ode Again, I find this fascinating. Data that I have seen have shown that balls that hit the pin and miss also miss with the pin out, and stay closer to the hole (thus making the next putt easier).
It amazes me that this question somehow hasn't yet been definitively answered. Give me a stimpmeter, a bunch of golf balls, and about a week and I could tell you everything there is to know about the subject. I would roll thousands of balls at just past the hole speed, two feet past the hole speed, five feet past the hole speed; I would roll them over the right third of the hole, the middle of the hole, and the left side of the hole. Uphillers, downhillers, left breakers and right breakers. I would calculate not just how many went in but the also what the leave was for the putts that missed.
I am inclined to think that leaving the pin in would overall be advantageous for virtually everybody. I think the pin saves people a lot more than it harms them.
Again, it astounds me that somebody hasn't already done an exhaustive study.