Pin Position Guidelines

[alan_h]

Can anyone point me in the direction of any official (R&A??) documentation relating to hole placement?

The positioning of some pins at my home course over the last few months has been absolutely ridiculous - more like crazy golf - and my club (course is a muni) would like to write to the course manager regarding this.

Thanks.


Alan

 

[brendy]

Apart from being brutal I dont think there is an actual distance, some folks claim 1 metre though.

 

[Region3]

We have some greens with enough slope at the front that if the ball starts going down it, it isn't staying on the green, and I've seen pins on the front of 3 of them in my 3 months there so far.

Evil on the point of being unfair imo.

 

[stevek1969]

Have a read of this link this gives a good incite into positions and speeds
http://www.usga.org/workarea/linkit.aspx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=11384

 

[jammydodger]

I'm sure i've heard of something like the hole shouldnt be less than 5/6 yards from the edge of the green iirc. Not sure about slopes though but to me it would be unfair to have them on big slopes where you cant stop the putt from rolling past (like some at Augusta). Our club has some tiers on its greens and sometimes you feel a little peeved at the placements (right at the top/bottom)

 

[DCB]

Interesting article. If done properly there is a lot to consider in choosing a hole location. I'd say we tend to be somewhere between 3-5 paces from edge of the green in most cases at my club.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I think I'm right in saying that our greenkeeper has a number of positions per green worked out with the club. He rotates these positioons around to prevent any heavy duty traffic damage in any one area and will generally try and alternate between front, middle and back and left or roght in rotation.

Obviously for events like club championships of finals day, there are more testing positions available and these will be used in discussion with the club and dependant on conditions.

I don't know of any set guidelines on distances from edges etc. I guess you need to look at any particularly testing positions as a challenge and look to be leaving the ball in the right place. Easier said than done but its the same for everyone

 

[Fore]

Actually this post has reminded me of something i have been meaning to find out about hole placement.
I overheard somone at my club mention that the flag on that green is 'white', so the pin is in the so and so position.
I did not have time to follow it up at that moment but wondered if this is normal.
Does your golf course change the flag colours if say the pin is at the back or the front or on the top shelf or whatever position on the green?

 

[Region3]

Where I play, red is front, yellow is middle, and white is back.

Very useful when you can't see the bottom of the pin.

 

[Fore]

Cheers Region3.

 

[alan_h]

Have a read of this link this gives a good incite into positions and speeds
http://www.usga.org/workarea/linkit.aspx?linkidentifier=id&itemid=11384

Thanks for the link. Interesting reading.

The problem with some pin positions on the course recently has been that they have been positioned very close to a ridge where the slope of the green changes.

Putting from anywhere other than straight up hill makes it almost impossible to get close unless you hole it.

I've seen lots of half-decent players 4 put on various holes (myself included). Playing the last round of a three round tournament and tied for the lead I has a slightly uphill and across the slope put roll 12 feet past the hole and off the green.

I've also seen puts go a foot past some holes and then roll back into the hole and others - straight uphill and left short - rolling back to the players feet.

All seems a bit of a lottery.


Alan

 

[Tommo21]

https://www.bestcourseforgolf.org/content/greenkeepers/course_set_up/guidelines/putting_surface

 

[Imurg]

Where I play, red is front, yellow is middle, and white is back.

Very useful when you can't see the bottom of the pin.

Wish we had this - couldn't judge one today and finished 20 yards short.

There have been some dodgy pin placements - I remember a US Open where one was so close to a slope you had a 24 inch square of turf to stop the ball on otherwise it would roll off. Bet that was fun.

 

[pigmeister]

Our flags are RED at the front, YELLOW in the middle and WHITE at the back. I think the minimum distance for a flag on the green is 6ft from the edge.

 

[geejayboy28]

I remember years ago when I was on holiday in US, I played a course (Falcons Fire) and when walking onto the first tee, the starter handed us a scorcard AND a pin position card.

The pin position card had a plan of all the greens showing the numbers 1 to 8 in various locations, and prior to teeing off we were told that all the pins were at No 6 on the map so you were able to see just how far in you were playing to. (Didnt make a bit of differnce to me..I was just glad to REACH the green)

 

[viscount17]

Where I play, red is front, yellow is middle, and white is back.

Very useful when you can't see the bottom of the pin.

ours are either black and white check (front 9) or yellow and black check (back 9). front, middle and back are supposed to be indicated by the position of a yellow 'ball' - right at the top if at the back of the green. unfortunately this is an extremely unreliable method as the marker is often incorrectly located either due to it slipping or due to smart alecs moving it.

as far as I know there are no regulations as to position of the holes though the accepted norm would be six front, six middle and six back, with a variation in degree of difficulty. our greenkeeper loves positioning the pin right on the lip of a slope.

 

[TonyN]

I remember my pal (greenkeeper turned pro) telling me that the flag should be no less than 5 yards from the greens edge. Am not sure if that is golfing law though or guidlines.

Our club has abour 3 different positions for each green. We dont have coloured flags but we do have little flags on the stick.

Bottom= front
middle= middle
top = back.

Works realy well as it can be so deceiving at times, a good shot often turned out to be 20 yards short!