Your reward for surviving the front-9? Everything is about to become even more challenging. You'll still see the risks and rewards of different options off the tee and into the greens. You'll know what shots you have to shape and what angles you'll need to play based on the design dictates of particular holes. But now on the back-9 you'll also need to deal with elevation changes that make the winds more demonic and club selection more exacting. Fairway widths in the drive zone also begin to tighten up with some of the narrowest on the course.
HOLE #10 "Eastward Ho"
Par-4, 415-Yards Having a clear-cut strategy you're comfortable with off the tee is pivotal if you're going to survive No. 10. A modest drive of 240 to 250 yards to the top of the fairway ridge will leave you with a mid-iron into the green. You'll have a great look at the putting surface, however because your approach will play downhill, it will also be more challenging to keep on the green.
Alternatively, you can take the left-side fairway bunkers by hitting it over the fairway ridge and letting the slope funnel your ball in much closer - probably to only 85 yards out. The problem now however is you're left with an extreme uphill approach to a partially blind green, and the shorter distance is going to make it tougher to get spin on the shot to hold the green.
The green is severely sloped and crowned. If you miss short, your ball can roll 60 plus yards back down the fairway. If you miss long, you'll find yourself about 10-feet under the hole and left with a brutal up-and-down. No. 10 is the most difficult hole in U.S. Open history.
HOLE #11 "Hill Head"
Par-3, 159-Yards Huge, cavernous bunkers low and right of the green are 12-feet below the putting surface. The angle of the green puts a premium on distance control.
The green falls off left, right, and back giving you a small landing area to hold the green. Missing long and left will lead to double-bogeys.
The best target for any hole location will be middle-left as that's the flattest part of the putting surface. You'll see very few birdies here during the U.S. Open. I hit one of the best iron shots of my life, and one putt for birdie.
HOLE #12 "Tuckahoe"
Par-4, 460-Yards
Rolling topography remains the theme on this masterfully bunkered tee shot. You'll have to hit a tee shot at least 250 yards to carry the first three bunkers on the right. Longer drives will find the fairway narrows significantly towards the left side of the fairway. Maybe the best drive-zone bunkers on the course.
Second shots between 170 and 220 yards will carry Tuckahoe Road, where thousands of cars travel every day. The drive plays slightly downhill and the second shot slightly uphill, leaving you a decision on whether to aggressively land your approach on the green or play short of it and bounce your ball up to the putting surface.
The large green has no bunkers and falls off slightly to the left and in the front.
HOLE #13 "Road Side"
Par-4, 374-Yards
You might think the shortest par-4 on the course is an easy birdie, but don't take it for granted. This is another elevated tee shot and will be significantly affected by crosswinds. The hole plays back across Tuckahoe Road and any tee shot that travels between 250 and 300 yards needs to fit into a fairway that's only 15 to 20 yards wide.
The waste area is a good distance right of the primary rough and large fairway bunker that will always be in play. However if you're wildly inaccurate, or crosswinds kick up, you'll be in the fescue. And if you are you can forget about finding the green with your second shot.
The green is deep but crowned, and falls off most significantly in the back. Protected by a right-front bunker, your only chance to put the ball close is if you hit your approach from the short grass. Precision distance control is crucial to hit and stay on this green.
HOLE #14 "Thom's Elbow"
Par-4, 519-Yards
On consecutive holes from the shortest par-4 to the longest par-4, Shinny is just playing mind games now. An elevated tee shot with an uphill second shot to the bowl-like green requires two very precise shots.
A bunker on right at 285, and another on the left at 315 will always be in play because the fairway is so narrow. A third bunker further down is in an even narrower fairway and depending on which way the wind blows, it will see a lot of action.
The green is generously sized and you'll have a chance to score if you survived the trip to get there. Most pin locations will be accessible if you fire towards the middle green, however balls that trickle over the back will face a challenging recovery.
HOLE #15 "Sebonac"
Par-4, 409-Yards
When you look at the scorecard and see this is the second shortest par-4 at Shinnecock, you think - hey, this sounds like a nice birdie opportunity. Then you step on the tee and feel a mile high as you look down at a narrow dogleg fairway.
You're hitting from the highest tee box on the course making it the most exposed to wind. A 250 yard drive will get you to the widest part of the fairway just past a right fairway bunkers. If you try to hit it any longer however, the fairway is squeezed by at least 10 yards (I confirmed this with my Nikon CoolShot 80i VR and I'm certain this saved me from losing my ball to the fescue on the right).
The fairway is canted for your second shot, which can leave a sneaky lie further complicating your approach. The green is one of the most protected on all the course, with six bunkers in front and to the sides of the putting surface. It also falls off in just about every direction leaving you with the smallest of areas to hold the green.
There are no bunkers in the back of the green, but it falls off severely in the back, and for that but the green falls off severely in that area.
HOLE #16 "Shinnecock"
Par-5, 616-Yards
I thought this was the most beautiful hole on the course. Zigzagging through a rollercoaster fairway that's protected by a maze of bunkers - all with the Shinny clubhouse out on the horizon. Just absolutely gorgeous.
Favorable winds will let some reach the U.S. Open par-5, 616-yard, No. 16 in two, but it's really a three-shot hole for everyone else. There's a wide landing area for lay-ups about 160-yards out. However the fairway narrows substantially closer to the green, and the ideal left side is jam-packed with a waste area and swarming bunkers. If you bail out right that's going to narrow your effective landing area into the green.
The worst miss into the green is long - do that and you'll be faced with a leviathan putt up to 80 feet long with 40 feet of break and probably an exploding headache as well. The deep green falls 5 feet from back to front with a continuous slope that makes judging speed a total nightmare.
HOLE #17 "Eden"
Par-3, 180-Yards
You're hitting a tees shot slightly downhill to a green that poses multiple challenges. Deep and narrow, the putting surface falls off rapidly in the back and slopes severely in the front.
Two deep bunkers and fescue protect the left, while a long deep bunker guards the right. You can miss long without much worry. That yields a pretty straightforward up-and-down as long as its not from the fescue.
Misses left or right and in the greenside bunkers on the other hand leave extremely challenging recovery shots because the green is effectively narrowed and the slopes are more pronounced.
HOLE #18 "Home"
Par-4, 485-Yards One final uphill drive. One last downhill approach. Whether you shot 3-under or 30-over (I was in between) you're probably going to need a hug when you walk in the clubhouse. Slight dogleg left off the tee just needs a 250 yard drive to carry the first bunker on the left. Bigger hitters can carry the second bunker with a 300 yard drive.
Yes I did attempt the fabled Corey Pavin 228-yard 4-wood shot, and yes I failed miserably flaring one into the right fescue over by the 9th green.
Three bunkers protect the open front green - which pitches from back to front. The two deep greenside bunkers on right will get plenty of action.
READ MORE: Shinnecock Hills Golf Club Review: 2018 U.S. Open (the Clubhouse).
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