Pitch mark maintainance

[iWALK18]

How do courses repair pitch marks on greens?

I found myself wondering this a lot yesterday at Saxon Woods. It was so slow I was fixing 3-4 marks on every green (nobody behind me), and I can't imagine the hell it must be to have to go out and fix every mark on every green if its done with the hand-held tool.

[Muttface]

Par Aide makes this pretty cool tool that does a nice job. Don't know if they sell a lot of them. You would think course supers would invest in several of them:

http://www.paraide.com/product_detai...pid=984&cid;=35


This thing is also on the market, perfect for those guys that are too top heavy or otherwise have difficulty bending over. No excuses now.:

http://www.greenfixgolf.com/greenfix-putter-grips.html

[RC]

Hmmm, let me see here. There was a time when every golfer fixed his own pitch marks -- to do otherwise would have been a serious breech of etiquette. Then we fast forward to the time when the phrase, "Fix your pitch mark and one other" was all in vogue. Today we have legions of golfers (I use the term loosely) that surely appear to be completely inconsiderate of other golfers. Is it ignorance of what to do? Is it a "I don't care" attitude? Or, is it a symptom of our culture to leave it to someone else to take care of our misdeeds? I don't know the answer(s).

Yesterday, playing behind a group that was scrambling (a couple of the players were weaker golfers, so I was happy because they played faster doing this) I watched carefully, and saw only one time when their divots were repaired, and I don't think any pitch marks were fixed -- and there were some deep divot gouges grouped in the same place. Playing behind them, we ran out of sand filling divots from two containers in only nine holes, and it was like, "Fix your pitch mark and half a dozen others" on the greens.

These used to be teaching moments, and people would point out to others how to care for the course, but today, we (me included) are "sheeple" and generally avoid taking the time to educate others -- because no matter how politely you may do it, a percentage will be insulted if you do that. I am guilty of simply thinking I don't need the hassle -- but I am also embarassed that I don't speak up more, and that all of us do not do a better job of preserving our game. Don't get me wrong... I have spoken up, and it was a waste of time... the jerks kept doing their inconsiderate things.

I guess I am just getting grumpy lately -- sorry guys. I really like the idea of more people playing golf, but I wish they were more considerate of the course.

[iacas]

  Muttface said:

Par Aide makes this pretty cool tool that does a nice job. Don't know if they sell a lot of them. You would think course supers would invest in several of them:

Perhaps they don't invest in many of them because the site says the second set of four prongs "lifts" the turf. Lifting is what the pros do and it's a horrible way to fix ball marks. It tears the roots.

Superintendents would know that and avoid buying them for that purpose alone. Mine just fixes the few that he finds manually. Or the mower flattens them before it cuts 'em (mostly on other courses).

[Muttface]

  RC said:

Don't get me wrong... I have spoken up, and it was a waste of time... the jerks kept doing their inconsiderate things.

I've gotten tired of these guys too. Most of them seem like decent guys, personable, friendly, not bad...but perhaps a little ignorant or perhaps off in their own world. For some reason ball marks bug me; probably because I agree that it is a manifestation of a once great society sliding rapidly downhill.

If a guy doesn't seem to notice his mark and fix it on his own, I'll usually say something like "...let me get your ball mark for you Bob (or Sam or Pete)..." and proceed to fix it up right in front of them. Seems like the majority of the time they get the hint (and sometimes seem to get embarrassed) and fix subsequent ones on their own.

[boxcar]

I always fix mine and a couple others. so what is the best way to fix a divot? I don't want to say how I do it in case it's wrong.

boxcar

[RemyM]

  boxcar said:

I always fix mine and a couple others. so what is the best way to fix a divot? I don't want to say how I do it in case it's wrong.

http://www.gcsaa.org/solutions/facts/ballmarks.aspx

[iacas]

  boxcar said:

I always fix mine and a couple others. so what is the best way to fix a divot? I don't want to say how I do it in case it's wrong.

http://lakeviewcc.com/turfcare/etiqu...ball_marks.php

[Mr3Putt]

  iacas said:

http://lakeviewcc.com/turfcare/etiqu...ball_marks.php

That

could be IS the best ball mark repair primer I've ever seen! Kudos to your pro for putting it together. I hope he won't mind me linking it and sending it out! Sticky that will ya!

