Fixing divots on greens

[colin007]

I don't fix other ppl's anymore... I'm not their servant.

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

[Dave2512]

I fix every one that is still fixable. Actually had the house pro thank me for it.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

So you prefer to just let the course go to hell then?  Your attitude is almost as bad as that of the players who won't repair their own.  Or maybe you have an infirmity that prevents you from bending over more than once per green?

+1

I always fix my own ballmark. If I'm doing well on pace, I will generally fix any others I find. If someone is close behind, I'll usually only fix one or two per green (i.e., just my own, or my own and one other one). If I didn't leave a mark, I still look around for any that are in need of attention.

There's no need to fix every mark on the green, but if most golfers fixed their own plus one other, we'd almost never have problems with ballmarks, even if not everyone bothered. Even if you're conscientious, sometimes it's harder than it should be to find a mark. So just a little bit of "generosity" would cover for the inadvertent missed ones and give us a little defense against hooligans who don't even make an effort.

[Sai-Jin]

Because its come to a point that it doesn't make a difference and I'm just not going to clean up after other ppl ever again. If you like cleaning after other ppls mess, nothing wrong with that. I'm just not going to any more. And won't play that course anymore at this rate. @Zeg, ok, if it's 1 close to mine, yea, I'll do it, but I won't go out of my way anymore for redoing a bunch. Fix 1 or 3 and in a week, there's 20 more feels like. It's useless on this course.

[Sai-Jin]

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

In my book, you are the reason these morons don't take responsibility because you keep cleaning up After their own mess. I pay to play and clean up after my own stuff, not to work for someone else. And you haven't seen me be a douchebag in the highest order, I can show it to you given the chance in real life.

[mdl]

Originally Posted by Sai-Jin

Because its come to a point that it doesn't make a difference and I'm just not going to clean up after other ppl ever again.

If you like cleaning after other ppls mess, nothing wrong with that.

I'm just not going to any more. And won't play that course anymore at this rate.

@Zeg, ok, if it's 1 close to mine, yea, I'll do it, but I won't go out of my way anymore for redoing a bunch. Fix 1 or 3 and in a week, there's 20 more feels like. It's useless on this course.

I disagree with you as others have.  I've said here before I'm not as obsessive as some guys here, pacing the green during all reasonable opportunities scanning for ball marks to fix and fixing 5+ on every green, but it seems lame not to fix ones you do notice even if they're not right next to yours.

But even given you've allowed frustration with ever reappearing dead spots to dissuade you from fixing any ball marks other than your own, you could at least try fixing your buddy's ball marks.  If he just accepts that and thinks, "Nice, my buddy'll do my work for me", then he's even lamer than he sounds and maybe you should look for new golf buddies but at least you're not responsible for bringing someone to the course who's leaving it in worse shape.

But it seems like for most guys at least hearing you explain to others that you're rushing in to fix his mark before he gets there because he refuses to learn to do it right and leaves a big 3 week dead spot behind every time he hits the green might shame him into bothering to start doing it right.

[Dave2512]

I feel fortunate it's not a big problem at our course. Rare to see more than 4-5 fresh marks on any green. Though I suspect it has more to do with lack of skill than anything. Only the par 3's are real bad and most of it is improperly repaired marks. One of the par 5's is kind of marked up. Most guys are hitting a 9i or wedge to get there in 3. Honestly a bigger problem is people not replacing/sanding divots.

[Sai-Jin]

I disagree with you as others have.  I've said here before I'm not as obsessive as some guys here, pacing the green during all reasonable opportunities scanning for ball marks to fix and fixing 5+ on every green, but it seems lame not to fix ones you do notice even if they're not right next to yours. But even given you've allowed frustration with ever reappearing dead spots to dissuade you from fixing any ball marks other than your own, you could at least try fixing your buddy's ball marks.  If he just accepts that and thinks, "Nice, my buddy'll do my work for me", then he's even lamer than he sounds and maybe you should look for new golf buddies but at least you're not responsible for bringing someone to the course who's leaving it in worse shape.   But it seems like for most guys at least hearing you explain to others that you're rushing in to fix his mark before he gets there because he refuses to learn to do it right and leaves a big 3 week dead spot behind every time he hits the green might shame him into bothering to start doing it right.

I hear you on this one and I understand. I'll try to balance it out and not get frustrated too much. Actually I never rush in before my friend to fix his, I just calmly tell him that he has been killing them green. Problem is if I fix his marks, he'd laugh and think I'm a know it all busy body. He also thinks he is a better golfer than me and knows more, which is true... He is a better golfer than me and he is 20 years older. So about his share, it's like damned if I do, damned if I don't. And about other ppl's mess, it's come to the point that I feel like as if I'm cleaning after my children's intentional mess and not letting them learn and take responsibility. But yes, I'll try to calm down and balance it out.

[zeg]

Originally Posted by Sai-Jin

And about other ppl's mess, it's come to the point that I feel like as if I'm cleaning after my children's intentional mess and not letting them learn and take responsibility.

You're thinking about it the wrong way.

When I clean up a ball mark, I'm not doing a favor for the jerk in the group ahead of me who left it.

When I clean up a ball mark, I'm doing a favor for the nice guy in the group behind me. Or maybe for the guy tomorrow, who won't have to try to do an impossible repair on a dried out ballmark.

