Many issues are completely different at Augusta National, together with ball-mark repair.
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“There are a lot of ways to get it done,” golf instructors usually say, referring to the undeniable fact that completely different swings can yield the similar fascinating outcomes.
Superintendents aren’t fairly as lax, at the least when it involves the necessities of turf science. But they do permit some latitude with DIY course care.
Take bunker raking. Left-handed. Right-handed. Pushing. Pulling. While some strategies are extra environment friendly than others, nobody’s actually going to quibble over how you employ the rake, as long as you’re taking time to easy issues over.
Something related applies to ball-mark repair.
The typical technique, sanctioned by the USGA, is to insert a divot-repair software (or a tee, or pencil or another pointy object) into the floor at the bottom of the mark, and pull the turf gently towards the center, working round the total mark till the crater is crammed in, after which tamp down calmly on it along with your putter.
That’ll do the trick.
And but, to borrow from the swing gurus, there’s a couple of method to get it performed.
That level was broadly publicized this previous summer season, when the PGA Tour veteran Ben Crane posted a video on social media during which he demonstrated how ball marks get repaired at Augusta National: that’s, by inserting the tee in the heart of the mark and dealing outward.
If it’s ok for Augusta, does that imply it is the best method?
Jim Myers is a giant fan of it.
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Myers, a longtime member of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, is the tremendous at Columbia Edgewater Country Club, in Portland, which hosts the Portland Classic, an annual occasion on the LPGA Tour.
While fixing ball marks is essential all through the 12 months at his membership, Myers says, it’s particularly so in the winter, when turf takes longer to get well.
In his conversations with Columbia Edgewater members, Myers recommends the Crane/Augusta technique, beginning in the heart of the mark and dealing outwards, although he’s acquired no gripes with golfers who do it the different method round.
“The important part is not to pull up and tear the roots, which kills the grass” Myers says. “When you see a bunch of brown dots on a green, you know that’s what has happened. And in the winter, around here, that damage can take months to heal.”
Across the nation, in Florida, veteran superintendent Mark Patterson has it simpler this time of 12 months. The Bermuda on the greens at his two programs — Legacy Golf Club at Lakewood Ranch and Serenoa Golf Club — thrives all through the winter in the Sunshine State. It grows quick and recovers rapidly.
“Still, when it comes to repairing ball marks,” Patterson says, “we want to encourage every golfer to do at least something.”
Patterson is essentially agnostic on the technique. Like Myers, he is aware of {that a} inexperienced’s capability to get well relies upon partially on turf sorts and time of 12 months.
“On healthy Bermuda, almost anything will work,” Patterson says of the completely different repairing strategies. “But during stressful times, the less damage you can do the better.”
With that in thoughts, we requested Patterson to display correct and improper ball-mark repair strategies (which you watch in the video above).
“I don’t want to call any method wrong,” Patterson says. “Because, really, doing something is better than doing nothing at all.”
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