Do You Putt from Off the Green With Flagstick In or Out?

[p1n9183]

Voted for take it out.

I like to putt inside the green without the flag been attended, so if i can see the hole from 60 feet then i´ll ask to take it out for me.

Same thing for a mid/short putt from outside the green, at that distance my distance control it´s not a problem so the flag in it´s not going to help me much but i will bother my visual of the hole.

Any other club than putter i´ll choose to keep it in.

[tristanhilton85]

I always leave it in when I can. 

[Kalnoky]

Off the green, I used to take it out, then someone I played with reminded me "it's a hard game - you should accept all the help you can get". 

[mcanadiens]

Unless I'm pretty darn confident that I'm going to make a putt from the fringe, I leave the stick in any time I can. In my case, we'd be talking five feet or less. The risk of my over-hitting a longer putt or a wedge is just too great to do otherwise. 

That said, if I'm playing my myself or the score isn't being kept, I'll leave the stick in all the time. 

[shanksalot]

I leave it in unless the pin is leaning toward me. 

[Patch]

From off the green I always leave the flag in. As I understand it, if you are off the green, even if you use your putter, it's not considered a putt, so why not.......

[DaveP043]

 

From off the green I always leave the flag in. As I understand it, if you are off the green, even if you use your putter, it's not considered a putt, so why not.......

I don't know, if I'm tracking stats I'd probably count a shot from 2" off the putting green as a putt.  Most important, though, is that its not against the rules to hit the flagstick when playing a shot from off the green, AND you gain a (probably small) advantage in doing it that way.

[Phil McGleno]

I do not think this is going the way the OP @dedalus101 thought it would.

[DaveP043]

1 minute ago, Phil McGleno said:

I do not think this is going the way the OP @dedalus101 thought it would.

Much of my golf game works out in ways different to the way I think it should.  Just another way in which life is a lot like golf.

[Bryan Kasper]

I voted for take it out, although there is a caveat. 

If i am by myself and playing quick, or simply have a short putt i will leave it in because i am not worried as much during those rounds. if i am taking my time however, i take it out because it forces me to look at my putt from both sides and keep a consistent putting routine. I find that when i stick to the routine of going to the hole and taking the flag out, two things happen 1.) I am able to get higher quality reads of the green and 2.) i gain more confidence in my reads as well.

 

[Big C]

Most of the time, I will leave the flagstick in. There are a few rare instances where I will take it out. That would be the handful of times where I have a relatively short (20 feet or less) putt through a small amount of fringe. In that specific case, the psychological benefit of having a hole that "appears" bigger, combined with the fact that I am less likely to need the flagstick both factor into my decision.

[jsgolfer]

28 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

Much of my golf game works out in ways different to the way I think it should.  Just another way in which life is a lot like golf.

Ditto, but this is not surprising, it's just been something that has been ingrained in most of us due to watching the PGA tour on TV.

Until someone reads LSW, it's just the perception most people will continue to hold.  Drive for Show and Putt for Dough is still a prevalent thought, along with lots of folks saying that the short game is what you should practice the most to lower your scores.   Rather than working on the full swing, so that you hit more greens which is really how you lower your scores consistently.

[Golfingdad]

I voted that I leave it in.  That said, if I'm within about 25' or so and barely on the fringe, then I don't care that much.  So, if somebody is on the green and 80' away or something, I certainly don't put it back in for my turn after they've removed it.  But if I'm putting through more fringe where my speed control is more likely to be off, or any time I'm not using a putter, then it's always staying in.  (With the caveat that if it's meaning too much towards me or something, I'd likely take it out.)

[iacas]

My college kids all know to put the flagstick back in. Even, @Golfingdad, if someone else removed it prior.

I remember clearly watching one hole last year. My player was on the fringe, 20 feet from the hole or so. Two other players were just in the rough. They took the flagstick out.

The first one chipped and scared the hole, coming to a stop six feet past.

The second hit the back of the hole, hopped in the air, and stopped about five feet away.

My player put the flagstick back in the hole, hit a putt that would have gone about three or four feet past the hole if it had a cellophane bridge, but it hit the flagstick a little on the left side and dropped in for a birdie.

I smiled, he gave me the thumbs up.

His speed wasn't bad, and I don't know if he'd have lipped out or if it would have gone in anyway, but he knows that the flagstick gives you a better chance.

He also knows my rule about the flagstick…

[woodzie264]

I voted "take it out" based on title of thread, but afterwards I read the actual question and would change it. Off the green, I will always leave it in.

[RickK]

I voted NO because about 80% of the time I will take the flag stick out if putting from off the green.  The times when I end up leaving the flag stick in would be when I am quite a distance away (which could mean I am on the far side of the green but on the collar or it could mean I am putting from a considerable distance off the green and just do not like the lie well enough to chip).  

[iacas]

18 minutes ago, woodzie264 said:

I voted "take it out" based on title of thread, but afterwards I read the actual question and would change it. Off the green, I will always leave it in.

So change your vote. It's easy: choose "Show Voting Options" and choose the better vote.

7 minutes ago, RickK said:

I voted NO because about 80% of the time I will take the flag stick out if putting from off the green.  The times when I end up leaving the flag stick in would be when I am quite a distance away (which could mean I am on the far side of the green but on the collar or it could mean I am putting from a considerable distance off the green and just do not like the lie well enough to chip).  

You should leave it in more often. It helps you.

[woodzie264]

32 minutes ago, iacas said:

So change your vote. It's easy: choose "Show Voting Options" and choose the better vote.

Done - I never knew I could change a vote once cast