[Photo: Tom Dulat]<\/p>\n
A great rule change back in 2019 was when the R&A and USGA decided you could leave the flagstick in the hole when your ball is on the putting green. Back in the dark ages, striking the flagstick with the ball when on the putting green was a penalty (two strokes in strokeplay or loss of hole in matchplay).<\/p>\n
RELATED: The group ahead left the flagstick lying on the green. Do I have to replace it before hitting my approach shot?<\/a><\/p>\n The new rule speeds up play, and we\u2019re all for that. However, there is one important catch to Rule 13.2<\/a>: you have to decide whether you\u2019re leaving the flagstick in or having it removed before you make a stroke. You can\u2019t, for instance, have your caddie run up to the hole and pull the flag while your ball is in motion because you think it would go in if you made the last-second decision change. And you also can\u2019t run up and re-insert the flag if you think it will deflect and stop your moving ball from, say, rolling off the green.<\/p>\n Now here\u2019s where things can get awkward.<\/p>\n What if you do everything right and the flagstick still comes into play? Let\u2019s say you ask your matchplay opponent to tend the flagstick with the understanding that as soon as you strike the ball, your opponent will pull the flagstick out of the hole and clear out of the way (which is still fine according to the rules). It\u2019s a casual weekend match so you\u2019re opponent agrees and holds the flag at arm\u2019s length waiting for you to putt.<\/p>\n As you hit the putt, your opponent tries to remove the flag but it\u2019s stuck. He pulls and pulls but it won\u2019t come out. Meanwhile, your ball is tracking right towards the cup. At the last second, he\u2019s able to free the stick from the cup, but the ball strikes the bottom of the stick and caroms away from the hole.<\/p>\n What do you do now? Are you penalised? Is he penalised? Is no one penalised?<\/p>\n The answer is\u2026 it depends on intent.<\/p>\n If it was an accident, there is no penalty and the ball must be played as it lies. If your opponent was only pretending that the stick was stuck in the hopes it might interfere with your putt, that is a violation of Rule 11.2<\/a> (ball in motion deliberately deflected or stopped by person). Your opponent would lose the hole. If it were strokeplay, your playing partner would be assessed a two-stroke penalty and the stroke would be cancelled. You\u2019d get to putt again.<\/p>\n The thing is, there are a lot of little nuances to removing the flagstick or leaving it in that you might want to know.<\/p>\n For example, what if you decide to leave the flagstick in and then another player in your group, not authorised by you, removes the stick while the ball is in motion? There is no penalty as long as there was no chance the flagstick would have impacted the putt or if that person was unaware you were about to putt or that the ball was in motion.<\/p>\n Also, if you wanted the flagstick in but your caddie or partner didn\u2019t get the memo and pulled it while the ball was in motion, there would be no penalty to your side if that person was convinced your ball would not have hit the pole before coming to rest.<\/p>\n