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  • iacas pinned this topic

With regard to the new unattended flag stick rule, if I want the flagstick in and my playing partner wants it out, we could be pulling it out, and putting it back in depending on who's putting. This could cause a delay in play rather than speed it up. I suppose I could just putt out with the flag in and then take it out for my playing partner to putt out.

However if that means standing on my playing partner's line, they I'd have to mark it, pull the flag, let him putt, put the flag back in, take my putt etc.

Or do you think golfers will simply never play with the flagstick out? That would suit me.

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:30 PM, Pete said:

Or do you think golfers will simply never play with the flagstick out? That would suit me.

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The flagsticks never lean at the courses you play?  At my local course there are a lot of times where the flagstick is leaning and would keep the ball out of the hole.  Hitting it may not be a penalty but if it keeps the ball out of the hole, you still have to putt again, don't you?

"No man goes round boasting of his vices,” he said, β€œexcept golfers." 

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:46 PM, krupa said:

The flagsticks never lean at the courses you play?  At my local course there are a lot of times where the flagstick is leaning and would keep the ball out of the hole.  Hitting it may not be a penalty but if it keeps the ball out of the hole, you still have to putt again, don't you?

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Yeah of course. I'd probably still leave it in but adjust it first so it leans the other way. Basically, leaving it in has been proven to be an advantage, so I would want to always leave it in and wondered how big a problem this could be.

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Areas the Committee May Mark as Penalty Areas  - it will be interesting to me to see the guidelines issued by the USGA/R&A [not that guidelines from the USGA has ever stopped public courses from doing what they want].

I see a potential conflict between committee members Long John and Bunting Brian.  Bunting Brian prefers it if Long John has to hit three from the tee when his attempt at driving the green goes into that patch of native grasses 20 yards from the green.  Long John prefers dropping 20 yards from the green with a chance to save par.

Depending on the guidelines, this may tilt the game a bit more in favor of the long and slightly inaccurate hitter.

Brian Kuehn

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:48 PM, Pete said:

I'd probably still leave it in but adjust it first so it leans the other way.

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So not only could we hit it without penalty, we could adjust it for maximum advantage?  Makes me wonder if any pace-of-play advantage gained by not having to remove it is going to be lost by people messing with it.

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A question for @iacas.  A course chooses to red stake significant areas of forest and wild grassland, where in the past "stroke & distance" was the likely outcome for an errant shot.  Will the course rating and/or slope drop a bit or do these changes matter little in the grand scheme of things?  Probably slope is more affected in any case, yes? 

Brian Kuehn

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The flag stick rule is interesting.  As someone who often plays alone, I can see the benefit to pace of play.  Especially when facing long putts.  Then again, I don't think solo rounds technically count anymore anyway.  It certainly does not speed up play if one person likes it in and the other likes it out and they keep switching it. 

Is there an existing rule that tells us what happens if the ball gets wedged between the lip and the stick?

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:55 PM, krupa said:

So not only could we hit it without penalty, we could adjust it for maximum advantage?  Makes me wonder if any pace-of-play advantage gained by not having to remove it is going to be lost by people messing with it.

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That's exactly my point. I would leave it in. I think an awful lot of people would, but some will insist on it being removed and I can see this as an issue. The different choices on leaving flag in or taking it out are demonstrated well in this thread: 

I hope they can keep this change whilst negating any cases of flag stick hokey cokey somehow. 

 

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:30 PM, Pete said:

With regard to the new unattended flag stick rule, if I want the flagstick in and my playing partner wants it out, we could be pulling it out, and putting it back in depending on who's putting. This could cause a delay in play rather than speed it up. I suppose I could just putt out with the flag in and then take it out for my playing partner to putt out.

However if that means standing on my playing partner's line, they I'd have to mark it, pull the flag, let him putt, put the flag back in, take my putt etc.

Or do you think golfers will simply never play with the flagstick out? That would suit me.

Expand  

The flagstick rule, on first glance, is one i hope does NOT stick.

I'll be filing a note on that one.

I don't think taking the flagstick out is a significant cause of delay, and as you point out, taking it out and putting it back in can cause a significant delay.

One advantage if this rule perplexingly stays in place is that at least people will study the advantage more and properly conclude the flagstick in (so long as it's not leaning toward you a lot) helps the ball go in the hole more easily). :-)

  On 3/1/2017 at 2:55 PM, bkuehn1952 said:

A question for @iacas.  A course chooses to red stake significant areas of forest and wild grassland, where in the past "stroke & distance" was the likely outcome for an errant shot.  Will the course rating and/or slope drop a bit or do these changes matter little in the grand scheme of things?  Probably slope is more affected in any case, yes? 