Fixing the mark does some good. Who do you think you're teaching a lesson by spitefully refusing to invest 10 seconds of your time for the betterment of the course? The guy who left it doesn't care, but the guy who doesn't have to chip through it might be very grateful.

I disagree with the comment above about being a douche, but your attitude here is unjustifiably selfish. It's not so different from the attitude of the guys who don't clean up their own ball marks---after all, nobody else does, so why should they even bother cleaning up after themselves ?

[Goonsidious]

I've played with so many people that "fix" divots the wrong way. I try to bring it up.. but they're usually too busy acting like elitists with all their matching apparel for me to get a word in.

But I then feel like an elitist when I'm walking around the green fixing the divots.. then have people waiting in the fairway or just around thinking.. who does this guy think he is.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by colin007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sai-Jin

I don't fix other ppl's anymore... I'm not their servant.

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

If my group is following yours and you feel the need to do that on every green, I hope you do it really really fast, Actually that sounds like a course I wouldn't care to play.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by colin007

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

Originally Posted by sean_miller

If my group is following yours and you feel the need to do that on every green, I hope you do it really really fast, Actually that sounds like a course I wouldn't care to play.

I do this too, but not in a way that delays play.  I do it while my companions are lining up putts, etc.  I try to repair at least 2 additional pitch marks if I can spot them easily.  I don't take an excessive amount of time or delay play to do so, and I very much doubt that Colin does either.   In my experience, players who care about the course are also concerned with pace of play and other issues of etiquette.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Quote:

Originally Posted by colin007

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

If my group is following yours and you feel the need to do that on every green, I hope you do it really really fast, Actually that sounds like a course I wouldn't care to play.

I do this too, but not in a way that delays play.  I do it while my companions are lining up putts, etc.  I try to repair at least 2 additional pitch marks if I can spot them easily.  I don't take an excessive amount of time or delay play to do so, and I very much doubt that Colin does either.

I doubt it too, but if he had too because the greens were especially pock marked, neither of us would probably want to play there twice anyway.

[Dave2512]

Funny how people make assumptions. When I'm out as a single, which is most of the time, I'm always the one waiting. Even if I tee off and it looks wide open I'll catch up to someone eventually if there's someone to catch. If I don't take time to mess around, including fixing greens and lining up putts like my life depends on it, I'll run over the top of people. I can get though 9 holes in 40-45 minutes if I am riding and the course is clear. If it's not by the 4th or 5th hole I'm catching groups that have been out there for a while. My experience is people don't like to be pushed by singles. You can only play through so many times before there's no place to go.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Quote:

Originally Posted by colin007

In my book, that makes you a douchebag of the highest order. You are part of the problem and are almost as much to blame as the asshat who made the mark in the first place and didn't fix it. I fix as many pitch marks as i see, whether or not i hit the green.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sean_miller

If my group is following yours and you feel the need to do that on every green, I hope you do it really really fast, Actually that sounds like a course I wouldn't care to play.

I do this too, but not in a way that delays play.  I do it while my companions are lining up putts, etc.  I try to repair at least 2 additional pitch marks if I can spot them easily.  I don't take an excessive amount of time or delay play to do so, and I very much doubt that Colin does either.   In my experience, players who care about the course are also concerned with pace of play and other issues of etiquette.

BTW, I'm not sure why you had to multiquote my post when I'd quoted him and included his entire post - nothing taken out of context, but you left out the part I highlighted, which had the effect of taking my post out of context. Just a pet peeve of mine, and certainly not on topic. Carry on.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by sean_miller

BTW, I'm not sure why you had to multiquote my post when I'd quoted him and included his entire post - nothing taken out of context, but you left out the part I highlighted, which had the effect of taking my post out of context. Just a pet peeve of mine, and certainly not on topic. Carry on.

Because when I just use the single quote it doesn't bring in the nested quotes.  Just like this one.

Edit:  I just discovered and unchecked the "remove nested quotes" option.  Never even knew that it existed.  This is the only forum I've ever used with that as a default and I didn't even know it was an option. Erik has done at least 2 or 3 facelifts since I joined, and at one point the nested quotes went away and I never even looked to see if it was a user option.  I like having the option of removing the quotes I want to and just leaving what is pertinent to my reply.  Thanks for making me look it up.

[tomwalshco]

Will try to stay out of the fray...

I play a lot of public courses and many times play with strangers. I truly believe people just don't know any better.  It's not laziness or apathy, it's ignorance. I always fix 2-3 on every green and hope that my behavior rubs off. I keep 8-10 cheapie plastic jobs in my bag all the time and have been asked on many occasions to borrow mine - I just give them one of the spares. $10 for 100 on ebay.

[VMAN]

On my course, when the pins are on the back of the green is when we see the most unrepaired ball marks.

[put hard hat on/]  Typically left by less skilled players who skip the ball in and only ever land on the front of the green and can't be bothered to walk 50' to see if they even made a ball mark.

I just fix the ones I can, when I can.

Overall our course has been making a push for everyone to have a little more ownership in taking care of it...ballmarks, divots, bunkers etc.....and it's better.  There are still people though who can't be bothered to fix a ball mark, put sand in a divot or rake a bunker smooth enough.