Countdown to U.S. Open is on....

The U.S Open is fast approaching.  This year’s event is taking place at Merion Golf Club the week of June 10 – 16^th.  Today’s post is just giving you a tease of what is to come for that week of fantastic play and a look at the golf course the boys will be attacking.

The Merion Golf Club website states: “Championship golf and champion golfers have long been intertwined with the mystique of Merion Golf Club’s East and West Courses. Designed by Hugh Wilson, Merion’s East Course has played host to more USGA Championships than any course in America and is home to some of its greatest moments.  From Robert Tyre Jones, Jr.'s completion of golf’s elusive Grand Slam at the 1930 U.S. Amateur to Ben Hogan’s awe-inspiring performance and now legendary one-iron on the 72nd hole during the 1950 U.S. Open, the sculpted greens, fairways and treacherous bunkers of Merion have shaped the game.”

Another fun fact from the Merion Golf Clubs website mentions why they use wicker baskets: “Why wicker baskets instead of traditional flags? Let the Merion Golf Club website explain it ...

 "The wicker baskets' origin is a mystery to this day. There was a great deal written in 1912, and for three years thereafter, locally and nationally about this new course in Philadelphia. However, there was no mention of the soon-to-be famous wicker baskets. It could be assumed they were not there. By the summer of 1915, William Flynn, Merion's Superintendent, received patent approval for his wicker basket design. Merion had baskets that fall and from then-to-today. It could be assumed, due to lack of written proof, that Flynn convinced Wilson to use the baskets, and Merion received its "basket notoriety" the next year during the 1916 U.S. Amateur."

Let’s just hope defending champion Webb Simpson comes to play.