Golf Flag question
 

I noticed most people playing here leave the flag in while putting- Is this a villages rule?

No. USGA Rule makes pulling the pin optional.

No. Under the USGA rules of golf, you can leave it in, take it out, or have it tended (as long as the person tending it removes it before the ball hits it). Prior to 3 years ago, you had to remove it when playing a shot from the green (otherwise you would incur a penalty if you hit it). But since the rule change, there is no penalty for hitting the flagstick with your ball. (also no penalty for hitting yourself, your caddy, your partner nor their caddy, or either of your equipment, unless placed intentionally to help the player).

As far as The Villages goes, I think most people have left it in starting with COVID restrictions when there was a pipe placed in the cup and you weren't allowed to remove the flagstick. Or, like Adam Scott, they prefer it in. Or, they are just plain lazy. I'd be willing to bet that the players who are allergic to the rakes in the sand traps and think the plastic bottle on their cart is for cocktails probably leave it in:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Wait, it isn't? You mean the urinal thing filled with sand?

I tend to pull the pin or have it tendered since I have been robbed of birdie putts by the ball bouncing off the pin staff.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

People have been taking out of the hole for more than a century. No reason to start now. Most of the time it’s not in straight anyway

LOL, I don't play golf so when we first moved here looking at golf carts that is exactly what I thought it was !!

The pin in or out is a matter of taste. I just wish people wouldn't use their putter to retrieve their ball. Hole destruction, it is like they will never be back.

Exactly, they use a device at the end of their putter to remove the ball from the cup while the flag stick is still in, causing the rim of the cup to crumble down.

I have always exceeded the number of shots allowed and picked ball up before reaching green.
Never tried this putting lark yet, although I did reach the sand thingy in front of one green.
I thought the wooden rake was a nice gesture to retrieve the ball though!:icon_wink:

Amen to that.

In 1962, there was no penalty if we hit the flagstick when putting. If you ever watch old golf videos, you can see times when a player would putt with the flagstick in.

I'm glad they have the new rule to not penalize players for hitting the flagstick when putting.

OK, I found a video of a match between Bob Goalby and Sam Snead. At the 33:09 spot, you see Snead putting with the flagstick in the hole

Snead vs Goalby at Philadelphia Country Club - YouTube

Pins were pulled more often pre covid. Then everywhere put inserts in the cup and said don’t touch the pins and leave them in. I think people just got used to not pulling them.

For those interested in the major rules changes that took effect in 2019.

https://www.usga.org/content/usga/ho...r-changes.html

USGA Changed rules prior to Covid and rule is that a player can leave flag stick in.

Nothing to do with Covid.

I know the rules changed. If you will reread my post I said people “pulled the pin more often.”

I leave it in most of the time. Nearly always. It has become a psycho thing for me now.
If they change the rule back I'm going to need a shrink to help me adjust.

About the only times I take it out are if it's leaning hard towards the edge of the cup I'm intending to have the ball drop in, if the wind is making it rock wildly back and forth, or if my ball is near the shadow and the shadow is moving at all where I can pick it up in my vision.
Yes, I've had a couple balls hit and bounce off that would have gone in, but in my mind, and this is totally psychological now, I feel that having the pin in as I take that last glance at the hole, helps my brain memorize where the hole is as I stroke the putt.

Golf is such a head game, and I am such a head case.

I too only take the stick out when it's leaning, or the shadow is bothering me, but Dave Pelz says us amateurs should leave it in.

Dave Pelz: The science proves you should leave the flagstick in when you putt - Golf

"You will hole a higher percentage of putts when you leave the flagstick in."

I leave the pin in, it stops my ball from rolling another 20 feet off the green ....