Flag Color

Ok...simple question...what does the different flag colors mean?

I have heard that if it's red, is in the front half, yellow in theback, but I have seen a few holes where that is not necesaily the case...So I was wondering if there is any reason for the change in colors.

I've seen Red, White , & Yellow

Any idea?

It is course dependant. At my home course there are Green on one course and Black on the other. Both have white, checkered (black or green), and then solid black/green. The white is pin location is front green, checkered is middle, and solid black/green is back.

You just have to ask the course before the round to make sure.

It depends on the course. Typical is Red=Front; White=Middle and Yellow/Blue/Green=Back. However, not all courses do this and those that do might use different colors. Another thing is that the locations of the flags are a bit 'subjective', meaning that a white flag might be in a location that you do not consider to be the middle at all. Check with the course (or the scorecard) to see if the color of the flag means anything in particular.

I've also seen courses that used different colors for other things, such as 1 color for odd holes and another for even holes. In playing courses that use something like this it takes me a few holes before I catch on. I might be thinking that it's a red flag so position is on the front then get up there and it's not, but still not realize that the course is not using flag color to indicate hole position for another hole or 2 (or 17 in some cases ).

On our course each flagstick has two flags. Flag at the top is just a general marker, and the lower flag is placed at a different height on the pin dependant on position. If the lower flag is at the top, the pin is at the back, at the bottom and the pin is at the front.

on our course, blue is back, white is middle, red is front.

This is how it is at my course as well.

The three main courses I play do it one of these two ways ... it's pretty common ...

Another way that some courses do things is with "Pin Placement Numbers". On the scorecard or in the cart it will be listed how the green is split up and it's corresponding number (1, 2, or 3) for each hole. Then in the club house, or at the starter, the day's pin placement will be listed "Today's Pin is 2". That is usually done when the course uses the same flag color or the Odd/Even scheme.

There is no standard.

I have seen:

one color -- colored top on the 150 yd stake
one color -- with a pin locator card
red, white and blue
a top flag with another flag set a various heights.

and my all time favorite: white, blue&white; checker, black&white; checker. Try determining which color it is from 150 yds on a sunny afternoon.

It varies by course but usually on the scorecard it will tell which means front, middle, and back hole locations

My course tried this several years ago but it wasn't the best solution, because the position indicator flag was too easy to shift. A flag that started the day high on the staff for a back pin could end up down low just from handling it 50 or 60 times during the day. The guys who understood the system would move it back to the right place, but most casual weekend players just ignored it and that was a problem. We changed to the red/white/blue for front/middle/back and that solved the problem.

With any system there are bound to be areas of the green which overlap a bit... a hole cut in the back of the middle third will sometimes be a blue flag, other times the same location might be white. That's why a laser rangefinder is a handy tool to carry, especially on a course with exceptionally large greens. I know that a course I'll be playing the end of May has at least one green that is 200 feet deep.... tough to gauge that from course markings even if the flagstick is properly marked.