You are going to hear a lot about a particular hole on the broadcast at the US Open this week but, more specifically, the green.
Shinnecock Hills is the proud owner of a redan green on the 7th hole, which is a treacherous par 3, guarded by bunkers and steep run-offs.
While these features will cause trouble for the competitors on Long Island, the putting surface could also lead to no end of trauma, and that is due to its shape.
Firstly, redan is a French word for a part of a fortification, usually in a V-shape. A redan green sits at an approximate 45-degree angle that points from right to left, and slopes from front to back.
Traditionally, a hole with a redan has a bunker at the front and at the back to catch shots that fall both short and long. The idea is that players aim for the right portion of the green, usually away from the pin, to land their ball on the flat and feed it down towards the hole.
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It is 187 yards long, and as you can see in the image included in this column, the right-hand trap does snake around the back of the green, too. The tee is a little elevated, and the players hit over a valley.
There are also two sizeable bunkers to the left and below the green. But it is the green complex that we are focused on, and what the players should be focused on.
Another green like this that you might be familiar with on previous golf travels is the par-3 15th hole at North Berwick in East Lothian. This is judged to be the original redan. Charles Blair Macdonald and Seth Raynor are two renowned architects who commonly employed this type of putting surface.
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The 7th hole at Chicago Golf Club also has a redan green, as well as the 13th holes at Shorecares, Lookout Mountains, and the 4th hole at Riviera in Los Angeles, which is also redan-style.
The 7th hole was also embroiled in the infamous 2004 US Open at Shinnecock, a tournament that saw the USGA lose control of the greens as they became too firm and dry.
After the green was cut and rolled on Friday evening, and reportedly rolled again on Saturday morning, this hole became virtually unplayable and was controversially watered during play.
The players will need to decide how high or low they fly their balls on the 7th. A lower shot could run away on the putting surface, but a higher shot could get caught in the wind, which is predicted to arrive in harsh form at the 2026 US Open.
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