When the rule changed that you were allowed to keep the flagstick on the putting green in 2019, it became the new hip thing to do. Bryson DeChambeau, among others on the PGA Tour, popularized the method further. Then, COVID hit, and when golf was the first recreational activity to come back, flagsticks stayed in, along with pool noodles, in the name of stopping the spread.
Six-plus years later, it seems as though many of us have been successfully psy-opped into leaving it in for good. Apparently, not everyone read the great Mike Stachura’s piece on the science saying the flagstick should be pulled 99.9 percent of the time. Hardly surprising in 2026, a time where no amount of factual evidence will move anybody off of their preconceived notions.
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Reader Jim Donnelly reached out to me earlier this month about this odd phenomenon, and it hit very close to home as a “please pull the flag” guy:
I was recently visiting my parents, and my dad asked me to play a round with he and his friends. They are retired city workers and get an incredible rate at the local muni. They have a group of 6-8 that plays 2-3x per week. Nobody is better than a 15 handicap. Since COVID, all in this group putt with the flag in. I always want the flag out if I can see the hole, including when off the green.
On the 1st hole, I am 3rd to putt from about 8′ away. I ask for the flag to be removed and get sideways looks from the group. I make my putt, then the next player puts the flag in before putting his 4′ putt. For the next 4 hours we do a flagstick dance, taking it out, putting it back, etc. What’s the proper thing to do here? Acquiesce to others and leave the flag in? Or play my game? I went back and forth. If I had a shortish par or birdie putt, flag came out and the group did the flagstick dance. Other times I left the flag in, but was not comfortable hitting my shot. What say you?
“The flagstick dance” was A+, Jim. Straight out of a “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode.
This is a simple one for me – if you want the flag out, take the flag out. It’s YOUR shot. I’ll admit, I succumbed like a good little sheep like everyone else for a few years and left it in, and all it took was two or three birdie putts to clang off the stick and out of the hole to re-radicalize me. In fact, one of those happened this year, but out of pure laziness. I had a longer birdie look—on a hole at my course I’ve yet to birdie, mind you—and no one in my group bothered to pull the flag, nor did I ask them to or do it myself. 100 percent my own fault. I could not have hit a better putt. It was not too hard, either. It was uphill, the flag was clearly leaning toward me, and it knocked the ball out. Still keeps me up at night.
Evidently, that’s never happened to people who leave it in. Because I promise you if it had, they’d pull it every time. The science says to pull it. My eyes say to pull it.
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A common thing you’ll hear now on the first green, particularly when playing with people you haven’t played with before, is “you guys like it in or out?” Sometimes the answers vary, leading to this awkward flagstick dance, as Jim describes it, four the next four-to-five hours. Again, I’m all for doing whatever the person whose shot it is prefers. If I have it pulled and the next guy wants it in, I’ll put it in for him. Is it annoying? Is the player clearly wrong and doesn’t even know it? Yes and yes. But, hey, it’s a free country.
If you’re playing with people you know, though, it’s time to have a serious discussion with them. Tell them they are wrong for wanting the flag in. Share the Mike Stachura piece with them. Baaaahhh at them like a sheep when they balk at you. Poke fun at the fact that they’ve clearly never had a long birdie putt hit off the stick and out because they stink at putting, and them thinking the flag stick is going to help them is Fantasy Land, USA. It’s OK, guys, we can be normal again. We can live like it’s 2018. Take that thing out and listen for the beautiful rattling sound when your ball drops in the cup. No more flagstick dance. Rumpus time is over.
Do you have a “stupid” golf problem? A question you’re too ashamed to ask your close friends? A conundrum that needs to be talked out in a public forum? We’re here to help. If you have etiquette-related inquiries or just want to know how to handle some of the unique on- or off-course situations we all find ourselves in, please let us know. You can email me ([email protected]) or send me a DM on Twitter/X (@Cpowers14) or on Instagram (@cpthreeve).
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
