Where's the pin?

[Imurg]

Played today in the glorious rain - love it.....Not!

Anyway, there are several holes on my course where you can't see the bottom of the flag from 100+ yards out, making it tricky to judge where on the green the flag is. Just 2 instances from today -

11th hole and I'm 120 from the front of the green. Peering through the gloom I see the flag as being back right of the 30 yard green (like I said you can't see the bottom of it). SO I play up to the back portion of the green, almost exactly where I want it, only to find the flag is front right when I get there. I now have a 20 yard putt to deal with.

16th hole - uphill all the way. I'm 190 from the front. Practically all the flags have been toward the front of the green so far. Can't see the bottom again and it looks fairly front from 200 yards away. I play up and I'm a foot or two short of the green but with a nice chip/putt to the pin that's not far away - except it's at the back another 20 yards away.

Both times, If I'd known the pin placement I'd have taken a club less or one more to get a bit closer. Ok it's my fault for not judging it correctly but there's no way of knowing sometimes.
I've asked for some idea of pin placements, I know some courses have the little "ball" on the pin to signify front, middle or back and some (posh) places have pin sheets. SOme have different colour flags - but we have nothing, not a sausage, bugger all.

Drives me mad sometimes.
Think I need a Laser Rangefinder...

 

[barrybridges]

It's a shame they don't post details of pin positions somewhere prominent before you go out. Most clubs at least have a system of rotation so that you know that if it's at the front on #1, it'll be back on #2 and middle on #3.

What bugs me similiarly is when a club doesn't have a course layout guide, or doesn't print one on the back of the scorecard. If you're playing somewhere for the first time often it's impossible to know where the hazards are.

I had that at Edenbridge recently - no course map on the card and found 2 gulleys and 2 bunkers which you couldn't see from the tee. My fault on the one hand...but not my fault at the same time.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

As you know Ian we use red, yellow and white to indicate front, middle and back. It won't give you exact distances unless you have a rangefinder but will give you a better idea which third of the green it is on. As most of our greens aren't that big you won't normally have too far left

 

[Imurg]

As you know Ian we use red, yellow and white to indicate front, middle and back. It won't give you exact distances unless you have a rangefinder but will give you a better idea which third of the green it is on. As most of our greens aren't that big you won't normally have too far left

I suggested this to the powers that be but they reckon they can't afford to have 3 sets of flags
Apparently they used to use the "ball on the pin" method until the local thuggery nicked them....

 

[Region3]

I've played on courses with a ball on the pin, but they end up being wrong because people inadvertently move them, or they work loose and move on their own.

My course uses different coloured flags like Homers does and it works well apart from it's a bit hard to tell white from faded yellow in the gloom sometimes.

Just found them on t'internet at £4.50 each, so even if they don't find them cheaper than that it's £120 for 9 of each. We normally have 6 of each at any time.

 

[ademac]

my course is the same, bloody annoying sometimes! sometimes it is really difficult to tell from around 15o yds away as there are bumps/ridges on the fairways and surrounds of the greenswhich make it really difficult to tell pin position. Our greens are quite big too which really doesnt help as it can be as much as 3 clubs difference front to back!
I had a word with an influential senior member about maybe having different colour flags and he said he'll mention it at the agm.

 

[Oddsocks]

Just found them on t'internet at £4.50 each, so even if they don't find them cheaper than that it's £120 for 9 of each. We normally have 6 of each at any time.

My guess is the £120 isn't the issue, more the fact green keepers will moan as it's another job to do

 

[HomerJSimpson]

It isn't that hard to do surely. How long does it take to put a new one on. I think we have a number of sets and so the greenkeeper just gets one off the buggy and puts the old one in.

The one thing I would love to see on the subject of flags is a set of prestigious ones with the club logo on but all the same colour for use in the big events like club championship. Make it feel even more like the prestigious event it is and also give players slightly more to think about in terms of judging exactly where the pin is located

 

[Redwood]

Played at St Enedoc on Thursday and they have the eighteen greens spilt into 4 quadrants on the scorecard, red, yellow, black, and blue I think.

As you pay for your round they let you know where the pin positions are for that day.

All well and good, and a great idea, until we found out that what we were told was Red positions turned out to be Black!!!

 

[richart]

As you know Ian we use red, yellow and white to indicate front, middle and back. It won't give you exact distances unless you have a rangefinder but will give you a better idea which third of the green it is on. As most of our greens aren't that big you won't normally have too far left

We have those at Blackmoor, damn should have kept that to myself.

Played at the club for about 6 months before i realised there were different colours, and about another 6 months before i realised what they meant.

 

[PhilTheFragger]

Forum Members Please Note
In his opening rant, The Chubby One somehow failed to mention that he got beaten again 30-32

Actually he played a storming back 9 scoring 20 points, just shows what a rubbish front 9 he had

Waiting to see if the new "Miracle" driver will work

Fragger

 

[stevelev]

Played at Hurlston Hall, they had a 2nd smaller flag that slid up and down the pole with a little effort.

It was placed according to where the pin position was, bottom for front, middle for centre, top for rear. Really helped club selection (well for those that could hit the green it did)

I really think more clubs could make more of an effort to use a system to help players during the round. I think many clubs take for granted that people now have rangefinders and GPS.

But even with the GPS and range finders if teh green is blind or above you by someway, still hard to accurately know the distance without a full pin chart.

 

[JustOne]

I played a course I didn't know about 16 years ago. On the 4th I could see the flag (it was tiny) so I reckoned I had a solid 5-iron to the green, the ball was still on the way up as it sailed over the top of the flag!!.... someone had snapped the feckin' flag and it was only 2ft high!... I'd only had 90yds to the front and hit a full 5-iron

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I'd only had 90yds to the front and hit a full 5-iron

And still had a wedge left into the green

 

[need_my_wedge]

I played the Duke's course at Woburnlast year. They post which quadrant the pins are located in on that day on a sign as you walk to the first tee. You can also pick up a small leaflet with the quadrant mapped on each green.

 

[viscount17]

I was playing a course that used the quadrant system which was fine until halfway round the greenkeepers started moving the pins!

in truth it didn't really make that much difference - I just aim for the big bit in the middle