Video: Shinnecock Hills's 10th, 11th And 12th Holes

Three of my favorite holes in golf, we pick up the flyover pace as the U.S. Open nears its return to the great Shinnecock Hills.

The 10th features a tee shot that is difficult visually and one that once enjoyed some strategy. It's hard to imagine today's players laying up 220 yards or so for a better view instead of taking the turbo boost down a slope to the leave a flip sand-wedge for most. Even if the lie is in the first cut of rough.

This was P.J. Boatwright's theory in 1986 before players started doing their Crossfit.

Although it's not an especially short hole, we anticipate that players will lay up off the tee so that they'll play into the green from a relatively level lie rather than play a shorter iron from a downhill lie. The pretty and small green sits up on a knob. An approach shot which lands just short of the green will likely roll down the steep slow and leave the player with a tough pitch shot. The green is likely to be firm, so a well-struck iron shot is essential.

The 10th was famously a difficult green in 2004 when it dried out too much. Players expecting this and the exposed, elevated 11th green to be the same speed and firmness of the others should probably book flights out on Friday night.

The 10th hole was 409 yards for that first U.S. Open, now it's 415 in 2018. (If only Stanford White hadn't put that pretty clubhouse in the way of more back tees! No vision!)

The flyover:

One of my favorite par-3s on the planet is, like most of the best one-shotters, uphill.

I wrote about this phenomenon a few years ago for Golf World (sadly no link), and Shinnecock's 11th certainly ranks with the most admired par-3s anywhere. Why? Usually the wind blows left to right, for a left to right shot shape so the golfer does not feel like the architect is fighting you. The beautifully situated green is pleasing to the eye and since it sits above you, feels like it's at eye level.

Finally, the left bunker cut up into the slope--a William Flynn favorite move--is really not in play for most of this year's contestants but does something to give the 11th an extra bit of life.

At 159 yards this year, the hole plays the same yardage as it did in previous Opens here and poses a very simple but difficult challenge: keep it below the hole. The infinity green is very receptive to the right shot, very penalizing to those who are long or short.

After some finesse golf, the 12 presents a masterfully bunkered tee shot where only the far right hazard is in play. The hole is 469 yards, actually three yards shorter than 1986.

First player to hit a ball on to the road 370 or so yards away is blamed for inevitable bifurcation.