'Like winning a major': Kerry's Seán Quinlivan relishing honour at US Open course

As head pro at Shinnecock Hills, Seán Quinlivan's main duties are the day-to-day operation of a seasonal course, which sometimes includes running events and playing with the members.

Seán Quinlivan has been head professional at Shinnecock Hills since 2022. Pic: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

This famous golf course on the tip of Long Island reminds Seán Quinlivan of home. Shinnecock Hills is a long way from Ireland, but the site of this week’s U.S. Open is a reminder of Listowel, the surrounding area and the type of golf he played growing up.

No, Shinnecock Hills is technically not a links such as Ballybunion or some of the other famous Irish layouts, but it has those kinds of characteristics that are challenging some of the best in the world as the U.S. Open continues this weekend.

And Quinlivan, the head golf professional at Shinnecock, can appreciate all of it.

“It feels like home,” he said this week just outside the Shinnecock clubhouse, which was built in 1892. “Even the general area, we’re right by the beach. It’s a small village, Southampton is a small village. Even driving around, there’s not a lot of big, old highways anywhere near us for several miles. So in that sense, there’s a lot of similarities.” 

Quinlivan, an excellent amateur player in Ireland in the early 1990s who gave the professional touring game a try before getting into the business end of the profession, has been in his current job since the start of 2022 after a lengthy stint at another Long Island club, Piping Rock. He’s lived in the United States for more than 25 years.

He is one of only four people to hold the job in the past 100 years and is doing so at a club that was one of the five founding members of the United States Golf Association.

“It’s like winning a major to me or something similar,” Quinlivan, 51, said. “It is a big honour.” 

Quinlivan didn’t get to play with the likes of a Tiger Woods in the run-up to the U.S. Open as his predecessor, Jack Druga, did prior to the 2018 tournament at Shinnecock Hills.

But Quinlivan did host several members of the European Ryder Cup team last September in the week leading up to their victory at Bethpage Black. Several members of the team made their way around some of the Long Island courses and made a point to drop in here at Shinnecock.

Perhaps Quinlivan was their lucky charm, as the Europeans ran out to a big lead and subsequent victory at Bethpage Black, which is about an hour away.

“I can’t lie, it was very cool,” Quinlivan said. “All of our professional staff, everybody got a chance to play with somebody and several of our members, too. That was kind of a neat perk. I actually had a chance to play with Rory (McIlroy) and we had several members of the team here. It was a great time to be here, the golf course was a bit firmer without the humidity, a bit faster. It was great.” 

Shane Lowry was part of the contingent, as was Jon Rahm, Robert MacIntyre and Rasmus Hojgaard.

“It was their preparation here,” Quinlivan joked. “That’s why they won.” 

What wasn’t a joke was the amount of snow that fell on Long Island over the winter. The area had 50 inches – sometimes golf can be played here in the winter months – and as late as March there was a blanket of snow throughout the layout.

“We had much more this past winter,” he said. “This is our fifth season here on the east end of the island and a lot more than we are used to. And it was nervously so at the end. Mid-March, we still had snow on the ground. That pushed back some of the build out for the USGA’s teams and was probably a little closer to the event than probably planned.

“But we don’t get that every winter and the previous winter we might not have had any snow. So it varies. But a couple of months was plenty of time. And it kicks in quickly here. There’s not much growth in April, really hardly any. It’s quite raw out here. But once we started getting it May, it warms up a bit and then it seems like by the end of May, the place begins to pop.

“Even looking at some of the footage on property here just two weeks ago, the native area was nothing. It’s a lot different now.” 

Quinlivan plays competitively in area events when he can and said his inability to break through as a professional player is likely down to self-belief. But he’s found his place and his calling. As a club pro in America, his main duties are the day-to-day operation of a seasonal course, which sometimes includes running events and playing with the members.

But the U.S. Open was always on the horizon, from the day he took the job just more than four years ago.

“We’ve been super excited, the whole team, knowing this was coming,” he said. “It’s been a big undertaking but all are thrilled to be a part of it. It’s made things a bit more hectic and our summer schedule is different. But it’s been great and when you see what it all entails it’s just an honor.”