majority out, especially when i'm putting bad. My mind tells me the hole is bigger if the stick is out.

Pin out, as the hole looks bigger, except downhill putts (where I think it might be a backboard).

Our course, for whatever reason, has shorter flags. When they did the renovation in a Seth Raynor style they went with shorter flags and really does not make much of a difference. Leave them in for most of us. Really fast with a lots of undulations and craziness for small greens. Tough for the average amateur. But for a pro? Beau Hossler shot a 68 the first time he played the Muni, but did have a few choice words for a few of the holes. Bottom line, I am used to leaving the flags in. So no worries.

I used to not care, until one tournament round I had recently. I usually just left the pin in, and I had a 6 footer, that I hit well, hardly any break and hit the center of the pin and bounced out. That was for a birdie and I had to instead settle for a par. I have since and will forever pull the pin if I am in a tournament or competitive round. If it's just me and my buddies, we tend to give those putts that carom off the stick as good when we're just out having fun. Sometimes on longer putts that I just intend to lag, I'll leave the flag in to use as a target, my eyes are getting bad.

If I'm on the green, I pull the flag. If not then it stays. Unfortunately my miss for chips is a scull so hitting the flag stick could help lol

I just can’t have it in with putting I just don’t like the look.
But when chipping it has to be in. I find if I pull it for chipping I get to aggressive and drive it passed the hole leaving a long putt

Ditto! I've used MyGolfSpy.com as a source for years and used my own test using a stimpmeter secured to a box. I then, rolled straight putts to a speed to roll 18" past the hole and marked that spot with a pencil on the stimpmeter. That speed would allow the putt to go in on a center roll with the flagstick removed. I rolled putts that would graze the flagstick, miss the flagstick, hit the flagstick dean on. The observations are: 1. if you hit the flagstick, you make 40 to 60% more putts. 2. A putt that is hit too hard for the cup alone to stop the is made almost 85% more with the flagstick in.

My conclusion is, if the ball is not holed with the flagstick in, the putt was hit too hard. Given the flagstick does not add speed to ball, there is no validity to the argument, "the ball would have gone in, if the flagstick was out". Leave the flagstick in, unless it is angled away from you and you cannot take it to a vertical position.