Flagstick In/Out Causing Delays

[Piz]

13 hours ago, gjunkie57 said:

My usual group was in the practice of laying our other clubs (sand wedges) on the flagstick so we would not forget them.  With the pin in now I have to be conscious of where I laid the other club down.  Have to come up with another system to keep up with the clubs on the green.  

I always leave my wedge on a direct line between the hole and the cart.  That way I have to, literally, step over it in order to leave it behind.  

[onthehunt526]

I personally don't mind it and it speeds up play. I usually will putt out and be the keeper of the flagstick. (I leave it in on long putts and am a dead weight putter so I usually don't have a 4-footer coming back. My foursome just has an understanding, make sure Shane can have the flagstick in so let him putt first.

[Patch]

54 minutes ago, Piz said:

I always leave my wedge on a direct line between the hole and the cart.  That way I have to, literally, step over it in order to leave it behind.  

I still see folks pulling the flag, and placing their approach club on it. 

My wedges are really important to my play. I keep them with me from the time I pull them till I replace them back in the bag. Where ever my putter goes, so does the wedge(s)

Forgetting a wedge some where, without realizing it,  is one of the very, very few things that can mentally screw up my golf game. 

[rehmwa]

I've had a few slowdowns, frankly from guys a couple weeks ago that played old style.  I'm up to putt first, ready to putt and about to take my stroke, and then have to wait while the guy cuts across in front of me and goes to pull the flag.  (of course his intentions were good)

Even after I noted, thanks, but that's not needed as I putt with it in, he still kept doing it - probably force of habit.

[Shindig]

The time I really see it slow down play at my home course is a hole where, from the typical spot where a lot of players in my flight play our second shot from, we can't see the green.  We used to rely on "flag in?" to determine if it's safe to hit.  Now someone has to wander up and check.

I obviously prefer the pin in when I'm putting, but if it's out and not easy to put in without disrupting people, I'll probably just play with it out.  I realize that's bad from a scoring point of view, but I've been a lot less assertive lately.

[Fourputt]

On 5/1/2019 at 8:04 PM, gjunkie57 said:

My usual group was in the practice of laying our other clubs (sand wedges) on the flagstick so we would not forget them.  With the pin in now I have to be conscious of where I laid the other club down.  Have to come up with another system to keep up with the clubs on the green.  

Set your club down on a direct line between the hole and your bag.  Since I started doing this, I've never left a club behind when leaving the green.  That way you or someone has to see it as your group leaves the green. 

I never cared for laying spare clubs on the flagstick anyway.  If I'm first to hole out, I immediately pick up the flagstick to have it ready to put it back in the hole when we finish, and I don't feel like it should be my responsibility to try to manage my putter, the flagstick, and everyone else's wedges too. 

To be honest, when I was still able to walk the course I never laid a wedge on the green anyway -it always went straight back in my bag when I pulled the putter.  Now that I ride, I've always done as I stated at the start of this post.

[rehmwa]

10 minutes ago, Fourputt said:

Set your club down on a direct line between the hole and your bag.

This is what I do more than any of the other things.  But I've done each depending on the circumstances.  Seems a bit obvious, plan your route and take advantage of it - parking the cart, going to the next shots, laying down clubs, etc etc etc.

[billchao]

On 5/2/2019 at 12:52 PM, rehmwa said:

then have to wait while the guy cuts across in front of me and goes to pull the flag

I would have hit the putt anyway.

[Papa Steve 55]

The group I play with seems to have settled on the guys who want it in putt first, regardless of whos away. Most will either finish or mark. Guys like me who almost always want it out then putt. I'll finish and if any of the inners want it back for the finish they can. So the flag is in, out, in. Pretty much as it was before.

[Shindig]

1 hour ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

Guys like me who almost always want it out then putt. 

Why do you refuse advantage in this way?

[Papa Steve 55]

Just now, Shindig said:

Why do you refuse advantage in this way?

Its not an advantage to me. I used to leave it in on the practice green and when practicing on the course. I found I subconsciously tried to sneak the ball in the side of the hole, to avoid hitting the stick. For me, it makes the hole smaller.

[IowaGreg]

Think of it as a bullseye and with the pin in - you are aiming for the center...........??

 

[klineka]

15 hours ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

Its not an advantage to me. I used to leave it in on the practice green and when practicing on the course. I found I subconsciously tried to sneak the ball in the side of the hole, to avoid hitting the stick. For me, it makes the hole smaller.

It is an advantage for everyone, you just aren't using it right.

[Papa Steve 55]

33 minutes ago, klineka said:

It is an advantage for everyone, you just aren't using it right.

That is certainly the majority opinion, not a universal one. Golf Digest just ran a article from a 'qualified to talk about it' author advocating taking it out or tending it. He has numbers also.

[klineka]

31 minutes ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

That is certainly the majority opinion, not a universal one. Golf Digest just ran a article from a 'qualified to talk about it' author advocating taking it out or tending it. He has numbers also.

But it is incorrect to state that leaving the flagstick in does not provide an advantage to you. 

You may not like putting with the flagstick in, you might find that it alters your speed control, perception of the hole, etc, which are all logical and real things, but putting with the flagstick in can, in some circumstances, give an advantage to every single player. Now whether the advantages that leaving the flagstick in outweigh the disadvantages that you perceive, that's up to you to decide, but that doesn't mean that leaving the flagstick in won't provide an advantage to you. 

That's basically saying that physics don't apply to you.

[mcanadiens]

I had my first experience with the flagstick in or out deal last week. Playing in a quota game I should have skipped and the other three all wanted the stick out no matter where they were putting from.

After an awful first four holes, I decided to just let them pull it the rest of the way. Wasn't going to make enough of a difference that day.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, Papa Steve 55 said:

That is certainly the majority opinion, not a universal one. Golf Digest just ran a article from a 'qualified to talk about it' author advocating taking it out or tending it. He has numbers also.

That study was crap. We discussed it elsewhere.

22 minutes ago, klineka said:

But it is incorrect to state that leaving the flagstick in does not provide an advantage to you. 

No it's not. If he putts worse with it in, it's not an advantage to him (in his current state) to putt with the flagstick in.

[klineka]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

No it's not. If he putts worse with it in, it's not an advantage to him (in his current state) to putt with the flagstick in.

Yeah. I phrased that wrong.

I was trying to say something like just because the flagstick currently doesn't help his putting, doesn't mean that the flagstick wouldn't help his putting once he stopped trying to subconsciously sneak the ball in the side of the hole to avoid the flagstick.