Putting with the flagstick in. Yes or no?

Putt with the pin in or out?

  • In

    Votes: 43 50.0%
  • Out

    Votes: 10 11.6%
  • In for long putts and out for the short putts

    Votes: 33 38.4%

  • Total voters
    86

MattyD-MPLS

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This has probably been beaten to death at some point. Do you prefer it in or out?
 
This has probably been beaten to death at some point. Do you prefer it in or out?

Here in Nor Cal , due to Covid, for the past year leaving the flagstick within the hole has been mandatory. In other parts of the amateur golf world do players currently have the option of removing the flag stick ?
 
I like it out but the requirement to leave it in this last summer didn’t bother me at all. I am truly hoping that we can putt with it out this year though. Miss the sound of the ball in the cup
 
Here in Nor Cal , due to Covid, for the past year leaving the flagstick within the hole has been mandatory. In other parts of the amateur golf world do players currently have the option of removing the flag stick ?

Almost all courses here still have foam in them. Although I am seeing some people taking the flag out occasionally
 
Here in Nor Cal , due to Covid, for the past year leaving the flagstick within the hole has been mandatory. In other parts of the amateur golf world do players currently have the option of removing the flag stick ?

We were able to remove flags at our club championship and was happy to do so.
 
Leaving it in on longer putts is fine with me.

It screws with my head on shorter ones, though. There's no need the shrink the hole, yet that's practically what I'm doing to myself when I leave the stick in on short ones.
 
In, unless the pin is moving due to wind, or is leaning.
 
Leaving it in on longer putts is fine with me.

It screws with my head on shorter ones, though. There's no need the shrink the hole, yet that's practically what I'm doing to myself when I leave the stick in on short ones.
This is me! I had a handful of putts stay out because my course is cheap and doesn’t replace the cups so the pin leans.

It shrinks the hole for me and I don’t like that feeling.
 
During solo rounds I always leave the flag in. Otherwise I’m fine with whatever my playing partners wants to do.
 
I haven't touched a flag in well over a year now.
 
In, unless the pin is moving due to wind, or is leaning.
This... probably won't make much of a difference for me anyways
 
Prefer out, but with this years rules for playing warmed up to the idea as long as no pool noodles.
 
I now belong to a course that is on the highest piece of property in the county and it is always significantly windy. I've seen far too many putts missed due to the flagstick leaning the wrong way. I'm all for in on longer putts and out for short putts or out for when the flagstick is leaning toward the golfer.
 
My preference is in for long out for short putts. In actuality I don’t care unless the flag is leaning towards me
 
This is me! I had a handful of putts stay out because my course is cheap and doesn’t replace the cups so the pin leans.

It shrinks the hole for me and I don’t like that feeling.
I know that feeling. And, I know better than to leave it in on the short ones, too, but I'm still too lazy to pull it. I have no stats to definitively back this up, but it sure feels like I've missed more 3-5 footers leaving the pin in.

Some of our cups are installed crooked, too, so balls collect in one spot and everybody's reaching it at the same place to get them out. Tell me that edge of the cup will still be fresh after 3-4 days. Crooked pins, because the pin receptacle is half-filled with dirt, and crooked cups are a great combo.
 
When I have a choice, for long putts I prefer it in, short putts out, but I am flexible and go with the prevailing majority.
 
Because of the Covid rules, I got used to putting with the flag in. Personally, I like it in for long putts and out for short putts.
 
Didn't vote because it doesn't really matter to me one way, or the other. I have no preference.

What ever the rest of the group has done when it's my turn to putt is fine with me.
 
During solo rounds I always leave the flag in. Otherwise I’m fine with whatever my playing partners wants to do.
This. I don't care either way, but I'm used to leaving it in now.
 
Courses around here still 'officially' discourage pulling the pin, but nobody's going to arrest you or throw you off the course if you do it.

We quit pulling pins when the RoG changed to allow it. We'll pull them on windy days sometimes, but 99% of the time they stay in. We also give putts if they hit the stick and it's obvious that they would have stayed in the cup if the pin wasn't there. That doesn't mean you get freebies if you bang it off the stick and that's the only thing that saved you from rolling 10 feet past the hole, it means "if it's obvious that they would have stayed in the cup if the pin wasn't there".
 
If it is against the policy to remove a flagstick due to covid, ok, but 'please' golf courses, create fair pin adaptations that don't prevent the ball going into the hole! On a 20 ft birdie putt last year, I stroked the perfect-paced putt into the heart of the hole only to have it slingshot out when it hit the metal lifting rod that was attached to the hole for ball removal. The ball would have ended up about a foot past the hole if it missed, but was dead center. It was so evident that my playing partners gave it to me instantly. Too many poorly designed mechanisms when they could be so easy to made.
 
In. But, I did it before the rule change too.
 
Prefer out, but with this years rules for playing warmed up to the idea as long as no pool noodles.

One course I played regularly had floating pool noodles as the cups were always full of water. That was fun when there was no hole. We just played it as counting if it touches noodle or stick.

I never post scores from that course as conditions are horrible so you almost can’t play by the ROG and it’s tipped at 5600 yards. I just play each round there as a practice round.
 
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