Southampton Town to receive $850G for 2026 U.S. Open Golf costs at Shinnecock Hills

Southampton Town will be paid $850,000 by the organizers of the U.S. Open Golf Championship for police and other expenses incurred during this year’s tournament in Shinnecock Hills.

The payment will reimburse the estimated cost of town police, traffic control, safety enforcement officers and other town staff during the event, said Ryan Murphy, Southampton’s public safety and emergency management administrator, in an interview on Wednesday.

“It's a considerable amount of resources that go into it,” Murphy told Newsday. “The town provides a rather large police presence for the event ... as well as the traffic and making sure that things flow through the area.”

The town board approved a "consideration agreement" between the town and the U.S. Golf Association, which runs the tournament, at its meeting Tuesday night. Town officials did not immediately provide a copy of the agreement to Newsday.

The USGA did not immediately return a request for comment.

The board also approved a no-cost agreement with Suffolk County, which will contribute police, emergency services and equipment to help the event run smoothly, Murphy said.

The U.S. Open, one of professional golf’s four major tournaments, was last held at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in 2018. The event caused traffic congestion on major Southampton roads.

Murphy said the town has been planning for the event with the USGA since the fall. The U.S. Open is expected to bring a daily peak attendance of about 40,000, USGA staff have said.

A similar agreement for $625,000 was struck in 2018 to cover the costs associated with that event. Town records show the USGA also paid $16,464 that year to cover police costs, along with a $2,450 tent permit fee.

This year’s tournament is scheduled for June 18-21, with practice rounds beginning on June 15.

The U.S. Open has a long history at Shinnecock Hills, a private course founded in 1891. It has been played there five times, including the second U.S. Open in 1896. The tournament is scheduled to be hosted there again in 2036, along with the U.S. Women’s Open Championship.

In preparation for this year’s U.S. Open, Southampton has eased short-term rental restrictions, and the Long Island Rail Road is increasing service on the Montauk Branch. A temporary second platform is being built at the Hampton Bays station. A makeshift station is under construction at Stony Brook University’s Southampton campus, within walking distance of the course.

In addition to the Southampton payment, the USGA will pay Riverhead Town $150,000 to use runways at the Calverton Enterprise Park for parking. Attendees will be screened there before being shuttled to Shinnecock Hills.

Suffolk County will receive $100,000 for improvements to the county’s four golf courses and up to $150,000 for “turf consultant services” for two years. Last week, the county legislature approved a resolution to accept the donation from the USGA, “as their way of giving back and making public golf better in the community [as] they host" the U.S. Open, the resolution states.

Last year, the Professional Golfers’ Association paid $6 million to New York State to host the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, a public golf course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, Newsday previously reported. The state is not charging the PGA to host two future tournaments at the course.

It also paid $200,000 to Farmingdale State College for the "use of facilities" in September and early October, and $40,000 to the Town of Oyster Bay to store trucks and trailers at its solid waste complex.

Newsday’s Tara Smith and Joe Werkmeister contributed to this story.