If you're watching the 2023 US Open on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club, you've no doubt noticed things look a little different on the flagsticks out in California.
There are two flags on each flagstick at Los Angeles Country Club instead of the customary one single flag on each flagstick for each hole. That's not common for the USGA or the US Open, so why are there two flags on each flagstick?
Why are there two flags on each flagstick at the 2023 US Open?
The reason why there are two flags on each flagstick on the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club is because it is an homage to how the course normally looks for the membership.
At Los Angeles Country Club on regular days, there are two flags on the flagsticks: one with the Los Angeles Country Club initials and the other with the hole number. That display is unique to Los Angeles Country Club, and the USGA has embraced it with the logo for this US Open Championship, as well as in how they've chosen to display the hole numbers. At the US Open, the hole number is on the top flag in a white color, while the US Open denotation is on the red flag.
This is not the first time that the USGA has embraced a unique flagstick setup at a US Open host. Merion Golf Club near Philadelphia in Pennsylvania has a unique look with baskets on top of the flagsticks instead of flags, which the USGA chose to go with for the last US Open there in 2013. Merion has agreed to host US Opens well into the future, into the 2050s, meaning we'll see that look again.
For its part, Los Angeles Country Club has already been awarded the 2039 US Open, so we will see this unique double-flag look again, too.