Ridiculous pins

[Slab]

Anyone on here have a part to play in pin placement?

I wondered if there is routinely consideration given to pace of play when selecting pin positions for a busy weekends golf?

 

[Doon frae Troon]

It is a bit of a myth that easy pin positions favour the clubs lower handicap players.
When I was a greenkeeper I used to position the flags in realitively easy spots for the club championship.
Logic is that they hit the greens and make birdie.
General rule was six pins left, six central and six right. I used to place a couple of pins on the fronts of the greens where I knew this would favour the shot shaping low handicappers eg short par 4 with a favoured side of the fairway for the shot to the green.
Seemed to work well as the best players generally won.

Lots of clubs have surprise club championship winners due to the greenkeeper placing tough pin positions.

 

[6inchcup]

i played in my first comp at my new club yesterday,course was in superb condition with the greens running true and fast for this time of year,it was a limited field because the ladies had the course for their invitational day and the course was set for them,the pin positions were brutal either set on a slope or tucked tight behind bunkers etc,and i enjoyed every minute of the challenge to get my 39 points,i cant see what the problem with having tricky pin positions is golf not supposed to be a game of skill!!

 

[MadAdey]

I hate it too. Played at Woodhall last week on the Bracken Course. Some of the pins are just stupid seeing how undulating some of the greens are. I hit a shot on one hole with a wedge, it was all over the pin looking fantastic. Hit the green, the spin took effect caught the slope that was 2 foot from the pin and ended up 20 foot away. I went from having a tap in birdie to 3 putting thanks to an impossible putt. It happened on a few of the greens there.

 

[MashieNiblick]

I've seen some silly ones lately both at our place and else where.

The pins seem to get put in tougher places after the Majors (especially the Masters and the US Open). I think the green staff watch the TV coverage and get ideas from how those courses are set up that are really not appropriate for club golfers.

The thing is if you put a pin in a tricky place, it isn't just about putting, it also places a premium on hitting the ball to the right part of the green. That is something beyond most club golfers who are happy just to be on the dance floor.

 

[6inchcup]

I've seen some silly ones lately both at our place and else where.

The pins seem to get put in tougher places after the Majors (especially the Masters and the US Open). I think the green staff watch the TV coverage and get ideas from how those courses are set up that are really not appropriate for club golfers.

The thing is if you put a pin in a tricky place, it isn't just about putting, it also places a premium on hitting the ball to the right part of the green. That is something beyond most club golfers who are happy just to be on the dance floor.

i think your comment is disrespectful to some golfers,i play off 13 and am not in the category of "just happy to hit the green" and i think most on here are the same,as i stated golf is a game of skill not just in the execution of a stroke but in course management and yes a low h/c golfer will probably score better than me and i will score better than a higher h/c golfer if we played of scratch BUT we don't we have an h/c system for this very reason,how boring would the game become if every green was snooker table flat with the pin in the middle,bunkers had no lips and level with the fairway/green,no water hazards etc, i have always took the mind set to play what is set before me regardless of what that is and play to my abilities and plot my way around that to me is the challenge and that's why i keep going week in week out.

 

[beggsy]

Why don't you all get together get a letter typed up with the heading I DON'T LIKE HARD PIN POSITIONS AND UNDULATING GREENS and send it off to the R&A and your golf clubs and see what they have to say or you could always take up bowls

 

[MadAdey]

Why don't you all get together get a letter typed up with the heading I DON'T LIKE HARD PIN POSITIONS AND UNDULATING GREENS and send it off to the R&A and your golf clubs and see what they have to say or you could always take up bowls

Obviously you do not play on very undulating greens, that have green keepers that think it is funny to put the pins in the most outrageous positions.

 

[beggsy]

Obviously you aint played at my course seems to me you all want the easiest positions to score the lowest scores well I'm afraid golf isn't like that an requires a level of skill

 

[MadAdey]

Obviously you aint played at my course seems to me you all want the easiest positions to score the lowest scores well I'm afraid golf isn't like that an requires a level of skill

It seems that you have missed the point of the thread. People are not asking for the pins to be put in the easiest place possible. It is just very annoying when a green keeper sees fit to put a pin in a position that is almost impossible to get near and can easily cause good golfers to 3-putt through no fault of their own. Are you telling me that every time you putt it goes in the hole so you are not affected by maybe a big slope 12 inches past the hole that runs your ball 12 foot away. Nothing wrong with a difficult pin position, but there is a difference between tough pin placement and ridiculous pin placement.

