Tom & Wayne,
In Japan can you try to patent others ideas...  

Flynn would have to update his patent every 17 years and keep improving the basket to keep a monopoly on the market.  Did he?    
What would it look like today?

Mark - I also have a patent - "Closure assembly for cell culture vessels" - I haven't used it either...  
I did get paid $1 however.

Mike,
My patent is nearing expiration.  Actually it if I tried to defend it I'd lose because it would be considered abandoned.  You have to use it or you lose it (at least the rights that a patent affords you)    

Kevin,

Thank you very much for posting the photograph, I was trying to find it for a while now.

It is from pg 17 of this Golf Illustrated from October 1927:

http://photoarchive.usga.org/SEGL/Periodicals/Golf%20Illustrated/1927/DOCUMENTS/October%201927.pdf

Wayne:

It was the 1950 U.S. Open that did not use the wicker baskets; the USGA decided "traditional" flagsticks were preferable.

All other competitions before or since have used the baskets.

Tom:

The nightly basket drill didn't begin until about 1970+.  Until then, they were left out at night and nobody ever bothered them - or at least not often enough to have them taken in every night.

One evening, a group of underaged drinkers pulled over to the side of Ardmore Avenue, removed the "basketstick" on the nearby 12th green, set it afire with some flammable liquid and walked a couple of hundred yards down the road with their trophy ablaze until a Haverford Township constable happened upon the scene.  The club declined to prosecute although parents were duly informed and restitution was made ($20 back then?).  After that, the longtime night watchman began to navigate the East Course every evening before dark and so has it been ever since.

Greg Norman did a course a while back where he used baskets - at least at the beginning.

IMHO, Bringing in the wickers at the end of the day must be one of the best jobs in all of golf course maintenance.

In the mid eighties I worked at Merion,for Richy Valentine on the maintenance staff, as an intern. I lived in the clubhouse along with about 5 or 6 other interns from around the world. Bill Jones was the assistant, now the super at Friars head, and he would give out job assignments. By far the most sought after was bringing in the wickers at the end of the day in the wicker truck. A leisure ride around the east course in an old pick-up truck, with a cold six pack while, the sun was setting over the white faces...hey maybe that was my GCA moment that was discussed in another thread.

By the way the second best job at Merion back then also involved the wicker truck. Everyday one of us that lived at the club had to take Frank Marchava, a fellow employee, home in the wicker truck. Frank lived about 3 or 4 miles from the club and although he walked to work we would drive him home. Frank was 75 years old and was the bunker man. He was the only person at that time that was allowed to do any maintenance on the bunkers. That was his job everyday all day. He would disappear in the morning only to reappear at the end of the day. He never took a cart and always had an assortment of tools thrown over his shoulder. With a 124 bunkers at the time, it probably took him at least a month to get around to all of the bunkers. There you go, the big secret to the Merion bunker look of old, leave them alone! Anyway back to taking Frank home. Once you got to Franks house he would invite you in to house for something to drink and eat. Frank didn't speak English and I don't speak Italian, so I am assuming his arm waving and yelling meant to come in for something to eat or drink or else. He served what I was told by others his homemade wine mixed with Pepsi along with an assortment of hard dry cookies. I choked it all down the first time I went all the while Frank and his wife were talking to me with both voice and hand gestures. It felt like I was in trouble or something. Anyway by the time I left Merion I had acquired a taste and an appreciation for Frank's wine, cookies, and hospitality. I got the point that if I drank enough of his wine/Pepsi combination I could understand him and his wife and even join in the conversation.

For interest... an early photo of Stoke Poges (built 1907).  They called them lobster pots and brought them back recently.

Given the photographic evidence from Stoke Poges and St Germain, I think we can safely concluded that Harry Colt was once again stitched up by the Philadelphia GCA crew.  

PS
Seriously, I wonder if St Germain was influenced by Merion.  The course not only had the wicker baskets but also the scotch broom in profusion in and around bunkers with high sand faces.

Wayne,

The baskets were used at the Greenbrier Old White.  Looks like photos from the late teens, the "globe" was more rounded than those at Winged Foot.  We have been trying to trace the origin of those because they plan to use them again.  Let me know what you find out.  

Lester

Wayne,

Yes we have pictures, I'll round them up for you.  I would like to see the routing plan you have.  Unfortunately, my work there is 99%.  Media opening this spring, GCA'ers who have media credentials will be invited, other spots will be filled in over the summer.  Should be around May 30th.

Lester

Are there any tales of a golf ball blasting through the wicker and lodging itself in the basket?

What's the ruling?

Guys, isn't it just a matter of time before people figure out that flags and/or baskets can be used as advertising/billboards?  Not to threadjack, but has anybody seen this yet?  Why do I have a feeling that The Duhnald will be the first offender?

ShivaS

In the mid 1980's, an Australian firm was providing free flags to some clubs, with a small rectangular advertising strip where the flag adjoined the stick.  The flag itself was single colour (yellow I think) but the advertising was a mixture of white background with red and blue writing.

I think this experiment lasted for two or three years, and has not been seen since!

James B

"Are there any tales of a golf ball blasting through the wicker and lodging itself in the basket?
What's the ruling?"

MM;

Sure--there've been a number of tales of the ball blasting through the wicker and lodging in the basket.

The ruling is you get a letter with a bill in it for $589.95.