From the Course - March 2011

WHY DID THEY PUT THE CUP THERE?

By Scott Coogan

That is a question I have heard many times over the years. Every once in a while the cup placement on a green becomes a topic of discussion. Terms like "illegal placement" are used to describe what many perceive as unusual and/or unfair cup positions. Sometimes a golfer will ask me if I was fighting with my wife or some other reason to put me in such a foul mood that I would "take it out on the golfers". I can honestly say that 99% of the time a cup is put in a different area than what we call "standard rotation" it is for a specific reasonable purpose.

Typically we will set the course to have 6 front, 6 middle and 6 back pin positions. The USGA recommends this along with 6 easy, 6 medium and 6 hard positions for tournament play. Although The Rules of Golf do not define legal and illegal pin positions, some pin positions are unfair. And, since I'm being honest, I must admit that over the years I have put a few of those out there. A number of years ago, I learned a lesson the hard way about making sure that doesn't happen. The bottom line is that golfers will rarely complain that the hole placements were "too easy". But, they will undoubtedly let you know if they were set "too hard".

If a hole placement seems to be closer to the edge of a green than you're used to seeing or otherwise in an unusual area, it likely is for one of three reasons; 1) turf conditions in usual cupping areas are suffering and need a break from concentrated foot traffic; 2) a tournament is going to be held and a certain type of course set-up has been requested; and 3) it may be that the person choosing pin placements decided to set the course up with a slightly different look than usual to stimulate the brains of the golfer who plays the same course every day. Whatever the case, be assured that even if I'm fighting with my wife, I won't "take it out on the golfers"!