You are right, it is stated here: https://wiki.openjdk.java.net/display/HotSpot/Deconstructing...

I will update and rerun the benchmark some time. Unfortunately, storing a value in a static final field allows the VM to pre-determine the entire method call and to erase the invocation altogether. This makes it hard to measure the impact of the method call. It is also questionable if this is the desired measurement as reflection is normally used to delay a call site determination to runtime which could not be done using a MethodHandle in a static final field.

But really good catch! I will hava a look at it some time soon.