Something I did not know about color coded flags

[Ignorant]

Another thing to keep in mind - supposedly when the tees are forward in the tee box, the flag is supposed to be in the back position, and if the tees are back the flag should be in the front. This is to keep the yardages near what is posted on the card. Not all courses seem to be aware of this subtlety though.

Is this written somewhere? Sounds peculiar to me as the lenght of a course is measured from tee-marker to the centre of the green (at least in Europe).

[Fourputt]

I can't say I've ever seen that done (not that it's never been done of course, I've just never seen it). Most places I've been to adjust their tee locations only when the grass is worn down.

The distances still aren't exactly to the card by any means, but on my home course you can tell on the tee box what flag you're going to be looking at, and that's been true at nearly every course I've happened to take notice of.

Sure they move the tees when the grass gets worn, but on the courses I'm familiar with, that happens every day. They move the tees and cut a new hole daily.

[Fourputt]

Is this written somewhere? Sounds peculiar to me as the lenght of a course is measured from tee-marker to the centre of the green (at least in Europe).

That is the theoretical yardage, but in order to keep that consistent, they would have to move the tee markers in relationship to where they cut the hole each day, don't you think? If they move the tees to the back of the tee box and cut the hole in back as well, they could easily extend the hole by some 15 to 30 yards.

The only time I've really noticed that they don't even try to do this is when the area set aside for the teeing ground isn't large enough to move the tees that far. For most courses where I've seen that, it's usually the back tees on a long par 4 or par 5 hole, so it doesn't really make that much difference. How many of us really notice the difference between 460 yards and 467 yards on a par 4?

[mapa94]

Another thing to keep in mind - supposedly when the tees are forward in the tee box, the flag is supposed to be in the back position, and if the tees are back the flag should be in the front.

This holds true at the courses I play...you know the pin placement based on the tee positions.

[Ignorant]

That is the theoretical yardage, but in order to keep that consistent, they would have to move the tee markers in relationship to where they cut the hole each day, don't you think? If they move the tees to the back of the tee box and cut the hole in back as well, they could easily extend the hole by some 15 to 30 yards.

I cannot think of any reason why the yardage should be held constant. After all, the conditions (wind speed & direction, temperature) change from day to day so why the distance should always be the same? I can only speak for the region I have been playing in (Europe) and here the important thing is that overall distance from tee-marker to the centre of the green over 18 holes does not change more than +- 100 meters from the standard lenght of the course. If the difference is greater then the course is no longer valid for handicap rounds. This is written in the EGA Handicap Manual. Maybe in USGA region it is different, I would not know.

Altering the yardage of a hole gives variation to the course and is only pleasant as the course is not always exactly the same. This is also one way of making the course easier or more difficult depending on the competition. One hole may be played shorter than normal, another longer. How about 4-day competitions and par-3 holes? Each day there must be enough untouched teeing ground and each day the hole has a different location on the green. Standard practice is that on the 1st day the tee-markers are far back and every day they are moved closer to the green. At the same time the hole is moved around the green, not just from front to back. Inevident outcome is that the yardage of a par-3 varies from day to day. Keeping it constant is virtually impossible (or at least extremely impractical) and it is very difficult to understand why it should be kept constant.

[sean_miller]

Since I got a rangefinder I don't even notice what colour the flags are. If I'm standing a the 150 yard marker I don't really care how far my drive just went (i.e. if the hole is playing to the yardage on the card).

[tristanhilton85]

I never knew that the flag should move forward or back with the tee boxes.

Most of the courses that I play use the color coded flags with red in the front, white middle, and blue in the back. I haven't seen the small flag indicator out here. One of the course uses a pin sheet and just tells you that todays pin position is either 1, 2, or 3 and you just look.

[Fourputt]

How about 4-day competitions and par-3 holes? Each day there must be enough untouched teeing ground and each day the hole has a different location on the green. Standard practice is that on the 1st day the tee-markers are far back and every day they are moved closer to the green. At the same time the hole is moved around the green, not just from front to back. Inevident outcome is that the yardage of a par-3 varies from day to day. Keeping it constant is virtually impossible (or at least extremely impractical) and it is very difficult to understand why it should be kept constant.

