From tree to greens, a US Open unlike any before

New York

THIS is a story about countless blades of grass, a single tree and a freight train. Combined, the three will make the 2015 US Open this week at Chambers Bay Golf Course in Washington state unlike any played in the previous 120 years of the tournament.

The grass is a daring biological experiment. The tree, the only one on the golf course, survived an attack by a drunken, axe-wielding vandal. The train's rumbling locomotive thunders past several holes 60 times a day. Together, they will make up the landscape, the view and the soundtrack of the US Open's first trip to the Pacific Northwest.