Virginia Golfer November / December 2014 | Page 13

TOP LEFT: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM; MIDDLE: JOHN MUMMERT/USGA PHOTO ARCHIVES; TOP RIGHT: ISTOCKPHOTO.COM; MICHAEL DODGE/GETTY IMAGES

Stay course conscious by
filling in divots properly.

“It comes down to the individual. If you’re
a golfer, you’re a golfer. You understand what’s
best for your club.”
McDonough suggests one way of educating
golfers is to attach short videos found on the
United States Golf Association website to
monthly club e-mails.
“People might think it’s over the top, but it’s
like anything, you need refreshers to remind
people what is important,” he says.
McDonough recalls being taught a way to
stress the importance of fixing ball marks by
an old-line superintendent 30 years ago.
“He said, when you change the hole
locations, you put them right in the middle
of the worst areas on the greens for ball marks.
When people complain, you say, ‘If you’d fix
them, there wouldn’t be an issue.’ ”
Sounds harsh, but an unrepaired ball mark
can take a couple of weeks to heal, and it
gives Poa annua, a weed grass and the bane of
bentgrass greens, a chance to gain a foothold.
“So many resources go into conditioning
greens. T see them not taken care of properly
o
is pretty frustrating,” says Sain, who offers how
he would like to see a ball mark repaired. “If
there is any ripped turf, remove the ripped
turf then take your putter and tap it flat. Take
some sort of tool (ball repair tool or tee) and
pull it in from the edges. We don’t want people
lifting the center out. Then tap it again.”
As Bayville’s Robinson says, “The important
thing is to smooth the surface and bring the
turf together.”
The greens at Independence have been
converted from bentgrass to Champion
bermudagrass. Taylor’s intent is to have firmer
surfaces, which will yield fewer ball marks.
Here are more tips from the superintendents.

w w w. v s g a . o r g

MIX RESULTS
With regard to divots, fill them with a sandy
mix, then smooth the element out with
your foot. Do not overfill them because t