Courses · MERION GOLF CLUB · EAST COURSE

At Merion, the flagsticks have no flags.

On Merion's East Course the flagsticks carry wicker baskets instead of flags, red on the front nine and orange on the back, and they tell players nothing about the wind. They arrived in 1915, patented by the club's greenkeeper William Flynn. Where the idea came from is still a mystery.

The one to remember

Merion's pins have worn wicker baskets since 1915.

Facts and sources

  • Merion's East Course uses wicker baskets in place of flags: dark red on the outward nine and orange on the inward nine (USGA). The standards are 7½ feet tall, including 14 inches of basket (Golf Channel, 2026).
  • A basket gives no clue to the wind. Lee Trevino: “The wicker baskets tell you nothing.” Before the 2013 U.S. Open, Tiger Woods's caddie Joe LaCava said they would use the trees, wind charts and thrown grass instead.
  • Hugh Wilson, a Merion member and insurance broker, led the design of the East Course, which opened on 14 September 1912 (Merion Golf Club; Golf Channel).
  • The baskets were not there in 1912. By July 1915 they were in use on striped wooden pins, and greenkeeper William Flynn applied for a patent on 7 August 1915, granted on 29 February 1916 (USGA, quoting the Evening Public Ledger).
  • The club says their origin “is a mystery to this day.” One story has Wilson seeing shepherds who kept their lunch in wicker baskets on their staffs; another points to British courses that marked holes with baskets on canes as early as the 1850s (USA TODAY; USGA).
  • The U.S. Open returns to Merion in 2030, then in 2040 and 2050 (USGA). In 2013 the USGA wrote that the baskets had been used at every USGA championship there since the 1916 U.S. Amateur, except the 1950 U.S. Open.

Illustration: the course, its green and bunkers and the people on it are drawn from photographs and descriptions, not surveyed; the pins and baskets follow the club's (7½ feet with a 14-inch basket). The 1912 and 1915 scenes (Hugh Wilson on a green with his plans and a flag in the hole, William Flynn planting a striped wooden pin with a basket, as the Evening Public Ledger described them in 1915), the shepherds' story and the 2030 championship crowd are illustrations of the narration, not records. The flag in the wind is an ordinary pin flag on no particular course.

Sources

  1. Merion History · Merion Golf Club checked 11 October 2026
  2. The Origin of Merion's Wicker Baskets · USGA, USOpen.com (Wayne S. Morrison, 10 June 2013; archived 8 December 2013) checked 11 October 2026
  3. Merion's wicker baskets provide a challenge · USA TODAY (Steve DiMeglio, 10 June 2013), via The Durango Herald checked 11 October 2026
  4. Merion basket cases add spice · Sport24 (AFP, 12 June 2013; archived 22 January 2014) checked 11 October 2026
  5. Stage once again set for Merion, unmatched in its design and history · Golf Channel (Brentley Romine, 9 August 2026) checked 11 October 2026
  6. Oh, To Be A Member At Merion · Golf Digest (David Owen, April 2013; archived 10 May 2016) checked 11 October 2026
  7. What sets Merion apart? The wicker baskets, yes, but also so much more · GOLF.com (Zephyr Melton, 10 May 2022) checked 11 October 2026
  8. U.S. Open to Return to Merion in 2040 · USGA (press release, 22 January 2024) checked 11 October 2026
  9. USGA Designates Merion Golf Club as Fourth U.S. Open Anchor Site · USGA (press release, 8 October 2026) checked 11 October 2026

The narration is AI-generated. Sources last checked 11 October 2026.

Script

At Merion, the flagsticks have no flags. Each one is topped with a wicker basket. Red on the front nine, orange on the back. A flag shows which way the wind is blowing. A basket gives nothing away, so players watch the trees and toss grass in the air. Hugh Wilson, an insurance broker, designed the East Course. It opened in 1912. The baskets came three years later, patented by the club's greenkeeper, William Flynn. Where the idea came from is still a mystery, even to the club. One story says Wilson saw shepherds in Britain who kept their lunch in wicker baskets on the end of their staffs, away from the animals. No one has ever found proof. The U.S. Open returns to Merion in 2030, and if tradition holds, so will the baskets.