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Divots and pitch marks

This problem is as old as golf. There will always be those to lazy to bend over and fix their pitch marks and divots. I just fix em and move one.
 
HoosierGolfer said:
This problem is as old as golf. There will always be those to lazy to bend over and fix their pitch marks and divots. I just fix em and move one.
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100% agree with you. I don't think this problem will ever go away in this game. Does it drive me crazy?? Very much so but it will always be a problem. I fix as many as I can on every green, my home course or not.


Tapaway!
 
I too enjoy fixing my pitch marks with my Mark Mender tool. But I also have a question. Last season I hit a hot knock down 4 iron from under a tree from about 110 yards. It hit the green and ripped about a 6 inch gash (then slid off the back). Is there any type of repair for that? or just let it go?
 
Which tool or even using a tee doesn't matter as long as you do it correctly. How someone smart enough and dedicated enough to learn to hit a golf ball well enough to even make a mark on a green can't be smart enough or have enough energy to fix it afterwards is a mystery to me.
 
I bet those so-called "Members" will fix a mark if it's their line.

IMO, I think you need to show the starter that you can successfully repair a mark before teeing off. If you can't do it correctly, then the starter should show you. Nothing is more aggravating than seeing a green that is not taken care of.
 
I belong to a private club and I bet I fix around 5 ball marks on every green every time I play. The greens crew does take very good care of the course and I think a good bit of the members think thats their job. This is another pet peeve of mine.
 
On a similar theme I received this email off the club captain this morning:

Dear Fellow Member, I am sending this e-mail as I am incensed by the actions of someone or more people, almost certainly members, who have desecrated our course by their selfish practicing in the middle of the second fairway some 50 yards from the green. At this spot some 50 or so balls have been hit on to the green, each taking a divot, leaving a mutilated area of approximately one square yard.
Apart from the fact that this is specifically prohibited in our rules the fact that any supposedgolfer can behave in such a manner and inflict such damage on a course that has given us so much pleasure and enjoyment in the last year beggars belief.
I am sure all of us would be keen to identify the perpetrators. I played on Wednesday morning and there was no damage. I discovered the damage as one of the first golfers on Saturday morning.Can anyone who played between these dates provide any information about whether they saw peoplepracticing on the course or can they help in narrowing the time it happened by confirming theyplayed in this time scale and either did or did not see any damage. Believe me it is large enoughnot to miss if you walked anywhere near the middle of the second fairway between the cross bunker and the green.


Wasn't me!!! I really can't see it being a member though
 
One of our Minneapolis courses has a 9 hole par 3 and a 18 hole and it always seems like the 9 hole, even though used by new golfers and older folks, the greens (that are in good shape not water logged and shaded) are always better than the 18 hole course. Granted 25,000 less rounds are played on the 9 hole.
 
I played at Hawks Landing in Orlando, which is a Marriot course, and full of tourists. It was in great shape, in everyway, except it was pockmarked with unfixed ball marks. I feel so bad for the greenskeeper seeing all of his hard work set back by idiots who refuse to bend over. When we were both the first tee time of the day, and the last tee time of the day (they were doing fertilizing in the afternoon, so we got off when the frost lifted at 9:45 and again at 1:50), and the difference was huge. Between people dragging their feet and not fixing ball marks, it was a huge difference in green quality. I could see the maitenance workers going behind us and fixing ball marks, that shouldn't be their job. I was fixing 2 or 3 a hole and it just wasn't nearly enough.
 
I still don't get why this is the case. I played a very nice course a couple weeks ago, Auburn Valley GC, and there certainly weren't any ball marks. At least not that you notice. That course was pretty mint though. My home course which is a muni, they're usually minefields. Add all the marks to the bumpy Poa and it's very tough to make a putt. My brother was a greenskeeper for about 5 years, so he and I are always fixing as many as we can on every green.
 
Very good article! I had been doing it almost right, so it helped this golfer. All the marks I fixed today were much better doing the twist.
 
To me, fixing pitch marks is a matter of pride. Pitch marks usually mean GIR's and a low score! One of the guys I play with is so compulsive about divots he goes through many bottles of sand mix every round. Can't go more than 10 steps without seeing something that needs filled in. We joke that the greens keeper should pay him to play.
 
This is the first year I've ever really played winter golf. Played 18 today and went to fix my ball mark on one of the greens and noticed that the ground was frozen about 1/4 inch below the surface. Wasn't really sure how to fix the ball mark since I couldn't get the tee into the ground. So, I tried to tap it down with my putter the best i could.
 
it's sad to see that so many people dont respect the course and the game. for every one of my pitch marks i try and fix two depending on the speed of play and with the divots i i do the same most of the carts (electric and pull) have a sod and sand mixture attached in a small container and they have free divot tools there is no excuse just lazy. drives me nuts
 
I completely agree. It is disrespectful to fellow members, grounds crew, and public (I play at a semi-private course). I strongly believe in etiquette and taking care of the course/environment.
 
Many years ago a club where I played went from semi-private, allowing public play, to private where only members and guests were welcome.

Strangely, the number of unrepaired pitchmarks on the greens seemed to increase. The club started an "adopt-a-green" policy where players whose last name started wit a particular letter were asked to fix ball marks on a specific green in addition to fixing their own as usual. It helped some but it was curious that members seemed to take green maintenance for granted even more than public players.
 
I always am very careful to maintain the course and I actively will go out of my way to help on the greens. It's just the least I feel that I can do.


Steel Tappin'
 
Last summer I decided I would play a round by myself and see how many ball marks and divots I could fix. Not go out of my way at all, just walking down the fairway and on the green fix what I see. 42 divots and 77 ball marks. Annoys the hell out of me that people can't fix them. If you have no respect for the game you shouldn't be playing.
 
TheIcemann said:
Last summer I decided I would play a round by myself and see how many ball marks and divots I could fix. Not go out of my way at all, just walking down the fairway and on the green fix what I see. 42 divots and 77 ball marks. Annoys the hell out of me that people can't fix them. If you have no respect for the game you shouldn't be playing.
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You figure that's enough pitch marks for 4 entire courses plus some! Ridiculous!
 
Same stuff goes on here. It is sad and disrespectful of other golfers for sure. If I am waiting on the green for any reason I pull out my repair tool and get to work.

A lot of courses could take a hint from here too: http://www.greensave.com/promoterepair.htm

Promotion by the golf course itself seems to be a key point. One of the places I used to play a weekly round at used to hand you a ball mark repair tool with your scorecard. The person at the till would ask if you knew how to use it, and the staff on the course were pretty retentive about making sure you used it too. The greens there were always in great shape.

As for sand for filling divots, the last place I saw one on a cart someone had used it for an ashtray, apparently it needed instructions on it....
 
Yea it really sucks. Having worked at a golf course it really sucked when people did that.
 
It's not just public courses either. I have been on some nice country club courses that have members who must think it's the staffs job to clean up there ball marks for them. I always try to leave the green in better shape than I found it.
 
Biggest pet peeve.....smashing a great drive, walking down the fairway to find my second shot is from Beijing because some dolt left a divot all the way to China. Or the guy who thinks he knows everything fixing a ball mark on the green by inserting the divot tool and pushing down on the handle to lift the grass UP! ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!
 
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