Expand  

Yes. It would affect slope and course rating.

Right now, for example, even if a course puts red lines around an area of thick trees we ignore it and create it as an area likely to lead to lost balls. Now we'll have to consider it and rate it as less severe.

  On 3/1/2017 at 2:55 PM, dsc123 said:

Is there an existing rule that tells us what happens if the ball gets wedged between the lip and the stick?

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Yes.

  On 3/1/2017 at 3:01 PM, Pete said:

I hope they can keep this change whilst negating any cases of flag stick hokey cokey somehow. 

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How?

I hope they can this change.

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  On 3/1/2017 at 3:01 PM, Pete said:

That's exactly my point. I would leave it in. I think an awful lot of people would, but some will insist on it being removed and I can see this as an issue. The different choices on leaving flag in or taking it out are demonstrated well in this thread

Expand  

I agree that leaving the flagstick in is an advantage, especially from off the green. 

You say, "I would leave it in", but you wouldn't... not really.  You'd leave it in and adjust its position if necessary.  

  On 3/1/2017 at 2:48 PM, Pete said:

I'd probably still leave it in but adjust it first so it leans the other way.

Expand  

I have two problems with that.  One, you're not longer playing the course as you find it.  Two, pace of play would drop because everyone is adjusting the flagstick for their putt. 

"No man goes round boasting of his vices,” he said, β€œexcept golfers." 

-- Det. Elk in The Twister by Edgar Wallace

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(edited)
  On 3/1/2017 at 3:04 PM, iacas said:
  On 3/1/2017 at 3:01 PM, Pete said:

I hope they can keep this change whilst negating any cases of flag stick hokey cokey somehow. 

Expand  

How?

I hope they can this change.

Expand  

I hoped they would keep it because for a while I would benefit from it whilst others still chose to take the flag out. But yeah, for the pace of play issues it could (ironically) cause, ditching the change may be for the best.

I suppose when everyone understands that there is an advantage to leaving it in, perhaps it will eventually be normal that the flag always stays in the hole, maybe? 

 

Edit: Flagsticks that are permanently attached to the base and are built to not lean at all! Problem solved :-D

Edit 2: By the way, this is actually a good idea, but is perhaps a little too drastic for now. 

Edited by Pete
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  On 3/1/2017 at 3:04 PM, iacas said:

One advantage if this rule perplexingly stays in place is that at least people will study the advantage more and properly conclude the flagstick in (so long as it's not leaning toward you a lot) helps the ball go in the hole more easily). :-)

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Even if the flagstick rule stays in the final version, it would certainly be revisited if and when new data becomes available.  This is the only rule change in this section that I dislike significantly

  On 3/1/2017 at 3:04 PM, iacas said:

Right now, for example, even if a course puts red lines around an area of thick trees we ignore it and create it as an area likely to lead to lost balls. Now we'll have to consider it and rate it as less severe.

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I know you do course ratings.  Have you heard whether the current course ratings system is being evaluated in light of the proposed rules changes?

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:50 PM, cutchemist42 said:

So does this get rid of the rediculousness of the HD 100x zoomed in sandtrap incident?

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Nope.  They specifically said that the Anna Nordqvist ruling would not have changed.  The bunker is not a "penalty area".

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  On 3/1/2017 at 2:48 PM, Pete said:

Yeah of course. I'd probably still leave it in but adjust it first so it leans the other way. Basically, leaving it in has been proven to be an advantage, so I would want to always leave it in and wondered how big a problem this could be.

Expand  

Unless they change that too, you are not allowed to lean the flagstick in any particular direction.  The way it reads now is that if the flagstick is leaning, you may straighten it.  You may not lean it in a way that is favorable to your shot.  

Rick

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  On 3/1/2017 at 3:21 PM, NCGolfer said:

Nope.  They specifically said that the Anna Nordqvist ruling would not have changed.  The bunker is not a "penalty area".

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Ah okay, read it wrong. I still hate the era of HD cameras but it not being uniform across a whole tourney on every golfer.

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  On 3/1/2017 at 3:24 PM, Fourputt said:

Unless they change that too, you are not allowed to lean the flagstick in any particular direction.  The way it reads now is that if the flagstick is leaning, you may straighten it.  You may not lean it in a way that is favorable to your shot.  

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You know what I mean. All I'm talking about is rotating the flag stick so the ball can fit in, typically this means rotating it 180 degrees so it no longer leans towards me. 

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Note: This thread is 2740 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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