Shinnecock Indian Nation

While the U.S. Open championship has returned to Shinnecock Hills this year, so too have tensions between the host club and the Native American tribe that gave it its name.

June 17, 2004

By Cailin Brophy

While the U.S. Open championship has returned to Shinnecock Hills this year, so too have tensions between the host club and the Native American tribe that gave it its name.

The Shinnecock Indian Nation has expressed its frustration with the club, complaining about a denial of its request to conduct a short ceremony prior to tournament play.

"The tribe wanted to do a short blessing of the grounds and sing an honor song for those of us who have passed on, especially Peter Smith," Tribal Trustee Lance Gumbs said, referring to the former Shinnecock greenskeeper who was fired from the club in 1999 and who died in 2002. Mr. Gumbs stated that the tribe wanted to hold the ceremony either Wednesday evening or Thursday morning prior to the first tee-off of the U.S. Open.

USGA spokesman Marty Parks explained that accommodating such a ceremony would have been difficult, given the nature of the event.

"They had originally asked if they could do it during our opening ceremonies, but we explained to them that we don't have an opening ceremony," he said. "It's not like the Super Bowl or Olympics, where they have a halftime show or something like that. Because of scattered tee times, there really is no time to do it. But we explained this to them, and they understood that."

The tribe has not expressed any recent frustration with the USGA, and in fact has been complimentary of its efforts to accommodate the tribe's needs.

The tribe had threatened to protest the U.S. Open after learning that the USGA revealed that it would not be paying to use reservation land for event parking. In both the 1986 and 1995 tournaments, the USGA had paid the tribe $90,000 for use of their land, but for the 2004 tournament had decided to use another site that was more convenient and contiguous for busing people back and forth to the event, according to Parks.

The USGA responded in several ways, announcing that it would donate useful material to the tribe after the tournament, such as wood, stairs, carpet and gravel from the various structures built for the Open, while also inviting children of the Shinnecock Indian Nation to participate in "Junior Golf Day," which took place on Tuesday at the Long Island National Golf Club in Riverhead.

"The USGA went a long way to hear the differences we had with them," Mr. Gumbs said. "They went out of their way to mend the fence. That was really important to our Nation."

Although the tribe smoothed matters over with the USGA, it still has issues with the club itself. "A lot of our people are not there anymore, and we've lost our connection with the land," Mr. Gumbs said. "This could have mended some of the damage that's been done."

Representatives from the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club could not be reached for comment.