The United States Golf Association today presented Jon Jennings, CGCS, golf course superintendent of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, with the E.J. Marshall Platter following the conclusion of play at the 126th U.S. Open Championship.
Jennings, a 41-year member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA), has guided the agronomic care at Shinnecock Hills since 2012. In preparation for the championship, Jennings and his team of 40 worked with USGA Senior Director of Championship Agronomy Darin Bevard to present the historic Long Island routing to the world’s best players.
Created in 2022, the E.J. Marshall Platter recognizes championship golf course management and honors leaders who demonstrate seamless collaboration with the USGA ahead of a national championship. The recognition also extends to the entire Shinnecock Hills maintenance staff and its dedicated volunteers for their behind-the-scenes work.
“It’s been a pleasure to work with Jon and his maintenance team at Shinnecock, who have been exceptional partners as we prepared for this week,” said Bevard. “Jon knows the Poa annua greens and sandy terrain at Shinnecock like no other. His leadership, precision and agronomic expertise ensured the course met - and exceeded - the standards of a U.S. Open.”
Jennings helped usher in a long-term restoration of the course’s classic William Flynn design by widening the fairways to restore original playing angles, clearing invasive stones from greenside bunkers, expanding native fescue seedhead boundaries and adjusting irrigation positions to protect the natural, sandy appearance of the historic dunes.
Shinnecock Hills holds the unique distinction of being the only venue to host the U.S. Open across three different centuries. Jennings is also believed to be the only person who has been superintendent at two of the USGA's five original charter clubs. Prior to his tenure at Shinnecock Hills, Jennings spent 12 years transforming and restoring Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill. – another USGA founding club – which included hosting the 2005 Walker Cup.
His golf course maintenance journey began as a high schooler at Madison Country Club in Conn., before he went on to formalize his education at the University of Massachusetts, earning degrees in both golf course management and resource economics. Before making his mark at Chicago Golf Club and Shinnecock Hills, Jennings plied his trade at En-Joie Golf Club (Endicott, N.Y.) and directed extensive renovations at Hiland Park Country Club (Queensbury, N.Y.) and The Patterson Club (Fairfield, Conn).
The E.J. Marshall Platter's namesake was the chair of the green committee at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, in 1920. After he approached the USGA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for assistance at his course ahead of the 1920 U.S. Open, the USGA formally established the Green Section to provide vital course care expertise, agronomic research, and sustainability tools to golf facilities worldwide.