I had that happen to me one time. I had about a 20' putt up hill for birdie. I just missed the hole and it rolled back to my feet 2 times in a row. The 3rd time, it stayed up there and I ran up and tapped it in.

Very frustrating.

IMO, this all starts with the USGA and their ridiculous obsession with par to the point of making every U.S. Open play to a par 70, even if it means turning 500+ yard holes into par 4s...just so the winning score will be E instead of -8.

How many years have they done something similarly stupid to the point they've had to water greens between groups or not mow some greens between rounds in a desperate attempt to keep from happening this exact thing that happened at this NCAA tournament.

Other organizations follow suit cause that's what the USGA does...more concerned with what the winning score will be than providing a tough, but fair test.

Before I opened the thread my only thought was TPC Sam Antonio. My playing partner had and uphill into the wind birdie putt from 20'. He hit it a little too hard, beyond the hole and it came back at him…it got to him with some speed … kept going … and came to a rest about 30 -40 yards away from hole in the fairway.


After round we were all joking about how he hit driver - 60 - putter - 52 - putter - putter to make a 6.

Hard to watch that clip.
These things usually happen in tournaments for a few reasons.

Usually reason one or two combined with 3 and 4


1 Clueless pin setter who doesn't know any better and puts it on a severe slope
2 Greenskeeper or pro who should know better but wants a "challenging pin" for the tourney
3 Excessive green speed for the slope
4 High winds

GDP said:

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Hard to watch that clip.
These things usually happen in tournaments for a few reasons.

Usually reason one or two combined with 3 and 4


1 Clueless pin setter who doesn't know any better and puts it on a severe slope
2 Greenskeeper or pro who should know better but wants a "challenging pin" for the tourney
3 Excessive green speed for the slope
4 High winds

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1. Pin setter is putting it where they tell him to put it.
2. USGA makes that call, not them.
3. USGA dictates the speed.
4. God controls that one!!

As a general rule I would have no problem with greens construction that had only gentle slopes. Really, no ball should ever be going faster partway through the putt than when it was struck. Save that for the Putt-Putt and the clown mouth.

When I mentioned "in tournaments" I was referring to local club events. Like club championships and the member guests and best ball tournaments. That was my frame of reference. Some clubs and courses spend a lot of time thinking about this and some clubs do not.

Reasons 1-4 are pretty valid in my experience for those types of local tournaments at clubs that don't spend much time thinking about setup.

In a USGA or collegiate event, I agree with DGrimesAg92 that a committee often makes the decisions regarding pin location and green speed. The article that I read said that the pin was cut on a 5 degree slope. Something went wrong somewhere.

This thread was about that NCAA bad pin - I should have been more clear in my post.