Ball Mark Repair Thread

[Cleveland Gunmetal]

Pros do not do it right. They do it the lazy way. The bad way. They won't be playing there after 1, 2, or 3 more days so what do they care if they've pockmarked all the greens with their improper methods.

Haha... I get a kick out of the pros "fixing" their ball marks. It's just for show. They'll lean over and take one or two jabs at the green with a tee and that's about it.

[niblick]

This is one of my pet peeves. I end up playing alot of shorter, cheaper courses because of time constraints, and those places attract alot of new golfers. I frequently have to fix 7 or 8 ball marks before leaving the green! Fixing my own, if I've made one, is a forgone conclusion. It's so irresponsible to leave them unrepaired - drives me nuts. It's like my kids leaving messes around the house or something.

[Harp]

i've been playing with the same divot tool for almost 10 years and somehow i managed to lose it last round. for the last hour i've been scouring the internet trying to find a similar one, but to no avail. it looks like a very very basic tool, but it has a pocket clip. everything i find with a clip is meant for a hat and is too thick for my pocket, or it has a ball marker attached. it looks similar to this, but with a small pocket clip.




it looks like the scotty pivot tool is going to be the closest i can get. stupid post, i know...but any help would be great.

[Ignorant]

i've been playing with the same divot tool for almost 10 years and somehow i managed to lose it last round. for the last hour i've been scouring the internet trying to find a similar one, but to no avail. it looks like a very very basic tool, but it has a pocket clip. everything i find with a clip is meant for a hat and is too thick for my pocket, or it has a ball marker attached. it looks similar to this, but with a small pocket clip.

I wonder why that is called a 'divot tool'. After all, it is used to repair pitch-marks / ball marks and not divots. Can anybody explain?

[Blades4me]

Having gone thru the divot tool frame of mind I've found that tee's work the best for repairing ball marks, if you repair the ball mark correctly. Its amazing how many ppl seem clueless about the proper way to repair ball marks; well that is of course if the person actually repairs their or others ball mark(s) which seems to be as lost an art as raking bunkers after hitting out of them. Sorry about the short rant, but it really iritates me.

[Zeph]

Using a tee is not good enough, a tool with thin prongs is the best. A tee is too thick and you won't be able to repair the green properly.
I've tried to find a good tool with thin and sharp prongs, but didn't find anything. What I use today is a modified Taylormade tool. It's pretty much the same, but I've grinded down the prongs, making them slender and thin. I repair a pitch mark like illustrated on the website below and smooth it out with the putter, works great.

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

As to why it's called divot tool, I'm not sure. A divot is a piece of turf, the one we should take when hitting balls. A ball coming into the green does actually create a tiny divot, but you don't repair that, you repair the pitch mark.

Pitch mark tool would be a better name imo.

[Chief Broom]

Somewhat off topic, but about divot tools...

Didn't you used to get a divot tool when you bought a Cameron putter? Wasn't that part of the deal? Didn't the old SC headcovers come with a slot for the tool?

[Fourputt]

I wonder why that is called a 'divot tool'. After all, it is used to repair pitch-marks / ball marks and not divots. Can anybody explain?

I call it a green repair tool.

I'm with Zeph. A tee is NOT the proper tool for the job. To do the job right a tool needs flat tines like the one in the picture OP displayed. Any tool with round or roundish tines just slips through the turf, doesn't grab it and pull it toward the middle. A tee just tears the turf and does a very poor job of repairing the damage (still better than not doing it at all).

[sean_miller]

. . . I've found that tee's work the best for repairing ball marks, if you repair the ball mark correctly. Its amazing how many ppl seem clueless about the proper way to repair ball marks

I agree (sort of). Although some repair tools are better, people always tend to have at least one tee with them, so why not learn to fix a ball mark with one? It's just a matter of practice - ask someone who cuts the greens how to fix a ball mark (with a tee or a specially designed pitch mark tool) and they'll be your new best friend. I didn't mean for that to sound creepy, whatever.

