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You're off the green. Do you leave the pin in or take it out?

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I like to leave it in. No particular reason, although it did cost me a chip in once.
 
I like the pin in myself. If I'm in a hurry and everyone else is already on the green I will let them take it out.
 
I'll leave it in if I can or if somebody asks. If it's already out no big deal.
 
As others have said...If I think I have a shot at making it...then I pull the pin, if I am downhill and I think it might keep the ball from rolling too far down the slope then I leave it in.
 
Lots of good replies and reasonings. (I'm still going to keep it in if I can!)
 
I usually pull the pin if I can see the cup, unless its downhill.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I take the pin out when I feel I have a makable chip or putt from off the green. I leave the pin in on down hill chips and shots that have a lower percentage of going in.
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Totally agree.
 
swellins said:
I leave it in, my ability with these shots is more on the side of needing it to stop an out of control skuller rather than letting a controlled chip roll in...
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Definitely this.
 
For me it just depends on how good of a view I have of the hole. If I can see it, then I take the pin out, if I can't, then it stays in.
 
in, unless i'm putting from the fringe... i feel it is only a benefit as no one is really able to throw it past then suck it back from around the green...
 
I leave it in because it gives me better depth perception. When I take it out I tend to be way too long.
 
I always take the pin out, as I kid I remember Ken Venturi saying that "if you want to make par leave it in, if you want to make birdie take it out", that has always stood out to me.
 
i'd say 99.9% of the time, i like the pin to be out.
 
Tadashi70 said:
I take the pin out when I feel I have a makable chip or putt from off the green. I leave the pin in on down hill chips and shots that have a lower percentage of going in.
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x's 2 for me.
Sometimes if I'm playing alone then I'll be lazy and not take it out till I get on the green, but most of the time it's coming out.
 
I leave it in whenever I can - helps me line up my shots and play the breaks..
 
I like to take it out for close in chips, putts from the fringe. I leave in for pitches, if I can't see the bottom of the flag stick, or a downhill chip or putt from the fringe.
 
I just kind of go with the group. If they're all on the green and will be putting I take out the flag (unless I can't see the hole). If other people are still off and will want the flag in I leave it in.
 
For me, if the flag is straight I leave it in. If the flag is leaning and can't stay straight I take it out.
 
I leave it in if I am chipping, hoping for a chance that the pin will rattle one in for me.

If putting from off the green, I will usually take it out.
 
For me it depends on a couple of things. If it is a shot that I am confident I can get to stop easily near the hole I take it out. If it is a shot out of some deeper rough that may prevent me from making very good contact or if I am chipping or putting into a hole on a downslope I will leave it in.
 
http://www.golf.com/instruction/flag-or-out

A few years ago, I was asked by GOLF MAGAZINE to answer an age-old question: When chipping, should you leave the flagstick in the hole or pull it out? I conducted a test and was surprised by the results.
It was impractical to hit shots from the fringe, fairway, or rough because no human (not even Perfy, my putting/chipping robot) could hit the flagstick often enough or accurately enough to run the test in a reasonable amount of time. However, by precisely rolling balls on a green from a short distance, I could measure how the flagstick affected the results. To guarantee measurable, reliable results, I used a putting machine called the "TruRoller," which I invented to roll balls precisely controlled directions at carefully controlled speeds. For each test, I set the TruRoller about two feet from the cup and measured 1) how far the ball rolled past the hole when the hole was covered, 2) how many putts stayed in the hole when the hole was not covered and the flagstick was out, and 3) how many putts stayed in the hole when the flagstick was left in.
Each test was run at three different speeds: On a perfectly flat green, the speeds were fast enough to send the ball three feet past the hole, six feet past, and nine feet past. Each test also included putts that approached the target at different parts of the hole: dead center; left- and right-center of the pin; left and right edge of the pin. Finally, the tests were run, first on level greens, then on ones that sloped sharply uphill and downhill. (The speeds remained consistent, but because the slope changed, the balls, if they missed, would finish considerably farther away on downhill putts and closer on uphillers. But it is the speed, not the final distance from the hole, that matters.)


All told, TruRoller launched thousands of "shots" at the hole, an equal number with the flagstick in and out, on a number of different greens, at five different parts of the hole. Once that was done, PGA Tour veteran Tom Jenkins, the former lead instructor at my short-game schools, did his best to duplicate those tests. Although Tom couldn't control his putts as precisely as the TruRoller, I felt it was important to compare machine and human results. Tom hit more than a thousand putts, the results of which supported the TruRoller's results.
Of course, there were variables in conditions, including imperfect green surfaces, the edges of the cup becoming ragged and worn, the hole being higher in back than in front and acting as a "backstop," and so on. But over thousands and thousands of putts, these variables were more than compensated for. What did I learn? Leave the flagstick in whenever the Rules allow, unless it is leaning so far toward you that the ball can't fit. Here are a few special cases.
  • Perhaps most surprising, when the flagstick leans either slightly toward the golfer or away, the odds of it helping to keep the ball in the hole increase: With the flagstick leaning away from the golfer, the hole becomes effectively larger; when the flagstick leans toward the golfer, the ball rebounds downward, again helping shots find the hole.
  • Only in the most obvious case, when the flagstick is leaning so far toward the golfer that there isn't enough room for the ball, is leaving the flagstick in a bad idea. Check the flagstick before you chip to be sure it is sitting properly in the cup. (The Rules of Golf prohibit you from positioning a flagstick to your advantage. But you may leave a tilting flagstick as is or else center it in the hole.)
  • Even if you don't hit the flagstick dead center, it still will aid you. It proved especially advantageous when chipping downhill and at faster speeds. I even believe the flagstick should be left in when you're putting from an inch or two off the green in the fringe. The flagstick will help you make more putts unless it is leaning severely toward you or it's so windy that it is moving and might knock your ball away.
 
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2000-04-26/sports/0004250596_1_dave-pelz-golf-magazine-golf-stars

What makes him so popular? It's the scientific principle. It took a while, but people believe. He doesn't teach the short game based on theory. He tests everything.
``If we can't test it or prove it or show it, we don't teach it," Pelz said.
For example, Pelz said he listened for years as CBS' analyst Ken Venturi told viewers they ought to leave the pin in the cup if they weren't good chippers. If they're good chippers, Venturi said, they should take it out. So, Pelz tested the notion.
``We found a lot more shots go into the hole when the pin's left in than go in when it's taken out," Pelz said. ``I rolled 2,500 balls in that test. I found it's smarter to leave the pin in no matter who you are. You have golf pros out there teaching cliches and wives tales that have no basis in reality."
 
90% of the time I take the pin out. Usually only if I am putting and it is under 10 yards do I leave it in.
 
All depends on how far out I am and slope of the green. If it's uphill slope I take pin out. If it's downhill then I will leave the pin in for a back stop. If I hit pin at least it will stop it from rolling out as far downhill.


Amphibians can Tapatalk... Fear the Frog!
 
I leave it in whenever I can.
 
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