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Date: 30 Aug 2006 09:26:58
From: warren montgomery
Subject: repairing divots and ballmarks
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Ballmarks should always be repaired, but I suspect the preferred technique
depends on the kind of grass and the thickness of the turf. Someone here
complained about people twisting a marker. I've seen others complain about
trying to lift the center of the depression. Lifting is probably always
bad, but I'm not so sure about twisting -- on a lot of greens around here
with reasonably thin turf growing on mud (not sand), it's often the only way
to force the stuff that was pushed out of the crater back into it. The mark
is going to die in any case and the best you can do is flatten the area so
the green will grow back smoothly. Of course what I really wish we all had
was the gadget that the greens staff has, which simultaneously pulls in the
sides while smashing down on top of it. I've wondered whether something
like that couldn't be incorproated into the top of the flagstick, allowing
players to do a much better job of repair (and avoid having to empty a
pocket of balls, coins, and tees just to get the ballmark tool which always
manages to fall to the bottom of that mess).
Likewise I think the treatment of divots depends on the nature of the divot
and the turf, and it's not as simple as one fix for Bermuda and one for
everything else. A lot of public courses in the north have fairways that
are just plain old grass closely mowed. The ball usually sits on a cushion
of grass at least half an inch above the surface of the turf. That means
that even an iron hit with a descending blow is likely to mainly just skim
the surface of the actual turf, not take out a clean piece of sod. The
stuff that comes out is all top growth that has been severed from the roots.
It almost never re-roots, so the divot heals by growing new grass from the
roots. Does coverin them with a dying hunk of grass really help? I replace
any divot that holds together, but I sometimes wonder whether I'm doing more
harm than good.
--
Warren Montgomery (wamontgomery@att.net)
http://home.att.net/~wamontgomery
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Date: 30 Aug 2006 14:49:01
From: Howard U. Dewing
Subject: Re: repairing divots and ballmarks
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warren montgomery wrote:
Does coverin them with a dying hunk of grass really help? I replace
> any divot that holds together, but I sometimes wonder whether I'm doing more
> harm than good.
>
In Alberta, the divots always die, but I put 'em back so there's not a
big hole where the next guy's ball will land. I'm constantly amazed at
the real estate that gets excavated in places (usually the soft, well
maintained courses) that are left, dirt side up, laying on the ground 5
feet from the crater.
--
Howard U. Dewing
I made up this name. It was a choice between this and Watson deMehneux.
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Date: 30 Aug 2006 19:46:27
From: Dave Clary
Subject: Re: repairing divots and ballmarks
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On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:49:01 GMT, "Howard U. Dewing"
<sample@sample.net > wrote:
>In Alberta, the divots always die, but I put 'em back so there's not a
>big hole where the next guy's ball will land. I'm constantly amazed at
>the real estate that gets excavated in places (usually the soft, well
>maintained courses) that are left, dirt side up, laying on the ground 5
>feet from the crater.
Replacing divots is not something I have a lot of experience with
since I play on bermuda growing in sandy soil. There ain't nuthin'
left to replace!!
Dave Clary/Corpus Christi, Tx
Home: http://davidclary.com
Kinky for Texas Gov
"Why The Hell Not"
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