Golf Grounds (LIRR station)

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Southampton College
General information
LocationTuckahoe Road
Shinnecock Hills, New York
Coordinates40°53′27.6″N 72°26′26.7″W / 40.891000°N 72.440750°W / 40.891000; -72.440750
Owned byLong Island Rail Road
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
Other information
Station codeSHC
Fare zone14
History
Opened1907, 1976, 2004, 2018
Closed1938,[1] 1998, 2004, 2018
Rebuilt1976, 2004, 2018
Previous namesGolf Grounds (1907–1939); Southampton College (1976–1998); Shinnecock Hills (2004; 2018; 2026)
Former services
Preceding station Long Island Rail Road Following station
Shinnecock Hills
toward Long Island City
 Montauk Branch Southampton
toward Montauk
Hampton Bays
toward Long Island City
Location

Southampton College was a Long Island Rail Road station along the Montauk Branch, located in Shinnecock Hills, New York, United States, that has been temporarily reactivated as Shinnecock Hills for U.S. Open golf tournaments held at nearby Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in the 21st century.

History

Originally a seasonal flag stop called Golf Grounds, the station opened April 1907 to serve sites such as the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and National Golf Links of America and was closed in 1938.[1]

In order to serve the Long Island University's Southampton College (now owned by Stony Brook University) it reopened as Southampton College on May 24, 1976.[1][2][3][4]

In 1986, the Long Island Rail Road also provided service at this station for spectators traveling to the 1986 U.S. Open.[2]

On March 16, 1998, the station was once again discontinued as a station stop and was subsequently demolished – along with a handful of other Long Island Rail Road stations – due to low ridership.[3] At the time, the station had an average daily ridership of 16 passengers, and the low ridership did not make it cost effective for high level platforms to be installed to accommodate the LIRR's new C3 bilevel rail cars, which require such platforms.[4][5]

Temporary re-openings

A temporary station named Shinnecock Hills with a high level platform was opened at this location for the 2004,[6] 2018,[5][7][8] and 2026 U.S. Opens.[9][10]

Station layout

The station had 1 low level side platform.[3][4] As the newer C3 railcars required high level platforms at stations, the trains would not be able to serve the station without building a new, high level platform to replace the existing low level one.[3][4]

The temporary station in June 2018 had a 10-car high-level platform.[5]

Track 1 ←      Montauk Branch toward Long Island City or Penn Station (Hampton Bays)

←      Montauk Branch toward Montauk (Southampton) →

Side platform, doors will open on the left or right Disabled access

References

  1. "3 R.R. Stations Closed". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 9, 1938. p. 7. Retrieved December 4, 2019 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. "The 1986 U.S. Open and the Long Island Rail Road". arrts-arrchives.com. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  3. Sengupta, Somini (March 15, 1998). "End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2009.
  4. "End of the Road". The East Hampton Star. March 26, 1998. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  5. Schneider, Craig (June 15, 2018). "Officials: U.S. Open spectators fill LIRR trains, easing congestion". Newsday. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  6. Tyrrell, Joie; Freedman, Mitchell (March 25, 2004). "Town, LIRR, USGA Plans, Handling the Open Crowds". Newsday. p. A.19. Retrieved April 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Castillo, Alfonso A. (June 7, 2018). "LIRR opens temporary station for Shinnecock Hills golf tourney". Newsday. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  8. Murphy, William (June 19, 2018). "LIRR: More than 78,000 passenger trips to, from U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills". Newsday. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
  9. "Getting to the 2026 U.S. Open Golf Championship on the LIRR". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 27, 2026. Retrieved May 23, 2026.
  10. "LIRR Train Service to the 126th U.S. Open" Archived 2026-06-01 at the Wayback Machine