Shinnecock Hills is a community in the city of Southampton in Suffolk County. One of the oldest and finest golf clubs in the country is in the area. The Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was built in 1891 and it is one of the five clubs that founded the USGA. 
Shinnecock Hills Golf Club was also the first club to allow women to become members in their own right. The club has the oldest clubhouse in the U.S. and its prestigious course is ranked among the best in the country. In fact, Shinnecock Hills was ranked third in 100 Greatest Courses Ranking by Golf Digest for 2005. The narrow, links style design was built on undulating terrain and though there are no water bodies, the excellent positioning of sand bunkers will test every aspects of your game.
Another unique region of Shinnecock Hills is the Indian reservation. Shinnecock Reservation encompasses 750 acres of land and approximately 500 Native American people live on it. This special population is part of the Shinnecock Nation is a self-governing, State-recognized Tribe.
The Shinnecock Hill Preserve is an attempt by environmentalists in the Nature Conservancy to preserve rare natural grassland. They bought a narrow wedge of approximately 26 acres of natural grassland from the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club. This preserve is an excellent example of rarely seen maritime grassland. New York now has only about 150 acres of this native grassland left.
Though a fair amount may have vanished due to development of the Long Island over the years, even in areas where nature has ruled, the ecology of the terrain has slowly undergone changes. It has been observed that the maritime grassland gradually changes over the years from a grassy heath to pitch pine forests. Even in the Shinnecock Hills preserve there are areas where pine has grown and sometimes oak as well, leaving just narrow trails with the original grasslands. One can spend a quiet day, just communing with nature here as it makes for a pleasant walk at any time of the year, especially during late spring when shrubs like beach plum and wildflowers of many species are in bloom.
