'Illegal' Pin Positions

Orikoru

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I've heard a lot about 'illegal' pin positions in the past, my understanding is that the pin should be somewhere where the ball would actually stop. On the 15th at my place the other day my mate hit a putt from 8-ish feet, uphill towards the hole, it stopped about 2 inches short and then rolled right back to his feet. Surely constitutes an illegal position? Have heard other longstanding members say this is a problem on the course sometimes. What can we as members actually do about it though? Sod all?

In this case my mate had two stabs then after the third went full Mickelson and tapped in the moving ball. :ROFLMAO: For me personally I had two putts that rolled to the same position as him, but my third putt I knocked a foot past the hole and the ball did stop just long enough for me to tap it in (or more accurately, pick it up since he gave it to me).
 

USER1999

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A green at my old course was like this. At certain times of the year, you had to hole an 18ft up hill putt, or you would be there all day. Trouble was, everywhere on the green was the same. There wasn't really a solution.
They tried slowing the green, but that didn't really work, as if the grass was left longer, it just seeded all the time.
 

RichA

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Some of our greens have no flat areas. A playing partner yesterday had one that missed by an inch but dropped in the hole on its way back down the hill.
 

Lord Tyrion

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Some of our greens have no flat areas. A playing partner yesterday had one that missed by an inch but dropped in the hole on its way back down the hill.
I'm hoping that he claimed it was deliberate :D. Not actually a miss as it passed by then, more allowing for the contours of the green :LOL:.
 

Bunkermagnet

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I understand there was direction on where a pin should be put in relation to the physical extremities of the green, but nothing more than that.
 

Robster59

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When I was Captain, on our Captains day I could place the pins in "fun" positions as it's a charity day. Our 9th is a 2-tier green and I got the head greenkeeper to put the pin on the slope between the two tiers :devilish:. We had the Captains marquee set up on our 13th tee and at one point one of our members (the brother-in-law of my Vice Captain) came storming up to the tee asking "who the !!!! put the flag there on the 9th?". In the background I saw his playing partners laughing their heads off. Apparently his putt made it to the edge of the hole, had a look and rolled back to him. It was worth it just for that moment alone! :ROFLMAO:
 

Orikoru

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I understand there was direction on where a pin should be put in relation to the physical extremities of the green, but nothing more than that.
5E(2): "Committee should avoid placing a hole on a slope where the ball will not come to rest. When the contours of the green allow, holes should be placed where there is an area of two to three feet around the hole that is relatively level so that putts struck at the proper speed will stop around the hole."
 

sunshine

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When I was Captain, on our Captains day I could place the pins in "fun" positions as it's a charity day. Our 9th is a 2-tier green and I got the head greenkeeper to put the pin on the slope between the two tiers :devilish:. We had the Captains marquee set up on our 13th tee and at one point one of our members (the brother-in-law of my Vice Captain) came storming up to the tee asking "who the !!!! put the flag there on the 9th?". In the background I saw his playing partners laughing their heads off. Apparently his putt made it to the edge of the hole, had a look and rolled back to him. It was worth it just for that moment alone! :ROFLMAO:

We have an annual greenkeepers revenge competition with some devilish pins. A lot of our greens have false fronts and multiple tiers so this can be fun / frightening. I think it's fantastic.
 

BiMGuy

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We have an annual greenkeepers revenge competition with some devilish pins. A lot of our greens have false fronts and multiple tiers so this can be fun / frightening. I think it's fantastic.
Club I used to be a member at did the same. There was a limit of 4 putts per hole in place.
 

sunshine

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I've heard a lot about 'illegal' pin positions in the past, my understanding is that the pin should be somewhere where the ball would actually stop.

The only place where I've ever heard people talking about "illegal" pin positions is Haste Hill. It's the kind of place where you find people with random interpretations of the rules of golf :LOL:
 

Orikoru

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The only place where I've ever heard people talking about "illegal" pin positions is Haste Hill. It's the kind of place where you find people with random interpretations of the rules of golf :LOL:
Don't think I ever had this problem there. The greens were never quick enough for it to be an issue!
 

sunshine

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Don't think I ever had this problem there. The greens were never quick enough for it to be an issue!

I never thought it was an issue either, but that didn't stop people complaining about "illegal" pins! It was usually after they had 3 putted.
 

Orikoru

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I never thought it was an issue either, but that didn't stop people complaining about "illegal" pins! It was usually after they had 3 putted.
Now that I think back, it was only a problem when on the bottom tier of the 1st - but usually it's because people had put their tee shots onto the top tier, so putting down it was impossible to keep it on the green. I don't think that make it an illegal position though - just bloody annoying and difficult.
 

patricks148

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don't know they are illegal, but Tain has a silly pin comp where they put every pin , well the names explains itself. one year on of our roll up comp days, they had the flag on the slope on the 14th, no one out of 35 guys got a par on that hole that day:ROFLMAO:

only time i've heard of an illegal pin was when one was closer to the edge of the green than allowed, but not sure if thats true or not??
 
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Bdill93

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Now that I think back, it was only a problem when on the bottom tier of the 1st - but usually it's because people had put their tee shots onto the top tier, so putting down it was impossible to keep it on the green. I don't think that make it an illegal position though - just bloody annoying and difficult.

4 greens at my place are exactly like this. Hit the right tier or 3 putt
 

SwingsitlikeHogan

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We have an annual greenkeepers revenge competition with some devilish pins. A lot of our greens have false fronts and multiple tiers so this can be fun / frightening. I think it's fantastic.
We have done a lot of clearing of gorse and other undergrowth from all round the course over the lockdown and some are protesting that they (the greens team) have made the course easier.

Last Thursday I played in the large midweek rollup - I came 6th out of 60 with 37 pts - with 40pts winning. Very unusually low in perfect weather conditions.

How come? I think the head greenie might have got p’d off with the moans that all his team’s hard work had made the course easier, and so he cut the holes in possibly the hardest combination of positions he’s ever done at any time...and boy were they really tough - tough but not stupid or unfair. Just so happens that I putted very well. Great fun. Very rarely for non-major comp golf they required serious consideration of where to try and get your ball on the green for putting.

The greenkeeper‘s revenge.
 

Rlburnside

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I changed all our pin positions for a Texas scramble competition last weekend I tried to put some in positions that they have rarely been in before.

My favorite was on a par 3 that if you hit a tee shot to the right there is a steepish bank and the ball will roll down towards the hole, there were a few that got close to a hole in one.

You can have some fun with pin placements for certain competitions but have to be sensible for others competitions.
 
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