Replacing Divots

[David Schofield]

At Giants Ridge in nothern Minnesota the starter told us not to replace our divots but instead to use the sand/seed mix.  Unfortunately, this meant that the fairways were littered with divot pelts.  My wife made fun of me as I dutifully picked up mine and 5 more on each hole.  I've never been directed not to replace my divot.  I couldn't figure out if this was because: a) the grass strain was unlikely to recover, b) people weren't replacing their divots anyway so they figured that they might at least get them to fill in the divots with sand/seed or c) if they had mowed the fairway that morning I would have never noticed. 

Thoughts?

[Jeff_Brauer]

David,

This is actually quite common on bent fw courses.  The bent roots probably won't recover if you tamp down the divots like some other grasses will.

[Bill Kubly]

I only replace the bent grass divots when they are very deep, with soil attached and in the early Spring or Fall.  I also put the sand mix around the divot to seal it off when I do replace them. 

At Bighorn, in Palm Desert, members are required to pick up there divots and deposit them in the garbage canisters when they pass one, or leave them in their carts until the round is over.  Sounds crazy, but it works.  The caddies also pick them up as well as any that the other players missed.   

[Bill_McBride]

At some ocean side courses, seagulls will pick up your divots for you!

[John Moore II]

David-With bermuda grass, the grass will recover better with the sand than with a replaced divot. With cool season grasses, sometimes you can replace the divots. With creeping grasses, the sand tends to work better.

[Warwick Loton]

General rules of thumb:
Couch (Bermuda) Fill with sand
Kikuyu         Fill with sand
Fescue         Replace divot
Rye             Replace divot
Bent grass fairways  Replace divot
Bluegrass      Replace divot

Sand (or similar) is used when replaced divots are likely to die, or at least be very slow to re-establish themselves.
Many courses supply a very sandy loam instead of pure sand. Some courses use a mixture of grass seeds in sand (common with turf varieties that don’t grow by runners); some include fertiliser in their mix. I've been told some courses avoid the use of sand in order to save money (mainly to cut down wear on mower blades).
Augusta National uses coloured (green) sand for aesthetic reasons. A number of courses have copied this approach.  
Some courses encourage players to knock in the sides of their divot holes, in order to facilitate quicker regrowth (sometimes in conjunction with sand; sometimes in conjunction with divot replacement).

Best not to replace divots if sand is provided - there's a good chance that within a week the replaced divot will look very dead and the regrowth process will have been slowed down.

[Michael Underwood]

We use sand & seed divot mixes at both course that I play regularly.  At Sterling the fairways are primarily bluegrass and at Ballyneal the fairways are primarily fescue, but both are on sandy soil.  In both locations most of the time there is not much soil attached to the divot and there is a pretty good chance that a replaced divot will not establish well.  The sand & seed divot mix works much better.  When I lived in Texas the bermuda divots from fairways with some clay soil always seemed to establish quickly after replacement.

[Carl Johnson]

. . . I've been told some courses avoid the use of sand in order to save money (mainly to cut down wear on mower blades). . . .

We're told that's (wear on mower blades) a real problem if you put in a pile/mound of sand, and that the proper way to fill a divot with sand is to keep it smooth and keep it low.  In this case, more is definitely not better.  Beyond that, I say to do what the course/club asks you to do.  Why not trust the pros that are responsible for maintaining the course?

[Thomas McQuillan]

I read in a 'whats in my bag' extract in I think golf digest that Ryo Ishikawa brings his own divot mix to courses and refers to it as just trying to do his bit. This strikes me as possibly the worst thing anyone could do with regards to introducing foreign grass types to courese and I am curious as to just how many pros are catching on to this fad and whether or this is bad. What could happen if a new grass type was introduced to a course?

[Carl Johnson]

I read in a 'whats in my bag' extract in I think golf digest that Ryo Ishikawa brings his own divot mix to courses and refers to it as just trying to do his bit. This strikes me as possibly the worst thing anyone could do with regards to introducing foreign grass types to courese and I am curious as to just how many pros are catching on to this fad and whether or this is bad. What could happen if a new grass type was introduced to a course?

Well . . . ecosystem distaster.  But sadly we've already seen too much of that in the "new world."

[David Schofield]

...unless it's just sand and fertilizer. 

[Carl Johnson]

...unless it's just sand and fertilizer. 

If pure, and the fertilizer fits the local need, then you're absolutely right.  My mistake.