[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

The rule was changed in an effort to speed up play.

There's nothing wrong with retrieving your ball with the flag left in as long as you do it with your hand.

IMHO, too may people have these retrieving tools on the end of their putter or use a club to get the ball out.

Some people are going to say that some people cannot bend over. Most people bend over or squat down using there knees to mark their ball. They should do the same to get retrieve the ball from the hole. Bending or squatting would be good exercise for most of us.

Before everyone goes off on this, I realize that there are exceptions. But I have observed that they are few and far between. Most people who use a tool or their putter or the flagstick are simply too lazy to bend over or squat down.