 

[Robobum]

I hate it too. Played at Woodhall last week on the Bracken Course. Some of the pins are just stupid seeing how undulating some of the greens are. I hit a shot on one hole with a wedge, it was all over the pin looking fantastic. Hit the green, the spin took effect caught the slope that was 2 foot from the pin and ended up 20 foot away. I went from having a tap in birdie to 3 putting thanks to an impossible putt. It happened on a few of the greens there.

this isn't a bad pin, just a bad choice of shot. Hit more club, take some spin off and you'll be tapping it in rather than munching one down the slope

 

[garyinderry]

It seems that you have missed the point of the thread. People are not asking for the pins to be put in the easiest place possible. It is just very annoying when a green keeper sees fit to put a pin in a position that is almost impossible to get near and can easily cause good golfers to 3-putt through no fault of their own. Are you telling me that every time you putt it goes in the hole so you are not affected by maybe a big slope 12 inches past the hole that runs your ball 12 foot away. Nothing wrong with a difficult pin position, but there is a difference between tough pin placement and ridiculous pin placement.

nail on head son ! ^

 

[Smiffy]

I love decent pins...

 

[Doon frae Troon]

Last game at Turnberry the short 16th had a tough pin, although you could say any pin on that green is tough.
I played a good shot which got on the wrong side of the slope and ended with a more or less impossible shot.
I changed my club three times before I decided how to play it. I would have been happy to finish on the green.
The shot I played came off perfectly and lipped the hole to finish 2" past.

Perhaps some of the posters here may dislike tough pins because they do not have the skills to play them.
[that sounds a bit big headed but I'm sure you know what I mean.]

 

[Robobum]

Last game at Turnberry the short 16th had a tough pin, although you could say any pin on that green is tough.
I played a good shot which got on the wrong side of the slope and ended with a more or less impossible shot.
I changed my club three times before I decided how to play it. I would have been happy to finish on the green.
The shot I played came off perfectly and lipped the hole to finish 2" past.

Perhaps some of the posters here may dislike tough pins because they do not have the skills to play them.
[that sounds a bit big headed but I'm sure you know what I mean.]

I agree except that a lot will have the requisite skills but just don't pick the correct type of shot for the situation.

Doesn't sounded big headed btw

 

[garyinderry]

pick the correct shot? im sorry robobum but you are coming across as big headed here. as its been stated by some of the posters. the shot that you have to select is a PUTT! sometimes you cant even putt at the hole without it rolling away down the slope due to poor pin placement.

 

[beggsy]

So by not putting them on difficult places you are in theory putting them in easier positions and no I'm not saying I hole everything but I am willing to take my medicine if I hit a poor approach shot or a poor putt

 

[Robobum]

pick the correct shot? im sorry robobum but you are coming across as big headed here. as its been stated by some of the posters. the shot that you have to select is a PUTT! sometimes you cant even putt at the hole without it rolling away down the slope due to poor pin placement.

What? If you choose to putt and can't stop it it's either the wrong choice or the shot that left you in that position in the first place means you need to take your medicine and move on.

Being big headed would be to suggest its the green keepers fault rather than my own lack of ability/ decision making

 

[garyinderry]

in many cases you cant know if hitting to the left side of the green is a poor choice until you actually get up to the green. in fact alot of times players wont even know what level the flag is on. we are not pros and do not have the luxary of a caddy with the weeks pin positions who has been out rolling balls about the green to decide where would be best to land the ball.

 

[Robobum]

There is an interesting, to me anyway, analogy that Clive Woodward uses in one of his books.

When people have success, they close the window and take all the credit. When things don't go well they open the window and look to share the blame on everything outside of their control.

Close the window Gary, it's getting drafty in here haha