US OPEN PREVIEW JUNE 18-21
1986
CLEAR VISION Oakmont Country Club has become the poster course for tree removal. Less discussed is the equally comprehensive deforestation of Shinnecock Hills. As seen in the above photo from the June 1986 issue of Golf Digest when the US Open returned to the Southampton site for the first time since 1896, large sections were covered in pine and other varietals. Since 2000, the club has cleared these groves, and only a few individual stands remain. Like at Oakmont, the result is a much more vivid sense of Shinnecock’s significant ground contour, with the added benefit of allowing the winds to rush unfettered across the layout, adding to the shot demands and allowing the turf to play firm and fast.
74 GOLF DIGEST SOUTH AFRIC A
JUNE 2026
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