some friends and I played a course during the holidays where a par three had a hole cut on the upslope. I hit a shot about 8 fat below the hole and putting within 2 inches of the cup and i rolled 10 feet back. Ig was literally a putt putt location
 
Our maintenance jackasses do it often. None of them know anything about golf so that isn’t helping.
 
We only see these during 3-4 player scramble tourneys. If the superintendent does this during a normal golf day, the membership heads to his shed with pitch forks.
 
I guess that's when you run down and pull a Phil.
 
Our 9 hole city course has one. Its a small table top on the left. The front of the green slopes right to the edge of the green, then the table top and backside of slope go into a nice, flat area.
Our greenskeeper will put the pin where all 3 of those points meet which is not entirely flat but flat enough. Every time there is a tournement its there.
 
When I used to set up the course, I would drop a ball from about shoulder height. If the ball didn't stop within three feet of where I dropped the ball, I found somewhere else to cut the cup. It's set up 101. If a guy can't figure that out, he has no business setting a course.
 
Rarely on a slope, but man do some of them love the cup near the edge close to a deep bunker.
 
Only time my club had holes cut on a slope was for the club championship in 2018. 2 holes were completely ridiculous.

The second of them, the 16th was beyond stupid because it was cut front of the green and on a slope that is also a false-front.

I played with our defending champ (he won again that year, again in 2019). Great player, former D1.

On 16, he left his approach pin high on the fringe right, maybe 20' to the hole. He putts it and does so beautifully. Ball looks like it has a chance but slows to what appears to be a stop. So darn close, high-side.

Except, like Tiger's putt in the Masters that hung on the edge for that dramatic call... Kev's was above the hole, yet it kept barely moving in the slowest of motion. Once it painfully reached the side of the hole, and we're talking 1" away, it was GONE.

Down the false front, off the green, down the fairway. Rested 40 yards away. Yes, a ball that all but stopped 1" above the hole ultimately came to rest FORTY YARDS from the pin. He carded a double.

I was one of the lucky (very) few to par but that's only because my 2nd rested about where Kev's 3rd eventually would. My 3rd slammed into the pin yet miraculously rested only 18" above the hole.

Never in my LIFE have my knees knocked so much over such a short putt as it was after witnessing Kev's plight. I made it but I needed much of the hole to help me with that!

My buddy who I was riding with 5 putted (he was a 4 at the time, former scratch though) and we learned later that another very good player had 7 putted and then quit. There was actually lots of horror stories on that hole, guys were playfully pissed at me for scoring par.
 
Nothing worse than chipping for par after a birdie putt.

I hate pins on slopes, always feel that they should put a windmill behind the hole. Streamsong Black had some which lit my fuse.
 
I was in Florida last week and played a course called Spanish Wells. One of the par 3s at the North course had a pin location just like you describe. I missed the green then chipped to within about 10'. My 1st putt came with then about 2" of the cup then proceeded to roll back down the Hill about 4'. I did that 2 more times before I just picked up my ball and walked off the green in disgust. I was very upset about that pin placement!
 
My home course has a Par 3 that they love to put the pin on a slope that is usually only about 20 feet from the fringe. If you are above the hole and miss the putt, the ball will roll 5 to 10 yards back onto the fairway.:banghead: I always comment someone needs a swift kick to the sack...
 
My home course only has one that they do. The green has a shelf with a bunker cut into the front left of the green. The right front goes off the shelf for about 10 yards to the apron. It's really a strategic shot when the pin sits there so it works. Generally on this hole you want to be on the shelf or short right with an easy chip or pitch. When the pin is on that slope short right is the only answer. If you're on the shelf and miss you always have a 5'-10' comeback, but it's strait as an arrow and uphill.

I get the griping if every hole is like this, but golf is a strategic game. You have to know where to miss right?
 
The course I was a member at for a long time had severe slope on many greens. The most difficult time though was in the late fall. The greens would be rolling quite fast and the amount of grass was not enough to stop a ball. The one green was sloped the entire back to front at a good 10 per cent or so. It was not uncommon for you to be on the front of green roll it up near the pin and have it return to you.....numerous times. It got to be a joke.
Last year I played Bayonne CC which is exceptionally nice. The one par 3 had a severe green. I putted on it uphill and was like wth...The caddie had said the putt would be slow. I said slow it's half the speed of rest of course. He says well they cut this green longer than the others...Time to redo that green......
 
We have greens that are large, fast and some look like they have elephants buried in them. At least once or twice a month they put the hole either on the top of the hump or on the downslope. When it is on the hump if you putt is too weak it will come back down to you. If you are to strong it will roll over the hump and you will be facing the same putt all over again. It is not like there is a flat spot on the hump to het the ball rest just short or just a tad long. You almost have to make the putt in order to get out with out a 4 or 5 pull.
 
A local 9 hole course has an evil pin position on their 9th hole. It's at the top of a ridge that falls off in all directions. It's also a green which gets a lot of sun and gets baked out & faster than the other greens. There have been days where you either make the putt or are off the green. It's not intentional and they try to water it extra but that pin position is a round breaker
 
It's not an issue at my course. They use more creative pin locations in the spring (wet season) to keep the damage spread put and towards the edges, but the greens are slow enough that it's not an issue.
 
I'm not sure I've ever seen a course in the LA area adhere to the USGA recommendation. Holes here are always cut on slopes and often crowns. It's quite tricky, especially in the summer.
 
The course I belong to doesn't have a flat spot on any of its greens. All greens are sloped and most have a lot of contour with rises and ridges. I guess it could be worse as I understand when the course was first open they couldn't get the course rated because the greens were so severe. It took another two years of renovating the greens to what they are now before a course rating was applied. Every putt is either up hill, down hill or side hill and we often see holes cut not only on significant slopes but at the crest of a ridge.
 
only seen it once. Was not fun to putt as I'm already a 3 timer
 
My home course has some great character on the greens, and a few holes have some serious slope or tiers to them. Every once in a while (let's call it once or twice a month) our staff drops a cup on one of the slopes, and it gets pretty tough especially mid summer when the greens are rolling.

How often do you see the pin sitting on a slope where you play?

In the USGA's committee procedures and R&A Guidance, they express the following;
  • The Committee should avoid placing a hole on a slope where the ball will not come to rest. When the contours of the green allow, holes should be placed where there is an area of two to three feet around the hole that is relatively level so that putts struck at the proper speed will stop around the hole.

I have seen this a few times and just figured whoever placed the pin there that morning was mad at the world or something.
 
Rarely.
 
There's no need to make it impossible. Make the greens slope and understand the hardest breaks on the green but don't cut it on a slope.
 
There is a subtle ridge on one of our par 5s that the greenskeeper likes to put the cup on, if you are coming from the side the putt breaks both ways... nearly impossible to make
 
I sometimes wonder if this is the greens keepers way of retaliating. Super frustrating when there is no way to get the ball close.

I play a course regularly that has a few false fronts. Once in a while there is a pin right on the edge of that false front. So anything sort that is not a few feet away rolls off the front. Go long, and have a touch too much speed and it rolls off. Stupid.
 
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