There are few (if any) U.S. Open venues with a richer history than Shinnecock Hills, which is hosting the 126th edition of the tournament this week on eastern Long Island.

The U.S. Open has been played at Shinnecock five times — in 1896, 1986, 1995, 2004 and 2018.

According to the USGA, 659 players have competed in those Opens and only three of them have broken par for 72 holes.

Raymond Floyd won the 1986 U.S. Open at the venerable course at 1-under par for the week. Retief Goosen won the 2004 U.S. Open on 4-under par for the week, thanks in large part to one-putting 11 greens in the final round. The runner-up that year, Phil Mickelson, finished 2-under par.

And in 2018, the last time the U.S. Open was played at Shinnecock, Brooks Koepka finished 1-over par to win his second consecutive national championship. Corey Pavin won the 1995 U.S. Open at Shinnecock at even par. 

What awaits this week is up to the players, the weather gods and the USGA, depending on how it decides to set up the golf course. 

The USGA’s involvement with course setup, of course, has been a part of Shinnecock’s U.S. Open history as well — albeit a dark part of its history in some instances. 

Players and golf fans will remember the tournament officials losing control of the seventh green in 2004 to the point play had to be halted while they watered the green in the middle of the round because no one could keep a ball on the rock-hard green.

Few will forget Mickelson, so exasperated at the slick and undulating 13th green in windy third-round conditions at Shinnecock, hitting his own moving putt back toward the hole so it wouldn’t roll off the green. He took a 10 on the hole and clearly swatted that moving ball to prove a point to the USGA for losing the golf course.

---

Hopefully, this year’s U.S. Open will not be remembered for nonsense and instead for great shots made in big moments.

“This place is going to reveal who the best in the world is that week,’’ Mike Whan, the CEO and executive director of the USGA, said recently. “This is an important place to us, not only in terms of starting golf in America, but starting the USGA. When we got started in 1896, the second-ever U.S. Open had 35 entries. They played 36 holes in one day. It was played at 4,400 yards. And the purse was $335.

“This year there were 10,200 people trying to get one of these 156 tee times. We’ll obviously play 72 holes at just under 7,500 yards. And J.J. [Spaun] won $4.3 million for winning the U.S. Open last year.’’

The U.S. Open history at Shinnecock cannot be told without mentioning Pavin’s famous uphill 228-yard 4-wood to the 72nd hole to seal victory in 1995.

Nor can it be told without mentioning Goosen’s remarkable 11 one-putts in the final round in 2018 to deny Mickelson the only major championship his brilliant resume lacks to this day.

Or Koepka’s amazing 2018 tournament, becoming the first player to win back-to-back U.S. Opens since Curtis Strange did it 29 years earlier.

“It’s home to some incredible moments,’’ Whan said. “A 19-year-old Tiger Woods played his first U.S. Open right here in 1995. There’s no doubt that some new history is going to be written here in 2026.”

The history of the club isn’t limited to the venerable 18 holes on the golf course. Its clubhouse, built by Stanford White, is known as the “America’s first clubhouse,’’ according to the USGA. 

Shinnecock is America’s oldest incorporated club, dating to 1891. It, too, is said to be the first U.S. club to allow women as full members, from Day 1 in 1891.

“With all that is Shinnecock, you can’t buy history,’’ USGA chief championship officer John Bodenheimer said. “You can only earn it. This place has it.”

---

Listening to USGA officials speak about this championship, they insist they’ve learned from past mistakes in the Shinnecock setup and will be on high alert to make sure to avoid any calamity this year.

Bodenheimer said the course will play the same length as it did eight years ago — at 7,440 yards, par 70. He said the fairways will average 48-yards wide — wider than they were in ’18. 

He also said the plan is to gradually bring the course to its most difficult conditions as the week progresses, which is unlike years past when they were full throttle from the start of the week.

“Beginning on Sunday or Monday when the players arrive, they used to experience full U.S. Open conditions for the entire week,’’ he said. “We no longer do that. We ease into things like firmness, green speed and rough heights. By Wednesday and easing into Thursday, they’re seeing the teeth of the U.S. Open.

“When the weather changes, things can get away from us. Green speeds will start slightly less than we did in 2018. I think our green speeds will play most of our golf in the 11.5 to 12-foot range (on the Stimpmeter). We can get 30-plus mph gusts and winds, and we want to use the great hole locations here, so we’re going to have appropriate speeds. It’ll be a game-time decision depending on the weather.’’

Bodenheimer said “water management will be key.’’

“Winds come off of Peconic Bay, Long Island Sound, the Atlantic Ocean and the putting greens are perched up on sandy soil with no trees,’’ he said. “We need to manage that water when you get the high sun and the winds. That’s something we’ll be paying close attention to.

“I’ve never seen a golf course that dries down as quickly as this place does. If we need to, we’ll apply the appropriate water as needed. We’ll be on top of that.”

From the USGA’s mouths to the players’ ears.

“If they just leave it alone, I don’t think you need to do anything to make it hard,’’ Jordan Spieth told The Post. 

“It is a hard golf course that doesn’t need to be tricked up,’’ Adam Scott told The Post. “So, hopefully they don’t try anything this year. Hopefully, they’ve left it alone. It’s a beautiful place to play golf. I just love the whole feeling of it.’’

Keegan Bradley called Shinnecock “one of our classics,’’ adding, “As long as the USGA keeps their mitts off it, it’s one of our all-time best — one of the world’s best courses. I hope they leave it alone.’’

Rickie Fowler, who played in the 2018 Open, said he “would assume they’ll do a better job of keeping a consistent setup and not being in a position where they end up where they did on Saturday last time.’’

“Obviously, you’re trying to get it to a point where it’s tough but fair,’’ Fowler went on. “But around a place like that, with as much slope and runoffs, it can cross the line pretty quickly. It can be tough to plan exactly how it’s going to play later in the day when you’re setting it up in the morning. Weather can change, and all of a sudden it goes just over the line when you’re trying to keep it just under it.’’

Justin Rose recalled 2004 and the trouble on No. 7, the par 3 where no one could hold the green with a tee shot.

“The year when they lost seven, I just remember it being the worst golf course I’ve ever played,’’ Rose told The Post. “Then I got invited back to play with a member in about 2012 and I didn’t really want to go. It was a lovely invite from a great person, so I played and was blown away at how good it was. That was really a lesson for me that how a course gets stressed in the right or wrong ways can really kind of take away from the character of it.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my day in 2012 and it kind of completely changed my whole perspective coming into 2018. Then, obviously 2018 was knife-edge as well. It was a very, very tough U.S. Open.’’

Bodenheimer insisted, “It’s not about [winning] score for us, it’s about [players] getting every club in the bag dirty.’’

The players are all for that as long as the course has not been tricked up to take away from its natural allure.