There will be something a bit different about the 113th US Open. Merion Golf Club do not have flags on the greens instead using egg-shaped wicker baskets attached to steel sticks. The Pennsylvania course use red baskets for the front nine holes with orange for the back nine. If the ball lands in one the baskets, the ball will be placed at the lip of the hole with no penalty strokes.
The origin of the baskets is somewhat mysterious with one account of how they came to pass involving Hugh Wilson, Merion’s architect, getting the idea from Scottish shepherds, who carried walking sticks topped with baskets, where they stored their lunches.
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