Pin in or out? With ball on the fringe

[dchoye]

Do you like the pin or out.? When putting or chipping from the fringe

[David in FL]

Unless it's dramatically downhill and fast, out. I want as much room in that hole for my ball as possible! Now @iacas is going to tell me that the odds greatly favor leaving the pin in..... :-P

[Dave2512]

If I can see the hole usually I don't care. More of a visual target than anything for me. That said I play alone quite a bit so rare I take it out unless I am putting. Don't even do that during the offseason, half the time it's frozen into the cup.

[buckshot4227]

If the pin is sitting straight up and down like it suppose to, I leave it in.  I think it is an advantage to have it in.  If it wasnt an advantage they would let you have a choice to putt with it in when you're on the green is how I look at it.

[flopster]

If the pin is sitting straight up and down like it suppose to, I leave it in.  I think it is an advantage to have it in.  If it wasnt an advantage they would let you have a choice to putt with it in when you're on the green is how I look at it.

Yes and I think players would do much better on lag putts if they had the flag tended on putts even as short as 25', however everyone thinks if you can see the cup barely that's good enough  and I don't want to make someone grab the stick after someone else hit a 50' putt with the pin out.

[jamo]

I think Pelz says that it's best to take it out. I suppose you have to ask yourself which is more valuable to your game: the backstop when you leave the flag in, or the extra space in the hole when you take it out?

[PuttsLefty]

Trevino says leaving the pin in will only help a bad shot...I always leave it in.

[rightdraw]

I usually want it out, unless it is a downhill putt. Not sure if that is correct, but thats my strategy.

[saevel25]

Leave the flag stick in.

Quote:

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.

Read more: http://www.golf.com/instruction/flag-or-out#ixzz2vbJdDbB9

I think the thing with downhill is, the ball is going to drop quicker because the lip is lower than the ball at entry. So the ball will drop before it can clank the pin. This means putts moving fast will have a better shot of falling in with the pin there.

With up hill putts the ball could actually ramp the lip and strike the pin on the uprise, which would probably mean more shots that clank off to the side or backwards.

Usually I will leave the pin in on fast putts, take it out on slow putts. I leave it in for chipping and pitching.

by putting i mean from the fringe

[iacas]

Now @iacas is going to tell me that the odds greatly favor leaving the pin in.....

Yep. :)

Leave the flagstick in, unless it's leaning towards you and can't be straightened.

[billchao]

I think Pelz says that it's best to take it out.

I thought he said leave it in? That's how I remember it and that's how I've always played it.

[saevel25]

I thought he said leave it in? That's how I remember it and that's how I've always played it.

My quote is from an article by Pelz. He's basically said the same thing, if it isn't adversely leaning towards you, leave it in.

[jamo]

I thought he said leave it in? That's how I remember it and that's how I've always played it.

You're right, my bad. I should've Googled it rather than going on memory. :doh:

[Smilesy]

For me I get a good mental vision taking the flag out. It really makes me thing about holing the putt or chip, when its in I tend to be thinking about just getting it close.

[mvmac]

Yep leave it in, only going to end up working in your favor.

[David in FL]

Yep. :)

Leave the flagstick in, unless it's leaning towards you and can't be straightened.

Yep leave it in, only going to end up working in your favor.

Is that because the ball is more likely to go in, or that an over-speed miss will likely end up closer to the hole?

[midwestswing]

Leave it in. It's much more embarrassing to ask someone to pull it and then chunk or skull it across the green.

[zenbudda]

do this.  get 5 feet from the hole.  leave the pin in.  take 10 balls.  putt them fairly hard (data set A).  how many of those putts go in and how many bounce off the pin?  do this 10 times to have a good set of #'s to work with.  then do the same thing with soft putts (data set B).  now ask yourself this question:  when you are putting/chipping from the fringe, are you trying to jam the ball into the hole (data set A) or roll the ball into the hole (data set B).  what % gets you into the hole more often?  that's the answer to your question.

for me, the answer is: i only leave the pin in to tell me where the hole is, otherwise, i want the pin out.