Maybe your courses have small tee boxes. Most courses I play around here have tee boxes with plenty of room to keep a fresh teeing ground each day while still keeping the hole playing a similar length. With large greens and large tee boxes, on some courses a hole could be lengthened or shortened by 40-50 yards, and that could turn a long par 4 into a par 5 hole, even change the meaningfulness of the hole by hole handicap ratings. Since courses here are in part rated by length for handicapping, any significant change from the standard length would mean that a player's course handicap would be less valid. As far as changing things up, that is done just by the different challenges presented by the different hole locations, and by the changes in wind strength and direction from day to day.

One thing to finish with: I don't really care that much, one way or the other. You play the course as you find it, and everyone plays the same course, so it isn't a big deal.

[Chicago Lefty]

This holds true at the courses I play...you know the pin placement based on the tee positions.

Same here. I always know the pin placement at my home course without even seeing the green based on the tee position.

Interesting info about how they decide which flag color to use on the 'tweeners. I've made a comment many times after coming up short to a 'tweener pin that it certainly doesn't look like a red pin.

[2bGood]

Same here. I always know the pin placement at my home course without even seeing the green based on the tee position.

Yes me too - thus how I found out this little "jewel"

[obiwan21]

Funny, I didn't learn that until this year either when I played a course that coded the greens that way.

[chef35ca]

Red, white & blue at my course.

& i'm pretty sure the grounds crew is only there to screw with our heads most days. Either that or they have a very sick sense of humor.

[RemyM]

Of all the courses I've played this year I've seen four different methods for indicating pin placements.
1. Color coded flags
2. Zones - greens are divided into 3 to 6 zones and you are told the pin number for that day. You refer to a diagram of the green on the cart or scorecard for the pin placement on each green.
3. Pin sheet - gives you the distance the pin is from the middle of the green.
4. GPS - tells you the distance to the pin with a shot of the green showing the exact location.

[soloredd]

Of all the courses I've played this year I've seen four different methods for indicating pin placements.

This is what I've come across also. However, I've had on several occasions the Pro Shop tell me pin location is one number when in fact it is the opposite during that day. And it wasn't borderline, I'm talking about right vs left half of the green difference. I've also played a course where they used the same color flag for all 18. Talk about being lost. We ended up just shooting for middle of green every hole, it was the only way (none of us knew the course).

I've been toying with the idea of buying some binoculars to use with my GPS to look at the greens.

[Ignorant]

This is what I've come across also. However, I've had on several occasions the Pro Shop tell me pin location is one number when in fact it is the opposite during that day. And it wasn't borderline, I'm talking about right vs left half of the green difference. I've also played a course where they used the same color flag for all 18. Talk about being lost.

Most of our courses do not have any indication, and even if there is, I regularly measure the distance with my laser to the flag from one of the fixed distance markers in order to find out how much there is green between the hole and back/front of the green. Here the distance is given to the centre of the green so it is easy to calculate how far from the centre the hole is located.

We ended up just shooting for middle of green every hole, it was the only way (none of us knew the course).

That is never a bad strategy

[hartwm]

thats why i prefer pin positions and not 1,2, but pin positions that range from 1-10 or more

[skinsscalper]

The disadvantage to this is that the flags often get moved during play by careless of unaware players (or by some smart-ass just screwing around). My course tried this for about 2 years then went to red-white-blue flags instead because the movable marker system just wasn't very effective.

That's absolutely impossible on some courses. On our course, many of our tee boxes are no more that 7-8 yards deep. Many of them are even smaller than that.

A previous poster had it correct. The yardage marked on the tee or score card is from the yardage marker on the tee (if your course actually has that marker) to the middle of the green. It has never been intended to use as a "distance to the pin". Same with yardage markers in the fairway or on sprinkler heads. Our sprinkler heads actually have a front, middle and rear yardage posted on them (in red, white, and yellow respectively).

[Ignorant]

That's absolutely impossible on some courses. On our course, many of our tee boxes are no more that 7-8 yards deep. Many of them are even smaller than that.

Wow! Respect.