EXPERIMENT Should you putt with the flagstick in or out?

Here is the first decent attempt at running an experiment to see if you should be putting with the flagstick in or out.

The changes to the rules of golf now allow for a golfer to make a putt from the green with the flagstick in.

Aside from the discussion whether the rule should have been changed in the first place, is the debate whether it is advantageous to putt with it in or out.

Here the team at Eduardo Molinari’s Golf Academy have attempted to get a little scientific and ran an experiment to test it out. And they shared the results on their Instagram feed below.

The team ran two conditions; one with the flagstick out and again with the flagstick in.

For each conditions they testing three speeds and recorded the results. See for yourself and the two results slides I’ve also added to underneath the video to look at them side-by-side.

In short, it depends on the speed. According to this small study, the flagstick should be in for fast putts but out for medium paced putts. Which makes it all the more confusing.

 

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In the last few weeks a lot of talk has been made about the new “flagstick” rule which now gives you the option to leave the flag in when playing a shot from the green. Bryson DeChambeau last week in Hawaii left the flag in quite often…we wanted to make sure what is the best choice for your own benefit! So three pros from our academy spent the last day on the 18th hole at Royal Park I Roveri testing the two options,using using different speeds and entry lines…WATCH THE FULL VIDEO TO FIND OUT THE RESULTS! @golfdigest @golfchannel @golftrainingaids @golf_gods @the.putting.channel @europeantour @brysondechambeau @swashputting @potters_putting @federazioneitalianagolf @royal_park_i_roveri @dodomolinari @lolloguanti @c0rrad0destefani @bennypastore • • • #emga #giocaagolfcomehaisempresognato #flagstick #newrules #inorout #putting #secrets #golf #puttingcoach #puttinggreen #inthehole #golfballs #golfacademy #golfcoach #puttingdrills

A post shared by Edoardo Molinari Golf Academy (@emgolfacademy) on Jan 10, 2019 at 9:14am PST