Repairing Pitchmarks

News on the Fairways : Repairing Pitchmarks

Repairing Pitchmarks

As a new season begins and the hours of daylight continue to increase, this inevitably leads to more pitchmarks being left on the greens. 

Besides being aesthetically displeasing, from a golfing perspective, pitchmarks can affect ball roll and cause a player’s putt to bobble and deviate offline. A recent statistic shows that on average, a golfer will make 8 pitchmarks during a round of golf. If 130 rounds are played per day, that’s over 1,000 pitchmarks per week; no surprise then that it can be difficult to hole a putt!

It’s essential that all players are diligent in their repair of pitchmarks on greens. A correctly repaired pitchmark will recover in 24 hours. A pitchmark not repaired and left unattended for two hours will take up to two months to recover. Unrepaired pitchmarks also foster disease and infections in the green.

When it comes to repairing pitchmarks there is a right way to repair that really aids their recovery. Simply, you should take your ball mark repair tool and insert the prongs into the turf at the edge of the depression. Do NOT insert the prongs into the depression itself, but at the rim of the depression. Then push the edge of the ball mark toward the centre, using your ball mark repair tool in a gentle twisting motion. Do not insert and attempt to push up the depression as this only leads to tearing the root and killing the grass. (See diagram)

 
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