[Photo: Getty images]
Nick Flanagan is likely the only golfer to ever win a US Amateur and caddie in a US Open at the same course. His connection to Oakmont Country Club is now a lifelong affair; he was given honorary membership after winning the 2003 US Amateur there and the 40-year-old even has an accommodation room named after him within the club’s on-site cabins.
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“Probably not the best stat to have, being a caddie in the US Open rather than actually playing in it, but it was still fun,” Flanagan, who did not qualify for the 2007 edition at Oakmont but who did caddie for Aron Price at the 2016 US Open, told Australian Golf Digest on Tuesday.
The Newcastle-raised Flanagan was one of Australia’s star amateurs on a summer tour of America in 2003, and only weeks before the US Amateur he had driven up to Rochester, New York, for the 2003 PGA Championship to watch his idol, Tiger Woods. At Oak Hill, he received putting advice from the legendary Australian coach Steve Bann that changed his putting grip ahead of the US Amateur. In the 36-hole final at Oakmont, Flanagan also took a handwritten note from Greg Norman moments prior to teeing off in his deciding match against 18-year-old Casey Wittenberg, an Oklahoma State University freshman. Flanagan prevailed in sudden-death after the pair were tied through 36 holes.
“A 36-hole final at Oakmont, you have big stretches where you’re picking up essentially in matchplay,” he said. “But my short game was just out of control that week and in matchplay that can really frustrate your opponent, which I did a very good job of doing, especially through the semi-finals and finals.”
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Flanagan had scraped through the strokeplay portion of that US Amateur on the number and was required to tee up in a playoff just to get through to the matchplay component. “I actually birdied the last hole at Pittsburgh Field Club to get into the playoffs for the matchplay,” he said. “In the playoff, the 10th hole at Pittsburgh Field was one of the hardest holes out there, and par got me through to the matchplay. I think double-bogey was enough for the other guys to go onto an extra hole in the playoff. I think it only went two or three holes, but I scraped through. Kind of the story of my career.”
Flanagan was the first non-American champion since 1971, and the first Australian-born winner, of the US Amateur since Walter Travis in 1903.
The win altered the trajectory of his career. “Definitely changed plans, for sure,” he said. “I was on a pretty good path at the time. I’d won quite a few top amateur events, which was giving me a lot of confidence, but obviously the US Amateur was the biggest moment of my career up until then. And it did open up a lot of doors. I turned pro probably two years or so earlier had I not won.”
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Now a teaching pro at Belmont Golf & Bowls near Newcastle (check out his coaching content here), and playing professional tournaments part-time, Flanagan this week finds himself reflecting on a course that changed his life as the US Open returns to the iconic American club renowned for the church pew bunker between the third and fourth holes.
“This US Open is probably more interesting than ever, now that I’m kind of departed from the game and living back in Australia,” Flanagan said today via phone. “I spent a lot of time at Oakmont the last five years before coming back to Australia from Texas, taking groups of friends up there for three or four trips a year.
“To see the changes that have happened all over all those years since ’03… there was a lot of trees around back in ’03. Now it’s almost completely free of trees. When I play it now I’m a more well-rounded golfer than ’03 and it’s a completely different experience.”
Flanagan, who after turning pro became a four-time winner on the formerly named Nationwide (now Korn Ferry) Tour, bolstered his unique place in Oakmont’s rich golf history when he caddied for close friend, and fellow Nationwide Tour winner, Price, who came through final qualifying for the 2016 US Open.
“I was lucky enough to go back for the last Open and caddie for ‘Pricey’,” Flanagan said. “That was cool. I got to experience a US Open atmosphere on the opposite side of the bag, which was probably a little less nerve-wracking than Pricey was feeling.
“I’d much rather play that golf course in a matchplay format than strokeplay. If you hit one bad shot or have one bad hole in matchplay, you can pick up and move on. There’s just aren’t any holes that are an easy par or possible birdie at Oakmont. The par 3s are brutal. The par 5s are extremely tough as well. There’s no driver mid-irons into the par 5s and if you miss a fairway, then you’re hacking out sideways. There is a lot of talk about the rough this week; it’s always been long. In ’03 it was 4-6 inches all around. It was really warm that week, so the greens were like rocks and rolling 14-15 on the Stimpmeter.”
