Wayno,
You forget that NGLA remains the real deal, in it's original form, whereas, SH has had a few facelifts and makeovers
Interesting comment about the land.
NGLA's present site was NOT CBM's first choice.
Land near or adjacent to the Shinnecock Canal was one of his early choices.
The land finally chosen had never been surveyed and was thought to be worthless.. It abounded in bogs and swamps.
Of the 450 acres available on the site that's now Sebonack and NGLA, the company that owned it agreed to sell CBM 205 acres.
Initially, CBM didn't want to build a golf course close too Shinnecock Hills, fate however, determined that he would build it about as close as you could get to SH.
CBM states that the land was impoverished and that soil and soil additives, to the tune of 10,000 loads, had to be added in order to get grass to grow.
Hence the choice of land may have been a default choice rather than a choice of the choicest property.