[juanrjackson]

I volunteer on a local muni course n Northern Virginia. One of our responsibilities is to fix ball marks on assigned holes during our shift.

[CarlSpackler]

I was discussing this with a co-worker last week. He said that if he owned a course, he would require anyone who played the course to attend a short class on etiquette. I don't know how well that would be received, but we see a ton of people playing the back tees that have no business there and the greens can look like a pepperoni pizzas.

[juanrjackson]

  CarlSpackler said:

I was discussing this with a co-worker last week. He said that if he owned a course, he would require anyone who played the course to attend a short class on etiquette. I don't know how well that would be received, but we see a ton of people playing the back tees that have no business there and the greens can look like a pepperoni pizzas.

High handicappers playing from the back tees is akin to high handicappers using blades. From reading this forum it seems like a lot of players would rather look like a better golfer (play from the tips with blades) than actually take steps to lower their score.

[tjy355]

  iWALK18 said:

How do courses repair pitch marks on greens?

Fact is, not too many courses have the budget to send a team of workers out to manually fix the pitch marks every day. What happens is the mowers run over them and then there is a dead spot that takes three weeks or so to heal. That is why it is imperative that every golfer fix their pitch marks .

[CarlSpackler]

  tjy355 said:

Fact is, not too many courses have the budget to send a team of workers out to manually fix the pitch marks every day.

I fixed at least 32 yesterday, and several were ones that had been improperly repaired.

[Zeph]

So this tool is not something I should be using? It's a bit thicker than the thin ones, but also the one I get the best grip with of all I've tried. The magnet which holds the marker is also useful.



I've heard many different ways to repair the marks, but was explained the proper way some years ago, the way explained on the Lake View site, have been doing that since. I'm not satisfied until the mark is impossible to see. I've often taken notice of how the pros on the PGA Tour repair their marks with sticking a tee in and moving up some grass. Not exactly the way to teach casual players how to do it.

[iacas]

  Zeph said:

So this tool is not something I should be using? It's a bit thicker than the thin ones, but also the one I get the best grip with of all I've tried. The magnet which holds the marker is also useful.

Probably not, no. The prongs look too thick.

But I think most supers would rather you use the right technique with an imperfect tool than the wrong technique with the perfect tool.

[Marinemike]

Sometimes I can't even figure out which one is mine. I sometimes golf with the 22 to 25 year old scene and most of them just don't know. They are outstanding individuals with impeccable moral compasses, but THEY JUST DON'T KNOW.

So when you see people ahead of you screwing the pooch on course maintenance, approach them about it instead of judging them. It's your prerogative until they tell you to screw off, then it's the ranger's prerogative once you call him.

If I was a manager I would probably have a 10 or 20 minute video that every new guest would have to watch before they were allowed out. It would include instruction on divots, ball marks, and what you can't spit on my greens and bunkers. You don't watch the video, you don't play. The revenue lost from pompous asses who refuse to watch it would probably be made up on the maintainers' time clock.

Perhaps a course can buy properly shaped semi-disposable divot tools cheaply in bulk and keep them available gratis.

[Chubbs]

  Muttface said:

I've gotten tired of these guys too. Most of them seem like decent guys, personable, friendly, not bad...but perhaps a little ignorant or perhaps off in their own world. For some reason ball marks bug me; probably because I agree that it is a manifestation of a once great society sliding rapidly downhill.

I know exactly what you mean, and it really irks me too. I play with one of my best friends often. He's not necessarily a beginner, but by no means that great of a player. He'll hit a ridiculously fat shot off the tee of a par 3, and fill it with the divot filler. But then, he'll get up on the green, pull the flag, and just throw it 5 or 6 feet and it lands on the green. It blows my mind. He also doesn't repair marks, but mostly bc he never hits a green on an approach shot