These days, Flanagan is literally a part of Oakmont. “The best perk was getting membership there, which I didn’t realise I really had, until probably about six or seven years ago,” Flanagan said. “Funnily enough, I thought I could pop up every so often and get a game but it’s very special that I’m officially an honorary member.
“They’ve got a few cottages there, a couple on the 18th hole, which they built a few years back, which are unbelievable to stay in. And then they had the old cottage over in the back of the parking lot, and all the rooms have a champion’s name on them… That old cottage, I got the first room on the right. I have my name on that room.
As for this year’s US Open, Flanagan is hoping for tough conditions. “I think it’s going to be really fun to watch guys play a different style of golf we haven’t seen. In my opinion, a US Open should be absolutely brutal.
“I think Oakmont is going to be cool to watch these top players playing the toughest test of golf and just see how good they are. Because some guy could go out there and just have an absolute cracking week and not tear the place apart, but at least shoot under par.”
Pressed for a pick, he said, “Pretty hard to go past Scottie Scheffler, the way he’s playing. I keep saying Joaquin Niemann because he’s had such a good year out on LIV, but I don’t know… he’s still pretty young and that course is pretty brutal. It’s going to come down to driving the ball really well. Everyone’s going to struggle with putting.”
GUIDE TO THE US OPN [COURTESY OF TONY WEBECK/AUSTRALIAN GOLF MEDIA]
There will be a total of 45 hours of live tournament coverage on Fox Sports and Kayo, starting at 8:30pm AEST Thursday night.
US Open
Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
Recent champion: Bryson DeChambeau
Past Aussie winners: David Graham (1981), Geoff Ogilvy (2006)
TV times: Live 8:30pm-10am Thursday, Friday; Live 12am-10am Sunday; Live 1am-9am Monday on Fox Sports 503 and Kayo.
Australasians in the field
Cam Davis
Age: 30
US Open appearances: 2
Best US Open finish: MC (2023, 2024)
Best finish in a major: T4, 2023 PGA Championship
PGA TOUR wins: 2
How he qualified: Top 5 players in the 2025 FedExCup standings, not otherwise exempt, as of May 19
Jason Day
Age: 37
US Open appearances: 12
Best US Open finish: 2nd (2011, 2013)
Best finish in a major: Won, 2015 PGA Championship
PGA TOUR wins: 13
How he qualified: Top 60 points leaders and ties from Official World Golf Ranking, as of May 19
Ryan Fox (NZ)
Age: 38
US Open appearances: 6
Best US Open finish: T41st (2018)
Best finish in a major: T16, 2019 Open Championship
PGA TOUR wins: 2
How he qualified: From the current Official World Golf Rankings, the top 60 points leaders and ties as of June 9, 2025
Min Woo Lee
Age: 26
US Open appearances: 3
Best US Open finish: T5 (2023)
Best finish in a major: T5, 2023 US Open
PGA TOUR wins: 1
How he qualified: Top 60 points leaders and ties in the Official World Golf Ranking, as of May 19
Marc Leishman
Age: 41
US Open appearances: 11
Best US Open finish: T14 (2022)
Best finish in a major: T2, 2015 Open Championship
PGA TOUR wins: 6
How he qualified: Shot 70-69—139 at Final Qualifying at Woodmont Country Club (North Course) in Maryland on June 2
Adam Scott
Age: 44
US Open appearances: 23
Best US Open finish: T4 (2015)
Best finish in a major: Won, 2013 Masters
PGA TOUR wins: 14
How he qualified: Players who qualified and were eligible for the season-ending 2024 Tour Championship
Cameron Smith
Age: 31
US Open appearances: 9
Best US Open finish: 4th (2023)
Best finish in a major: Won, 2022 Open Championship
PGA TOUR wins: 6
How he qualified: Winner of 2022 Open Championship