How To Properly Repair Ball Marks

[LightsOut]

I use a tee and poke it repeatedly around the ball mark at a 45 degree angle.  This fluffs up the indentation in the green. Then a quick tamp with the putter and it's like it was never there.

[leftybutnotPM]

On 5/4/2019 at 12:36 AM, Arafat said:

You are not allowed to repair spike marks, 

OMG

[iacas]

9 hours ago, LightsOut said:

I use a tee and poke it repeatedly around the ball mark at a 45 degree angle.  This fluffs up the indentation in the green. Then a quick tamp with the putter and it's like it was never there.

Please read the OP. Just poking a tee in doesn't really do it correctly. You have to push the dirt toward the middle more than that will tend to do.

[LightsOut]

1 minute ago, iacas said:

Please read the OP. Just poking a tee in doesn't really do it correctly. You have to push the dirt toward the middle more than that will tend to do.

Ah.  I see you just want to disagree with everything I post.  I play these courses regularly and even check my repairs from previous rounds to see how they're doing.  I often can't even find them just a couple days later.  Ever consider that different soils and grasses may respond well to this method?  

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, LightsOut said:

Ah.  I see you just want to disagree with everything I post.

No, not by rule. I disagree with things that I disagree with… regardless of who posts them.

The OP is from a superintendent. He knows a bit more about repairing ball marks than you (or I) do. Just pushing a tee in at 45° is not the way he recommends.

So, again, I suggest you read the OP.

[LightsOut]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

No, not by rule. I disagree with things that I disagree with… regardless of who posts them.

The OP is from a superintendent. He knows a bit more about repairing ball marks than you (or I) do. Just pushing a tee in at 45° is not the way he recommends.

So, again, I suggest you read the OP.

So an effective method should be disregarded if it isn't written in some obscure document.  Got it.  Learned that little trick from a landscape architect, by the way.  

[iacas]

1 minute ago, LightsOut said:

So an effective method should be disregarded if it isn't written in some obscure document.  Got it.  Learned that little trick from a landscape architect, by the way.  

Huh? An "obscure document"? It's an article - and a graphic - from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America.

And… I suggest your method should be disregarded because it doesn't work as well.

But hey, man, ultimately so long as you're not playing the same courses I'm playing - and you're not - I really don't care what you do. All I can do is put out good information. It's up to you to ultimately make the choice as to what you do.

Crack on.

[Zippo]

I was of the old school "poke and lift" pitch mark repairer but have reformed my ways having seen the OP video and learning to do it correctly. It is easy and quick and makes the ball mark virtually disappear. I also passed a link to the video on to my friend who also now uses it to repair ball marks. One of the golf courses I played recently had the same instruction on a sticker in their carts. I always try to leave the course in better shape than I found it and I'm glad to have learned this tip. Thanks.

[Killa]

I was told how to repair the pitch marks in my introduction to golf course. It was the same method seen in the video so I learned it right from the get go. 

[iacas]

 

[OMGolf]

Those bent tools like you have in your picture are IMO terrible for fixing ball marks correctly and encourage the "pop-up" thing that most people do. The tines are way too close together for me. The Pitch-Fix tool is very nice for a good fast repair. I also repair a lot of improperly "repaired" marks.

Thanks for mentioning this issue.

[iacas]

41 minutes ago, OMGolf said:

Those bent tools like you have in your picture are IMO terrible for fixing ball marks correctly and encourage the "pop-up" thing that most people do. The tines are way too close together for me. The Pitch-Fix tool is very nice for a good fast repair. I also repair a lot of improperly "repaired" marks.

I disagree, the superintendent in the video disagrees, and… the GCSAA seems to disagree, based on the graphic they created that's in the OP.

[OMGolf]

If your method works for you, great. I like the wider tines because each twist stretches the green better. 3 or 4 twists max and I'm done - nice clean fix.

[DaveP043]

I actually have a Pitchfix with the two tines, and I feel like they're too widely spaced for some grass conditions.  If used correctly, the cheap angled "giveaway" devices work well in pretty much every grass situation.  You might be interested to read reviews of the Pitchfix products here:

 

[ForcedCarry21]

18 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I actually have a Pitchfix with the two tines, and I feel like they're too widely spaced for some grass conditions.  If used correctly, the cheap angled "giveaway" devices work well in pretty much every grass situation.  You might be interested to read reviews of the Pitchfix products here:

 

Those cheap plastic pitch fixers are some of the best around. Quick and to the point. I have an old one that my buddy got me from Winged Foot while he was working there that has absolutely been through the ringer.

[pganapathy]

I remember reading on one of the courses I played that a study done by the PGA found that pitch marks repaired within 5 or 10 minutes (not sure which) would be fully fixed within 24 hours, while taking longer than that meant a week minimum.  So guys, please learn the correct pitch repair technique and repair your pitch marks ASAP

[iacas]

 

[Bonvivant]

Just saw P. Reed popping grass up on #3. You should give him a lesson.