The USGA will present Shinnecock Hills at the original William Flynn fairway widths from 1931 when the 126th US Open begins on June 18, a deliberate move away from the setup controversies that have dogged the Long Island venue in its last two championships.

“We’re going to let Shinnecock be Shinnecock,”

USGA chief championships officer John Bodenhamer said, describing a philosophy that prioritises the course’s architecture over any target winning score.

According to local reporting by 27East, the average fairway width in 2004 was 28 yards. In 2026, that figure will be 45 yards on average, with some fairways stretching as wide as 62 yards. The course will still play at 7,440 yards, the same length as 2018, but with the widest fairways of any US Open course in nearly 75 years.

Bodenhamer also said the USGA plans to start greens at 11.5 to 12 feet on the Stimpmeter and “ease into” firmness rather than pushing conditions to tournament levels from the outset.

Why Shinnecock Needed a Different Approach

Shinnecock’s recent US Open history explains the reset. In 2004, conditions spiralled to the point where the USGA had to water greens between groups on the seventh hole. Only two players, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson, broke par, and the final-round scoring average hit 78.7.

In 2018, complaints surfaced again. Greens grew harder and faster as Saturday progressed, with Zach Johnson saying the USGA had “lost the golf course.” Mickelson was penalised two strokes for deliberately hitting a moving ball on the 13th green.

Former USGA CEO Mike Davis called the 2004 Sunday a “double bogey” in the association’s history. Both episodes reinforced a perception that the USGA was too focused on manufacturing difficulty instead of the course’s own test.

Wider Fairways, Tighter Decisions Around the Greens

The broader landing areas shift where the test falls.

Kevin Kisner, who played in nine US Opens including 2018 at Shinnecock and now works as an NBC Sports analyst, said the fairways will be on average six yards wider than in 2018. The intent, he said, is to move the challenge to the green complexes.

“They want all the golf to be around the greens. They want guys to really be thinking, using their 15th club, as they like to say, their mind, around the greens with many different options.”

Kisner said during an NBC Sports preview conference call

Kisner contrasted that with prior setups where narrow fairways and heavy rough eliminated creativity. “Not just having 6-inch rough right off the edge where everybody’s taking big hacks with lob wedges and hoping they guess correctly on how it comes out,” he said.

NBC Crew Backs the Venue

The NBC broadcast team, which includes lead voice Dan Hicks, Kisner, Brad Faxon and Jim “Bones” Mackay, were unanimous in their praise of Shinnecock’s standing on the US Open rota.

Faxon, who played in 20 US Opens including twice at Shinnecock, said the venue stands apart. “I think this has to be the best venue for a US Open for so many different ways,” he said. “I think it’s the closest the US Open will play links golf to an Open Championship.”

Mackay, Phil Mickelson’s former caddie and a veteran of 26 US Opens, agreed. “I think that Shinnecock Hills is arguably the finest US Open venue there is on the rotation,” he said.

Hicks said the USGA is “drifting away from the old philosophy” on winning scores and confirmed that the 2026 championship will mark the first time Shinnecock has been presented at a US Open on Flynn’s original 1931 fairway dimensions.

“They want to take less of a role in dictating maybe what the scores should be,” Hicks said. “I think they took a look back at what’s happened at Shinnecock in the years past and they don’t want that bad history to repeat itself.”

A Founding Club’s Sixth US Open

Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was founded in 1891 and is the oldest incorporated golf club in the United States. It is one of the five founding member clubs of the USGA, and the 2026 championship will be its sixth US Open.

The course’s William Flynn redesign of C.B. Macdonald and Seth Raynor’s original work has defined the layout players will face this month, a par-70 that stretches to 7,440 yards across open, windswept terrain on Long Island’s South Fork.

Kisner said his conversations with Bodenhamer left him confident the approach has changed. “We didn’t mention a score one time, he didn’t mention a score one time,” Kisner said. “I think they’re going to let Shinnecock Hills be Shinnecock Hills and not let agronomy get in the way and not let a target score get in the way.”

The plan is for width off the tee to create decisions, with weather and natural firmness shaping conditions as the week progresses. NBC Sports will broadcast 31 hours of live coverage across NBC, Peacock and NBCSN beginning June 18.