Pin Position Indicators on Classic Courses - "150" Stakes & Red/White/Blue Flags

[Justin VanLanduit]

I played The Club at Strawberry Creek in Kenosha, Wi just before they opened.  No pins in the green, Superintendent just gave me a sheet saying back left, middle, etc...  One of the most enjoyable rounds of golf I've played.  Surprisingly, my buddy and I had a number of short birdie putts.  Take the aiming point away and things seem to become easier.

[John Kavanaugh]

Mathew,


You make my point for me. I believe members have earned the right to see the best pin positions based on conditions, not on the day of the week. Tournaments should see the predetermined formulas.(See the Masters)  I occasionally have a Tuesday game at a local course that uses the number system because of prior commitments in my usual group. I play the same pins every damn time because Tuesday is location 3 day. Boring.

Well that's just stupid.  The whole point of having three locations is that the rotation does not correspond to a 7-day week ... that you should see the three different locations on three consecutive weeks.  I did the same thing for The Loop ... 3-position rotation, plus they are changing direction every day, so that's really a 6-way rotation, which still works out to seeing different holes same time next week.


John, I used to be in your camp of wishing that the superintendent would just go out and use good set-up skills to set the course up every day.  But it's rarely the superintendent who actually does the job, and most of the underlings do not keep track very well of balancing out the hole locations on a given day.  If you're in a windy place, having a bunch of front pins on the downwind holes and a bunch of back pins on the into-the-wind holes can raise havoc with the set-up, but if that's happening then the set-up chart is poorly constructed.  Just because you're using 1,2,3 doesn't mean you have to have the front pin every third hole.

Love it. The course in question, and many others, have each green divided into several sections and a six day week. No play on Mondays. It is easy for a Super to get in a rut and start each week with the same section. I don't see how anyone can defend the practice of mandating where every pin for the day will be place by where you decide to cut the hole on the first. Of course, I am going with the assumption that the greens crew are intelligent dedicated workers who love the nuances of the game. And if they're not, some of the best days a member can have are when a cup setter goes rogue.

[John Crowley]

Obviously the trend these days are for simple accessories and a de-cluttering of extra items from golf courses (benches, ball cleaners, granite hole markers, etc.). However, I am curious to hear people's thoughts on what to do about indicating pin position on the green.

In the somewhat distant past, our golf course had a red/white/blue system of indicating pin position. A couple of years ago the pins where switched to a red flag with a black/white stripped pole, but we implemented 150-yard markers on a side of the fairway, which also showed either red/white/or blue stripes implying the distance of the pin. In an effort to the golf course the 150 yard markers were taken away in the spring, but their were complaints as to pin position so the red/white/blue flag system was re-implemented.

Some people seem to need and enjoy knowing if the pin is front, middle, or back. Others think it looks terrible something closer to a public or resort golf course. We have a number of blind approach shots and with the colored flags you can't tell where the pin is anyway? The greens themselves are on the smaller side, and a few can't accommodate a pin location on the front of the green anyway due to a false front. We also have small laser readers on the top of the flags, and a fair amount of players/caddies seem to use them via laser range finders.

I'm curious if folks here would be willing to share some "best practices" from their home courses & clubs.

Does your home course use the red/white/blue system? 150-yard markers? Pin sheets? Nothing?

Pat
At WSFGC most sprinkler heads are marked, flags are yellow and white on black and white pins. Daily pin sheets are done with the +/- number shown (huge greens). In spite of all this information many players use electronic measuring devices even though they are not reliably capable of hitting a shot within 10-15 yards of their measurement.
Personally, I use my eyes and the experience of thousands of rounds of golf. I enjoy playing by "feel".
John

[Matt Frey, PGA]

I've seen clubs with smaller budgets hand out laminated hole location sheets each day and have also seen clubs with larger budgets allow members to borrow range finders / lasers to use for their rounds.