It’s crazy how quickly we adapt. I’ve been playing the last few months without even thinking about it. The pin has to stay in and that’s just how it is.
I guess it helps that I haven’t had any puts jump out of the hole, so I think people are right when they say we are splitting hairs, I just don’t see it making much of a difference.
Come to think of it, I do miss the sound a ball makes when it drops into the cup. For that reason alone I’ll be happy to take the pin out again. haha.
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The other day, the group in front of us was pulling the pin and my gut reaction was like I was watching someone drive across the green in a golf cart.
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I like the data of putts with the pin in. However, like @jon said, inside that magic (10ft) range I like it out, unless it’s a downhiller. I guess for me I always putted with it in while I was learning before the rule change, so it looks normal to me.
I take the pin out so I can hit the putt firmer without the risk of hitting the pin and not dropping. While we had covid there was no choice. we weren’t allowed to touch the pin. Another course nearby removed all the pins and put a map of pin locations at every tee.
I have been leaving the pin in ever since they changed the rule to allow it. Seems to give me another point of reference to better my aim.
The more I play with them in the more I think I (we?) will end up leaving them in permanently. There is of course the occasional loose one that leans towards you that needs straightening or removing.
That’s an interesting solution. I don’t think I would like hitting approach shots without a pin to give me depth perception.
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That’s the overlooked key to this: “hopefully doesn’t slow down your playing partners.”
I’ve been a pin in guy since the rule change last year. I find it efficient, and I suspect that I’ve broken even on times it helps vs. possibly hurting.
But the worst part of the rule change is the confusion. When I play with my son, we never pull the flag. Then I head to league night, and someone else is away, and they’re staring at me until it finally dawns on me that they’re waiting for me to pull the pin (and I’ve gotten out of the habit of even thinking about it).
I’m certainly not doing the “that guy pulls the pin, but I want it back in before I putt, and then we’ll pull it again for his second putt” routine. Once it’s out, it’s out. But I had multiple occasions last season in which I felt like I was breaching good golf manners by not grabbing the flag, just because I don’t do it for myself.
So that’s the irony: a rule change that was designed to speed up play a fraction ends up actually slowing down play slightly.
Before the pins had to stay in, my habit was to head to the green and ask “Pin in?” to the group and follow whomever expressed the preference. Agreed that if you’re just playing a recreational round, the pin shouldn’t be going in and out. I also don’t think that (even before the rule change) I would have ever just stared at a person with the expectation that they should pull the pin for me if I didn’t say anything.
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That’s exactly what I feared when the rule came out. I struggle to figure out how it can actually quicken the pace of play.
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Mt Osmond GC is on top of a hill about 400m high and exposed to the wind. Sometimes pins are bent right over in the wind. Last Thursday it was so windy I had a ball blow across the green from about 10 feet to 1 foot. Very disconcerting when the pin is being rocked by the wind. Have to take it out or get someone to hold the pin still
No an issue here anymore as we are essentially covid free here in South Australia and all golf course restrictions have been lifted.
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Even pre-COVID I’m a pin in guy. I could give countless examples where pace of play at my club slows just from managing the pin.
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I’m planning on leaving it in I think. Early on we had no pins and inverted shallow cups where the ball occasionally skipped out and that got in my head. I putted much better with the pin in and pool noodles once I adapted to the change. Plus, it’s just a little faster and less effort than pulling the pin. Of course this is all subject to change and I’ll probably be happy to pull it when we are able.
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Pin in now, no need to pull it… Except for the sound
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I like the sound of the ball smacking the flag stuck and falling…I’m a bit aggressive with short putts and that sound means it went in 99% of the time (I don’t look up right away and try to keep my eyes on the spot where the ball was).
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I really think that if they changed the rules of golf to mandate the flag sticks stay in all the time (including for tournaments) everyone would be adapted within a year and the idea of pulling the pin would seem as archaic as the stymie. This would make golf just a TINY bit faster on the whole, but across thousands of rounds, that’s a difference.
I have got used to it being in. But sometimes the shadow is in my line or the flag shadow is flopping on my ball and it’s distracting haha. I agree that it could save a little time leaving it in but it’s marginal. With putting being all about feel and confidence for me, I pull it if it’s bothering me.
That only works if they mandate thin flag sticks.
That’s true. According to Bryson DeChambeau, the only tournament that uses flagsticks so thick that they are disadvantageous to putting is the US Open. Can’t recall if I’ve ever seen any like that for myself.