13th flyover.
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This year, the 12th also participated in the drive … 427-yard drive. In Thursday’s first round, Bryson DeChambeau’s gun shot past Tuckahoe, then bounced on it, before finishing slowly. DeChambeau continued to birdie the hole.
Notably, in 2016, the club tried to get Tuckahoe back on course. This year’s US Open will also be the second consecutive Open where a road intersects the course – last year, Interstate 76 bisected Oakmont.
On Sunday, you can get one last look at the road in tournament play. A few weeks later, you can drive on it.
