Is taking a divot on practice swing ok?

[Patch]

I don't do it, and I don't really take that many during my scoring swings. Some of the courses I play are  too firm to be divot friendly as it is.  However, far be it from me to to tell anyone how to act on the course. I would just hope practice swing divots would be treated the same as scoring swing divots. That being they are properly repaired.

[Lihu]

If everyone started taking divots on their practice swings, the number of divot holes would in theory double. Ideally as far as the course management (the grass) goes, we shouldn't be taking divots, but the design of the clubs means it's the most effective way to hit the ball. Since we can't get rid of that, we should at least limit the divots to as few as possible.

The grounds keepers need to repair the grass anyway, so fixing something half the size isn't going to really save them that much time.

I usually pick up my divots and put them back in and stomp them back for the golfers behind me so they don't need to hit from inside one. My divots are usually not too deep, anyway, and are anywhere from topping off the grass to a light amount of dirt. I agree that taking beaver pelts is not desirable even on a swing.

The main reason I care about not leaving divot marks is so that the golfers behind me don't have to hit from them.

[David in FL]

The main reason I care about not leaving divot marks is so that the golfers behind me don't have to hit from them.

Thank you! :-)

[mvmac]

I like to brush the grass on my practice swings.

[Zeph]

The grounds keepers need to repair the grass anyway, so fixing something half the size isn't going to really save them that much time.

I usually pick up my divots and put them back in and stomp them back for the golfers behind me so they don't need to hit from inside one. My divots are usually not too deep, anyway, and are anywhere from topping off the grass to a light amount of dirt. I agree that taking beaver pelts is not desirable even on a swing.

The main reason I care about not leaving divot marks is so that the golfers behind me don't have to hit from them.

The divot may look good when you first put it down, but after a few weeks the grass has dried up and maybe even blown away, leaving the divot hole there. I also have a feeling that those taking divots on practice swings are maybe not the ones that are not too concerned about replacing divots. There are also shots where the divot just get smashed up into a spray of dirt and there is nothing to replace.

[whatwoodtigerdo]

Before each shot I take one practice shot. This helps my muscle memory get a feel for the club and distance to the ball/ground, etc.. When I am able to brush the ground or take a divot on the practice swing my actual shot tends to be good. If I miss the ground on the practice shot and then proceed with the actual shot, it is usually not a good shot. I am concerned about violating etiquette by taking divots on the practice swing, but I also want to hit a good shot. Thoughts on this?

Probably not a good idea. You need to engrain the swing on the range. I don't even take practice swings unless I am waiting and even then they are rare. Now on a regular swing for sure. I will take a huge divot right in front of a groundskeeper. Don't care. But I will fill it if they provide me sand. It's the way I play the game and is completely acceptable. I don't care what they think. On a side note even on the range you need to make sure you know how to hit. Which is as far right, if you are a righty, as you can get and place each ball right behind the previous divot forming a divot line. Then if you need to start a new line leave a small piece of grass in between the old line and your new line and repeat. Nobody wants to have to work around a mine field of divots to find a stance.

[Slice of Life]

If I take a divot on a practice swing, I'm backing away and taking a deep breath because something went wrong lol.

I typically do a 50% swing just brushing the grass.

[Lihu]

The divot may look good when you first put it down, but after a few weeks the grass has dried up and maybe even blown away, leaving the divot hole there. I also have a feeling that those taking divots on practice swings are maybe not the ones that are not too concerned about replacing divots. There are also shots where the divot just get smashed up into a spray of dirt and there is nothing to replace.

I've never seen divots take weeks to repair, so that's why I've adopted this method. The main thing is to eliminate the edges, I can hit off dirt but not out of divots easily. Even shallow ones cost GIR.

[vangator]

I usually brush the grass also. In Florida we fill divots with sand. Never replace a divot unless it looks like a side of beef. I'm a divot filler. I never return a cart with sand. I fill my divot plus several others on each hole. When I walk I have two sand bottles that I fill every hole. I also replace every ball mark I find on a green. That can be over 10 a hole sometimes. I put a root on those who don't repair ball marks.

[baw1]

UPDATE:

I played today and made a conscious effort NOT to take any divots on practice shots (assuming they were in fairway or off the tee on par-3s). With the exception of one time, I was successful in keeping the club out of the ground and just "brushing". However, some of my iron shots were not great. Gonna keep working on this.

[nick1998bunker]

Up until recently I would piously take a practice swing that was an exact replica of what I wanted, flying discus divot and all. But the last few months I've had no problem just waggling the club a little

[Golfingdad]

I've never done it ... except on accident.  I don't think it's kosher or necessary.

[Pretzel]

For me the divot vs no divot on the practice swing is not something I focus on. I just try to get a specific feel from my practice swing, which sometimes means taking a divot. Even as someone who works on the grounds crew, it doesn't bother me as long as I'm not purposefully carving up turf. If I'm hitting a punch shot, chances are the practice swing will take a bit of a divot. If I'm hitting some other shot, I might not even end up touching the head with the practice swing.

[Zeph]

I've never seen divots take weeks to repair, so that's why I've adopted this method.

The main thing is to eliminate the edges, I can hit off dirt but not out of divots easily. Even shallow ones cost GIR.

Maybe not weeks, but a loose piece of soil will quickly dry out and can make it's way out of the divot hole before the ground below has healed. Someone walks over it, drives over it or the wind blows it away.

There are probably differences based on the type of ground, grass, heat, wind, humidity etc, but on warm summer days, the loose divots can quickly dry out. Probably a bigger issue in some areas or courses than others, but I've seen lots of dried out divots lying around.

[Lihu]

Maybe not weeks, but a loose piece of soil will quickly dry out and can make it's way out of the divot hole before the ground below has healed. Someone walks over it, drives over it or the wind blows it away. There are probably differences based on the type of ground, grass, heat, wind, humidity etc, but on warm summer days, the loose divots can quickly dry out. Probably a bigger issue in some areas or courses than others, but I've seen lots of dried out divots lying around.

I used to loop around on a course on the front or back 9, with permission of course, and inevitably I could end up in my own divot. I did, and wondered what jerk left a divot not filled or in stomped? WTF, it was me! After this, I decided to stomp out my divots, literally. I would press and fill anything i felt I couldn't hit out. BTW, as I was playing a practice round yesterday, I was more conscious of my practice swings and noticed that don't usually leave divots, and I didn't do it once yesterday. I do do it, but the frequency is a bit less than I remember.