To pull the flagstick or not to pull the flagstick.

Shakespeare almost certainly didn’t utter those words, but golfers everywhere will be having that conversation with themselves starting Jan. 1.

That’s because for the first time since 1968, leaving the pin in the hole while putting is going to be an option.

Being able to putt at an unattended flagstick without penalty is one of nine new rules in a sweeping reform implemented by the USGA. None of the other eight changes, however, have come close to generating the conversation or speculation as the putting choice.

Proponents of the rule say leaving the pin in will speed up play and increase the number of made putts. Those who scoff at the legislation dispute that more putts will be falling and cite the psychological aspect of the hole looking bigger without the pin.

It is a debate that will start playing out in the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions Jan. 3-6 in Maui. Front and center is rising star and the tour’s mad scientist, Bryson DeChambeau, who has suggested he will be putting at the pin
much of time.

DeChambeau, in fact, thinks the flagstick option is a bad rule that the USGA will quickly come to regret. He says so many more putts will be made that the rule could wind up being rescinded.

“The USGA is going to go back on that one,” DeChambeau recently told Golf.com. “They’ll be like, ‘No! We made the hole bigger.’ ”

Those who side with DeChambeau cite a study done by short-game guru Dave Pelz several years ago. Pelz charted hundreds of balls both chipped and putted from varying distances and concluded that leaving the pin in is a decided
advantage.

Andrew Landry and Chris Stroud, the PNG exes playing the PGA Tour, beg to differ on Pelz’ conclusion. Both say they will have the flagstick removed a high degree of the time. And Landry argues that leaving it in may actually slow things down on the PGA Tour.

“I will probably use it for putts in the 50-60 foot range, instead of having my caddie attend,” Landry said. “On the other hand, I like having the caddie there because it makes for a bigger target. I like to have him stand 2 feet behind the hole to get my line, then putt at his feet. So I’m not sure.

“For the most part, I will just do what I have always done. My teacher, Chuck Cook, was involved in that Pelz study. He said one of the reasons for the finding that more putts fell with the pin in was because they were rolling balls at the perfect speed.”

Landry, who is in the limited field for the Tournament of Champions next week, says he will be surprised if any PGA player other than DeChambeau consistently leaves the pin in on short and medium range putts.

“First of all, I think that’s a good way for Bryson to market himself. He is doing everything right in that area. But I just don’t think you will see many other players doing it. I think most of us believe the cup looks bigger with the pin out.

“Also, I think if you have groups where some guys want the pin in and some want the pin out, it will slow down the game. One caddie will take the pin out for his guy, then another caddie will put it back for his guy. That has to take more time.”

Stroud, meanwhile, is pretty much on the same page as Landry. Hoping to rejoin the tour in late January, after doing extensive rehab on an injured shoulder, he is not opposed to the pin rule. But doesn’t think there will be many occasions when he putts with it in.

“It is really almost a non-issue for me,” he said. “If I am 40 to 50 feet, I may putt at it rather than waiting for the caddie to get to the pin. But I absolutely would not expect to have the pin in on shorter putts. I think it makes the hole look smaller.

“I know Dave Pelz did some serious research which concluded that in some regards the pin can help you. But I have seen pins knock more balls out than keep them in. Where Bryson is concerned, I think that after he has a couple of putts hit the pin and bounce out he will probably change his mind.”

As for the other new rules, most of them will have little impact on the average player. Things like there no longer being a penalty for
accidentally moving a ball on the green, being able to fix spike marks on the green and no penalty on a double hit are mostly for top levels of competition.

So is being able to finish a round with a damaged club or being allowed to move loose impediments in a hazard.

There are two new rules that will impact weekend and senior golfers. One change is cutting the allowed time from 5 minutes to 3 minutes to search for a lost ball. The other is taking a drop from knee level rather than shoulder level to put a new ball in play.

Finally, and this is a local option to be determined at each course, the penalty for out of bounds or lost ball no longer has to be stroke and distance.

A local rule can decree the next shot may be played anywhere on the line between where the original ball was hit and where it was believed to have come to rest (or went OB). The player would take a two-shot penalty and play on, instead of returning to the tee.

So there you have them — golf’s new rules for 2019. Only seven practice days left to think about pulling the flagstick or not pulling the flagstick.

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Golf news should be emailed to rdwest@usa.net.