[Tommy Williamsen]

My home course just changed the ball mark tool.  It has prongs about a half inch long.  They say it does not damage the root system.    It took a while to get used to it but it works well.  Does it really make a difference?

[Mike Nuzzo]

http://green-repair-tool.com/

They had a turf study done by a univ.
It makes sense.
I haven't broken in the ones on my desk yet.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Thanks Mike.  That's it. What a web site.  I am always amazed at the knowledge you guys have.

[David Stamm]

Tommy, I believe it's the Green Fix repair tool. I tried one while playing one day. It's a little different to use, but you get used to it real fast. It worked pretty well and you would actually have to try to screw it up.

[Tommy Williamsen]

I renamed the thread.  Thanks.

[Greg Holland]

There have been a couple of threads on this.  My club switched to it about 2 years ago.  I'm not sure if it was the education that came with it (they played a video non-stop for a month or so in the pro shops and gave every one a tool with the simple instructions) which yielded more people repairing their marks or if it just works better, but our greens are definately improved since we switched.  It is easy to use as well.

[Daryl "Turboe" Boe]

On my golf orgy this week I noticed that Flint Hills National, and Karsten Creek have gone to these same systems, and some are asking that you only use that type of tool on their greens.   Also Muirfield Village has gone to an alternate type of tool (more on that later).

If they do heal faster, then that is great, but I noticed on several occasions that when trying to fix a fairly deep or large ball mark that I seemed to do more harm than I would have normally with my trusty tool.  And I must not be alone, because there were a few atrocious attempts at fixing some marks that seemed to be in my putting line.  

Again if they really heal better and faster great, I hope it isnt just some guys marketing video and website that make these claims.  

I got one of these at the PGA show a couple years ago, and promptly threw it away after a couple rounds.  However since I had to use it a few times this week, and since it seems to be a trend (I finally succumed to soft spikes after a couple years as well), I actually used it today in a round where it wasnt the "tool of choice" for the course.

I guess I could be converted if it really is that significant of a difference.

Now to Muirfield's new tool of choice.  It is basically a tee like tip with a fancier handle end than using a plain tee.  I guess what is old is new again.




http://www.pitchprogolf.com/

It works very nicely, but then again half the time I just normally use a tee anyway so its not that much difference.  

I think all the knocks against the normal divot tool in both instances stem from people not using them correctly anyway, and if you dont pry up the roots like I see alot of people doing I think it would all be OK anyway.

I will be interested to see which of these items catch on, and if they become the norm.  The "Green Fix" version certainily has a little more learning curve.  I noticed someone this week trying to use it with a standard divot tool motion, and that doesnt cut it.

[Mat Dunmyer]

Glad to see discussion on subject matter that seems to overlooked by many golfers. It's amazing to see what a small bit of education can do for something as simple as fixing a ball mark.

[Dan Herrmann]

Good clip on the subject:  http://www.usga.org/turf/articles/video/source/downloads/Repairing_Ball_Marks.zip

[Jimmy Muratt]

My club has used these for a while with mixed results.  I find them quite good when the greens are firm.  However, when the greens are at all soggy and the large, deep ball marks result, they don't work very well.  I much prefer a traditional repair tool, I don't think anything works better if you actually know the proper technique.   And, that's often the problem, if not done properly you get big dirt spots all over the greens.

[Doug Siebert]

Here's a question for the greenskeepers out there...

If you have a mark that is either repaired poorly, or not at all, so that perhaps a week or two later you have a circular area of bare dirt that's slightly indented, what's the correct way to fix that if it is in the line of your putt?

I've always used the green repair tool as a fork to lightly pull up the center of that area to bring it level with the green, then tap it down with my putter.  I do fix the fresh ball marks I make or notice the 'correct' way so I don't tear the roots.  But if the roots are already torn or were pushed aside by the ball's impact and therefore are gone leaving only bare dirt is there any problem with lightly pulling up any remaining indentation to bring it level with the green?

If not, what would be the right way to fix such a mark?  Clearly the way the way now being taught is really only adequate for fresh marks, since a mark that's a week or two old doesn't have anything to "push in" like you do with a fresh mark and it seems to me attempting to use that method for an old mark would probably be worse than what I'm doing now.

Obviously the best thing would probably be for me to just leave those old marks alone, but I don't want to miss putts because of them, and until everyone fixes all their marks the correct way it is a problem that will always exist.

[redanman]

Again, it's the user, not the tool.  

That one from MVGC is ridiculous, just like using a tee which is best left to experts and firm greens.  Watching the pros use a tee to fix ball marks and doing it for all but a handful of golfers is a huge mistake.

It is even worse than emulating their pace of play

[wsmorrison]

Doug,

Under circumstances that you describe, I saw a superintendent put the fork of the repair tool in the dirt spot, spin it and pull out the dirt plug.  He then used the tool to stretch the surrounding turf towards the hole that was left after removing the dirt plug resulting in a small hole surrounded by turf.  I don't know how this process heals, but I've done it several times since assuming it works sort of like an aeration hole.  The playability for players that follow is just fine--at least for that day.  Am I wrong to do this?

[cary lichtenstein]

I don't like them because you have to carry 2, they don't allow you to fix deep ball marks correctly

[David Stamm]

Does anyone have a good link that shows the absolute best method using conventional repair tools? I'm paranoid now that I'm not doing it as well as I should. I was shown how to do it by my bro-in-law when I first learned the game, but I'm questioning now if HE was shown the right way!

[Michael Blake]

David:

http://www.gcsaa.org/resources/facts/ballmarks.asp

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