Rules Guy: Can I ask my playing partner to hold the flag, but keep the pin in the hole while I putt?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

Downhill, downgrain, downwind putt — this thing is fast. I want the flagstick in. But the wind is whipping the flag itself, whose shadow is also over my ball. Can I ask for the pin to be tended with the flag held against the stick, then released after I putt while keeping the stick in the hole throughout? —Keith Donner, Estero, Fla.

Ask, and ye shall possibly be penalized.

You may not deliberately have the flagstick left in the hole after the stroke is made if you decide to have it attended.

Were you to do so and then the ball indeed hit the flagstick, you’d get the general penalty of two strokes in stroke play or loss of hole in match play under Rule 13.2b for deliberately deflecting the ball, and the stroke would have to be replayed.

Consider working on your putting touch instead.

Rules

For more flagstick guidance from our guru, read on …

I had a four-foot putt exactly on the line of the flagstick’s shadow, so I left the pin in and made the putt. My playing partner called foul. I know the USGA changed the rule so that it’s the player’s choice whether to leave the stick in or out, but does that still hold when using its shadow as a beacon? —Guy Sykes, via e-mail

As Rules Guy often reminds people at cocktail parties, cotillions and bar mitzvahs, the Rules are there to guide us, not hinder us. They are, indeed, a beacon themselves.

The sun is out, and a shadow leads the way? To mix a metaphor, the stars have aligned! It’s perfectly legal! (And lucky for you it was a straight putt.)

Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from Golf Logix.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.

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