Your Personal Ball Mark Repair Policy

[RC]

Please no one take this the wrong way... I have no idea how you repair your ball marks. However, I do see people repair them in a poor way. They stick a tool into the ground and pry the hole up. It is like they are trying to jack up a car or something, prying the ground in the hole up to the surface.

A ball mark has one side compressed more than the other. The right way to repair them is to push the sod back into the depression putting a little more emphasis on the compressed side, but working around the mark. When done correctly, you can barely tell a mark was made (on good greens with normal firmness and moisture, etc.) Just work the sod back toward the center of the mark and tamp it down level.

The "pry up" guys are easy to spot because their ball marks usually have a dirt center scar that sags down in time or shows up the next day as ugly looking marks. A good repair is a thing of beauty.

[23Rounder]

Always repair any obvious plug marks that I see, I don't search the green for them

[tim31x]

i fix mine, and any others i find if it doesn't slow down play. i make an effort to fix any that are in my putting line(obvious) but i tend to leave some big craters when i hit flop shots, and taht drives me crazy enough thinking about my own destruction, i fix as many as i can to get some karma points back haha.

[Smallville]

Please no one take this the wrong way... I have no idea how you repair your ball marks. However, I do see people repair them in a poor way. They stick a tool into the ground and pry the hole up. It is like they are trying to jack up a car or something, prying the ground in the hole up to the surface.

Take your pick (there is a whole page of them at: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=repairing+ball+marks&search;_type=&aq;=f ):

[Guest]

I try to fix all of them that i can without slowing the play down. It doesnt hurt to fix a few extra ball marks while awaiting your turn to putt. What really gets on my nerves is when tournaments are being held at my home course and the people that come to play in it don't even bother to fix their ball marks or divots because its not their home course. Just have some respect and etiquette.

[goblue107501]

I will do all I can find if there is time. Especially those that are near mine or around my line.

[Fat Slice]

Two things really tick me off: Messed up greens and people who don't repair ball marks. I fix all I can without slowing down or distracting anyone else.

[DrivingRangeJunkie]

I play for my high school team and when we I played my first match with them we neither fixed divots or repair ball marks (if there were any, I don't recall seeing any) Needless to say I was quite shocked, because I wanted to do the right thing but nobody else did.

[Fat Slice]

I play for my high school team and when we I played my first match with them we neither fixed divots or repair ball marks (if there were any, I don't recall seeing any) Needless to say I was quite shocked, because I wanted to do the right thing but nobody else did.

Do the right thing and show them the way. At worst, you will know you did the right thing. At best, they'll follow your lead.

[Fraser]

At a minimum, I look diligently to find and repair mine. Then if I happen across any others, I'll fix them. I don't go walking the green looking for pitch marks to repair, though.

+1

I was horrified to play with someone about six weeks who politely scolded me for repairing my own pitchmarks on the basis 'that's what the greenkeepers are for' I continued to repair my own!

[JerseyThursday]

Take your pick (there is a whole page of them at:

In the second video the guy with the runny nose is wrong. You don’t twist the divot repair tool. If you do, you are tearing grass at the roots (you can actually hear it).

[Smallville]

In the second video the guy with the runny nose is wrong. You don’t twist the divot repair tool. If you do, you are tearing grass at the roots (you can actually hear it).

Still better than the way I did it prior to last year. I always did it incorrectly before seeing that first video last year.

[2bGood]

Originally Posted by LottaBalata

I always repair as many as I can with as much time as I have on a particular green. I get really sick of seeing people NOT fix their marks.

I hate to call a particular group out, but on my home course, I notice a lot of the seniors not repairing anything. If you can get around the course for 18, walk on the green and pick up your ball when you're done--you should be able to AT LEAST repair your own ball marks.

At my course the seniors are the best, they always fix everything and even take a few buckets of sand and just putter along divots as they walk. And yes they keep up with the pace of play. Most of these old timers have been member of the club for 30-50years and take great pride in it.

Originally Posted by zeg

I never repair 'em, I figure since I'm wearing jeans and a t-shirt, everyone will assume I have no etiquette anyway, so why bother trying...

One of the courses near me has a bowl of repair tools with a sign stating, "By accepting this free repair tool, you hereby swear to repair your own pitch mark plus two others on each green." Great idea. Sadly, it doesn't seem to work too well as the greens are pretty ratty... but i like the sentiment.

(btw, I was of course kidding -- I repair all my (regrettably rare) pitch marks, and usually at least one other per green)

one public course I played at had sign that read "Divot tools $50 or free if you use them"

[TonyT]

I fix mines and everything that's near. Sometimes I find myself fixing too many and have to limit myself. I haven't found a repair tool that works better than a long tee.

Ps, the right way to fix ball marks is to push in around it and NOT lift it!

[TN94z]

I usually repair any that I see.  I mean, it doesn't really take that long and I am usually waiting on someone anyway.  Our local course lost their greens about 2 years ago and I really do all that I can to keep them looking as good as possible.

[skinsscalper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fraser

At a minimum, I look diligently to find and repair mine. Then if I happen across any others, I'll fix them. I don't go walking the green looking for pitch marks to repair, though.

+1

I was horrified to play with someone about six weeks who politely scolded me for repairing my own pitchmarks on the basis 'that's what the greenkeepers are for' I continued to repair my own!

Your "someone" is an idiot. I applaud you for doing the right thing.

Not only is it important to repair your ballmarks, but the faster the better.

A ball mark that is repaired immediately will begin the recuperation process almost immediately. A ball mark left for a day or more will take aver two weeks to completely repair. An unrepaired ball mark will stick around for well over a month.

Your golf partner is becoming all too common. There are two types of people on a golf course. Golfers and ass-wipes with clubs.

A golfer repairs his ball marks, fills his divots, and rakes his damage in bunkers as a courtesy to the fellow golfers who play behind him. It's called golf etiquette. An ass-wipe with clubs doesn't even understand the concept.

[Aquaguru]

I repair any that I can find without slowing up the group I'm playing with.  I can't stand having to fix 3-4 ball marks in order to putt my line.  I don't see why its so hard to just fix your ball mark, it only takes a second.  Be courteous and respectful to the courses you play.

[bradsul]

I always fix my marks as well. On the rare occasion I see other marks I will fix those too.  The courses I usually play on must have mostly courteous golfers though as I've found unrepaired marks to be fairly rare.

I have had the experience of playing with one of the 'that's the greenskeepers job' people.  When it became clear he wasn't going to repair his mark I asked him if he was going to.  When he replied in the negative I got a pretty nasty look when I bent down and did it for him.  I never got paired up with him after that fortunately; it was not the most enjoyable round I'd had in many other respects.