SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The U.S. Open teed off Thursday with a fog-delayed first round at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where the setting is a little quieter than recent editions of the championship.
U.S. Open tickets have not sold out for any round—practice or competition. The USGA made about 21,000 tickets available for purchase per day. If there is a sellout on the weekend, total capacity will be capped at less than 30,000 per day, including volunteers, vendors, and other staffers.
More than 200,000 fans attended the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Opens at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina and Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh, respectively, with crowds of roughly 40,000 fans on peak days. In 2023, daily crowd sizes were around 23,000 fans at Los Angeles Country Club, which did not have the bandwidth for a larger footprint.
Large crowds followed Rory McIlroy’s group in the morning wave and Bryson DeChambeau’s in the afternoon, but many grandstands were less than full throughout the day.
Perhaps the Long Island fans will get rowdier over the weekend, but so far there have been no poor behavior issues like what happened just 60 miles south at Bethpage Black during the Ryder Cup in September.
“I never know what to expect,” 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley said after shooting even par in the first round. “I would understand if they were upset, but I didn’t get any of that.”
“I thought they were great,” Sam Burns said after shooting a one-over-par 71. “Honestly, I feel there’s so much going on that we’re so focused on just trying to survive out there.”
Air It Out
The smaller contingent of fans on site this week certainly hasn’t slowed down the heavy traffic in the Hamptons, which some attendees are paying a premium to avoid.
Blade—the official helicopter service provider for the 2026 U.S. Open—has been selling helicopter rides from New York City to Shinnecock for $1,480 per person on its 6-seater Xcel: Bell 407 choppers. The roughly 80-mile trek takes about 40 minutes in the air.
There is also a $645 option for a 10-minute journey from the East Hampton Airport for those willing to pay up to avoid the 15-mile drive to the golf course.
Meanwhile, a temporary stop on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) has been built just across the street from Shinnecock, just like the last time the U.S. Open was held at the course in 2018. A pedestrian bridge allows fans to walk over the busy Southampton bypass and directly into the course.
The number of trains stopping at Shinnecock during the U.S. Open has doubled since 2018 to roughly 170.
Summertime in the Hamptons
The Hamptons are filled with plenty of hundred-million-dollar houses, often second and third homes for their wealthy owners, but the luxury rental market during the U.S. Open has been softer than some within the industry initially expected.
Competition with the ongoing World Cup in the U.S. likely contributed to lower demand—not to mention the Knicks’ run to the NBA Finals, which led to Thursday’s parade in New York City,
“I think a lot of marketing budgets kind of got allocated to those major events,” Bryan Fedner, co-founder and co-CEO of StayMarquis, told Front Office Sports.
The Hamptons-based luxury rental company worked with the USGA (albeit in an unofficial capacity) to create a dedicated website for booking accommodations around the U.S. Open, used by everyone from players to executives to tournament staff.
In total, StayMarquis had 222 bookings, representing about 25% of the market share in the area. Its highest value booking was $150,000.
While the overall rental market demand wasn’t as high as it was around the Ryder Cup, U.S. Open week revenue is surpassing July 4 bookings for StayMarquis—annually the busiest time of the year.