I wonder why that is called a 'divot tool'. After all, it is used to repair pitch-marks / ball marks and not divots. Can anybody explain?

I've always called them "ball mark repairers". The term doesn't roll off the tongue, but it's accurate.

[Old School]

I have a couple like this (but no pocket clip) and I got them from Roger Dunn in Santa Ana. They blue anodized aluminum and I've got one that is bent a a few that are flat.

[Ben]

Having gone thru the divot tool frame of mind I've found that tee's work the best for repairing ball marks, if you repair the ball mark correctly.

Dude, I'm right there with you. Tees are perfect. Up until a year ago I had been using the same divot tool since 1995. I got it from a course I worked on in Japan. Sadly, I lost it. After countless attempts at trying to find a suitable new tool I rediscovered tees. Funny thing is, when I think back to what I used before the Japan course's tool, I used tees.

To those that don't agree on the tee, you must have seen some brutes with no touch. Ball mark repair is an art in itself. Tee, traditional tool, or custom tool, in the wrong hands, a bad repair job is a bad repair job.

[Shorty]

To those that don't agree on the tee, you must have seen some brutes with no touch. Ball mark repair is an art in itself. Tee, traditional tool, or custom tool, in the wrong hands, a bad repair job is a bad repair job.

And in my opinion, the worst and most inefficient pitch mark repair tool is the Scotty Cameron Pivot tool. The one that came with my OGIO bag is fantastic.

[Clambake]

Dude, I'm right there with you. Tees are perfect. ......

No, they aren't. It may be "perfect" for you, but not for the turf. Agronomists have long suggested that a tee creates root damage during a repair, and a study by agronomy professors at Purdue, published in "Applied Turfgrass Science" (I'll bet that journal is exciting reading!) verified these concerns. The study showed that repairs using tradition repair tools recovered to acceptable levels within 10 days after being repaired while those repaired with a golf tee and unrepaired ball marks reached acceptable levels after 21 days.

YOU may think the tee is perfect, but the damage it causes the turf is no better than no repair at all. Follow the science, people....use a proper tool and learn to use it correctly!!!!

[Ben]

No, they aren't. It may be "perfect" for you, but not for the turf. Agronomists have long suggested that a tee creates root damage during a repair, and a study by agronomy professors at Purdue, published in "Applied Turfgrass Science" (I'll bet that journal is exciting reading!) verified these concerns. The study showed that repairs using tradition repair tools recovered to acceptable levels within 10 days after being repaired while those repaired with a

In both circumstances, with a tee or repair tool, the green "reached acceptable levels" or recovery. One just slower then the other. "Right" or "wrong" comes from the process of repair, not the tool of repair.

With your logic, what do you suppose punching a green for aerification does to the roots?

[ukalum]

I have a few of those tools, but without a clip. They are good, but I prefer the larger tools. If you want them, they're yours.

[Clambake]

In both circumstances, with a tee or repair tool, the green "reached acceptable levels" or recovery. One just slower then the other. "Right" or "wrong" comes from the process of repair, not the tool of repair.

Geez, which green would you rather play on, the one that eventually healed in 3 weeks or the one that was healed in less than half the time? Your argument that it is the only the process and not the tool is absolutetly incorrect. Yes, a tee isn't going to kill all the grass on the green, but the science has demonstrated that a proper tool used properly is far better than a tee used with a proper process. Why are you so ignorant as to ignore this??????

[Ben]

Your argument that it is the only the process and not the tool is absolutetly incorrect.

Says you. We could go back and forth on this arguement all day. I'm not going to change your attitude, you aren't going to change mine.

Why are you so ignorant as to ignore this??????

Because I konw how to properly fix a ball mark with a tee.

[Fozcycle]

I got one from Koviss last year at the PGA Tour Golf Show in Orlando......it's a two pronged switchblade type.

Using it correctly minimizes the damage to the roots.....