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Rule 13.2 – The Flagstick

Another significant change for 2019 is that a player will have the option to play a stroke from anywhere on the course with the flagstick left in the hole, even strokes played from the putting green. A player would still have the option to have the flagstick attended or removed before the stroke.

Rationale: The change should help save time. Currently, if a group plays without caddies and if the players all have long putts, each must take turns walking back and forth to the hole to attend the flagstick for other players.

This new rule also allows players in match play to avoid a sometimes-awkward situation involving an opponent who fails to remove the flagstick while attending it, and the ball strikes the flagstick. This change could even save a little time on tap-in putts because players won’t need to remove the flagstick then replace it in the hole.

This change probably will not provide any real advantage or disadvantage, as sometimes balls that strike the flagstick will be deflected away and other balls will end up in the hole.