Go hole-by-hole to learn more about Erin Hills

The path to this year's U.S. Open is along two-lane roads that wind through Wisconsin pastures to the rolling terrain of a golf course built on 652 acres that opened only 11 years ago — Erin Hills.

ERIN, WIS. » For the second straight year, Aussies Nick Flanagan and Aron Price will walk the U.S. Open fairways together.

This year’s different, though. Flanagan, who caddied for Price at Oakmont last year, will be playing at Erin Hills, while Price will take his turn carrying Flanagan’s bag.

“I definitely owed him one,” Price said.

This U.S. Open flipflop has its roots in and around Sydney during the early 2000s, where Price, 35, and Flanagan, who turned 33 on Tuesday, became friendly as they came and went from the junior circuits in Australia.

They both moved to the U.S. and lived in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, for a time. Early this decade, they played regularly on the Web.com Tour. They roomed and hung out together on occasion, and Flanagan even caddied for Price at U.S. Open qualifying in 2014.

But the real seeds for this pairing were set in 2003 at Oakmont, where Flanagan became the first foreign winner of the U.S. Amateur in 32 years. His name, along with those of Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead are among those etched on a list that hangs at the club, honoring all of Oakmont’s champions. The course has hosted more than a dozen major championships over the years.

Price qualified for the U.S. Open last year. Given his knowledge of the course — to say nothing of his fondness for it — Flanagan approached Price about caddying.

Flanagan’s biggest worry: making sure he could carry the bag around for seven straight days. (Turns out, he only needed to go five. Price didn’t make the cut.)

This year, Flanagan went through qualifying and earned his spot in the U.S. Open, but Price didn’t make it.

“Plenty of our friends who caddie on tour, their players weren’t in this week, so I didn’t expect it,” Price said. “But I put my hand up and said, ‘If you want me to return the favor, I can do it.”’

Flanagan said yes, and now, a year later, both players can see the U.S. Open from the other side.