By mustang6560 on 6/16/11

I read yesterday that the 2018 U.S. Open will return to Shinnecock Hills Country Club in Southampton, New York and didn't think much of it.

I did think it was weird that until yesterday, the USGA had announced the site of the U.S. Open through 2019, except for 2018. But other than that, I didn't think much about the announcement.

It wasn't until I got home last night and turned on Live from the U.S. Open on The Golf Channel that I released how significant the announcement was. Back in 2004, the last time the U.S. Open was at Shinnecock, I was getting ready to go to college so I missed out on what happened.

The U.S. Open is supposed to be a challenging test, but ultimately it's supposed to be a FAIR test - it is supposed to reward good shots and penalize bad shots. But after not watering overnight before the final round Sunday, Shinnecock was a disaster zone. The grounds crew had to water the greens between groups down the stretch to keep the greens from literally becoming dirt. I saw a highlight of a player who was putting and his putt ran by the hole and continued off the green into a sand trap.

Shinnecock became the laughing stock and was an example of how to NOT host the U.S. Open. But, you know what they say, time heals all wounds and seven years from now (15 total years later), the U.S. Open will be back on Long Island.

Mike Davis, the executive director of the USGA, said they probably won't name the host of the 2020 U.S. Open for another year or two. It makes good since, why commit to something so far into the future?



2018 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills

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