Course setup has a major influence on the golf experience. Choosing the hole location has an obvious impact on how the course plays, but you also want to make sure the flagstick is nice and straight for presentation purposes. Unfortunately, even someone with years of experience changing hole locations is not immune to cutting a leaner from time to time.
Tapping the inside of the cup with the ferrule, pulling the flagstick to one side, or having to reset the cup completely are common techniques for fixing a leaning flagstick once the cup is set. However, while working the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills, I saw a simple solution to make sure the flagstick will be straight before the cup is set. Rather than being reactive, a proactive approach is to use a small level.
Before setting the cup at its proper depth, you can check if it is straight by leaving the edges slightly above the putting surface and setting a level on top of the cup. This will show if the flagstick is going to lean. If it is not level, adjustments can be made before the cup is set.
There is an endless list of details that have to be managed every day when maintaining a golf course. If leaning flagsticks are a source of frustration, using a small level in the setup process could be the solution. For more maintenance tips and tricks, reach out to your regional USGA agronomist.
Central Region Agronomists:
Zach Nicoludis, regional director, Central Region – znicoludis@usga.org
Tom Gould, agronomist – tgould@usga.org