We attended the Saturday round at Shinnecock Hills.
The Course: First time ever seeing the course, and it may be recency bias, but it's the finest test of golf I've ever seen. Tee to green links style, with parkland greens. Incredible. That the USGA widened the fairways and only had to put the greens to 10.5 on the Stimp tells you all you need to know about just how hard this course is. If they jacked the greens up to 13 or 14 like last year it would have been a bloodbath. Absolutely loved it.
Getting there: No surprise but probably the only downside is just how remote Shinnecock is. There are no reasonably priced accommodations anywhere on Long Island during the week. The LIRR is fine, but man almost 3 hours each way from NYC is a killer.
The Fan Experience: The USGA did a masterful job with fan routing around the course. Never felt cramped in or blocked off from great viewing areas. One nit, having the last group tee off at 3:45PM EST was about 2 hours later than they should have. No wonder the course was empty when the last group played 18. Everyone was streaming out when Rory and Scottie finished 2 hours ahead of the last group so that they could catch the last couple of trains leaving the course. Sunday's earlier tee times were more appropriate.
The Fans: First time for me being around New York fans. Not really sure why they felt the need to heckle so many golfers. I get Rory's going to hear it, but Xander Shauffele and Justin Thomas? Really? The Wall Street frat boys sure struggled to handle their alcohol. Saw several of them getting the Weekend and Bernie's treatment late in the day. Having said that, those guys weren't the majority.
The Players: Not sure what to think about Scottie. Something's not clicking this year. Maybe it's just too hard to play at the level he was the last 3 years and he's regressed. Rory's starting to look like he's going to be a Master's specialist and he can't adjust his game to other venues. Wyndham Clark played unbelievable for 4 days. I wasn't cheering for him but he deserved the win. Great redemption story.
On to Pebble.