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Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Maybe I'm the very last person on Earth to learn this.

But maybe not.

From Chris Tritabaugh's blog at Northland Country Club:

http://northlandgrounds.blogspot.com/#!/2012/05/taking-divots-on-practice-tee-preferred.html Click on the post for 5/29, and watch the video.

I'll never leave a patch again!
« Last Edit: August 01, 2012, 12:07:18 PM by Dan Kelly »
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2012, 06:20:28 PM »
There were two threads on this recently, Danno!  Why not start one on how to kill a chimpmunk?
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2012, 07:27:12 PM »
There were two threads on this recently, Danno!  Why not start one on how to kill a chimpmunk?

Those of us who are working sometimes miss a thread or two!

I don't know nothin' about killin' chimpmunks [sic]! Do you?
"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2012, 07:31:46 PM »
I do, but didn't have a birds eye view.....
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Peter Pallotta

Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2012, 07:35:41 PM »
I don't know how Dan gets away with it. He mocks Jeff for what we all know was an unavoidable accident, and then points out his spelling mistake too!!  If I didn't know better, I'd say Dan Kelly (registered trademark) was a cad! (Emoticon omitted, of course).

Peter
« Last Edit: July 31, 2012, 07:37:32 PM by PPallotta »

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2012, 07:51:26 PM »
It's amazing what he can get away with just by being a nice guy......I tried it once, too!  Didn't work out so well for me, but then, its just not my natural cut of cloth.

I am leaving office now to get a new keyboard.  The M key has been a problem lately.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2012, 08:12:15 PM »
Jeff was supposed to answer

I don't know nothin' [sic] about killin' chimpmunks [sic] either. [emoticon omitted]
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2012, 08:26:34 PM »
Just cause some super blogs about it doesn't make it so.  We recently hosted a Web.com event and the 5% of competitors who did the strip caused much more damage than the patch.  The strip is obnoxious.

Anthony_Nysse

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2012, 07:06:36 AM »
 Ive read so many Superintendent blogs on this practice this season, and please I hope that any Superintendent that reads this does not take it offense, but do we not have better things to do than tell members how to "properly" take divots from a range tee? At the end of the day, who cares how the divot pattern looks? We are paid to grow grass-sand, seed, fertilizer, repeat. It's the membership's tee, let them hit how they choose.
  Most golfers have enough to think about on a range than worry about the proper divot pattern, or hitting in strips, leaving enough turf for regeneration. Drop ball, hit ball, take divot, repeat. That LAST thing that we, as Superintendents,need to be doing is telling golfers how to hit balls. If a golf professional or Tour pro hits in the mannor described, golfers will follow suit.
Anthony J. Nysse
Director of Golf Courses & Grounds
Apogee Club
Hobe Sound, FL

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2012, 10:27:09 AM »
Ive read so many Superintendent blogs on this practice this season, and please I hope that any Superintendent that reads this does not take it offense, but do we not have better things to do than tell members how to "properly" take divots from a range tee? At the end of the day, who cares how the divot pattern looks? We are paid to grow grass-sand, seed, fertilizer, repeat. It's the membership's tee, let them hit how they choose.
  Most golfers have enough to think about on a range than worry about the proper divot pattern, or hitting in strips, leaving enough turf for regeneration. Drop ball, hit ball, take divot, repeat. That LAST thing that we, as Superintendents,need to be doing is telling golfers how to hit balls. If a golf professional or Tour pro hits in the mannor described, golfers will follow suit.

That's all fine and good for courses that have the real estate and wherewithal to continually keep a range open with hitting off the grass. However, many courses have to restrict the time hitting off the grass or all you would be doing is hitting off dirt. When I go to the range and see someone has eliminated a huge section of the range from use with just a few swings, I know that person is ignorant, unthinking, or uncaring.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #10 on: August 01, 2012, 10:36:53 AM »
And just because some internet "expert" posts it, that doesn't make it so, either.

The real question is not ugly scars, its whether a concentrated scar can be restored quicker than a scattered pattern.  Most supers would love a little help from golfers in concentrating the wear areas.  For instance, most supers place tee blocks 15' apart, even if the tee is wider, to concentrate wear as much as possible.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Joe Bausch

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #11 on: August 01, 2012, 10:37:44 AM »
(recycled from a previous time a thread like this appeared!)

Dear Dan,

     Not the game, but we're talking about practice, man. I mean, how silly is that? ...

     And we talking about practice. I know I supposed to be there. I know I'm supposed to lead by example... I know that... And i'm not..

     I'm not shoving it aside, you know, like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I do. I honestly do...

Sincerely,
A. Iverson
----------------------
@jwbausch (for new photo albums)
The site for the Cobb's Creek project:  https://cobbscreek.org/
Nearly all Delaware Valley golf courses in photo albums: Bausch Collection

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #12 on: August 01, 2012, 10:53:51 AM »
And just because some internet "expert" posts it, that doesn't make it so, either.

The real question is not ugly scars, its whether a concentrated scar can be restored quicker than a scattered pattern.  Most supers would love a little help from golfers in concentrating the wear areas.  For instance, most supers place tee blocks 15' apart, even if the tee is wider, to concentrate wear as much as possible.

I practice on a bent grass surface.  It simply does not creep. A tight patch is not only easier to continue as the next player it is much more aesthetically pleasing than the strip.  Also do we really want higher handicap players backing up after every hit until the guy to your left is standing behind you?  Or visa versa I am not comfortable with players in front of me.

Even after regrowth or repair which would you prefer, a nice square level area or mini church pews?  This is just another case of a young super putting his need to be "revolutionary" in front of the comfort and enjoyment of his players.  I hate super blogs as the only people who read them are other supers and future employers.

Dan Kelly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #13 on: August 01, 2012, 11:02:46 AM »
My golfer daughter's response: "Wouldn't you have to aim all of your shots at the same target? Boring."

I suggested that a W-shaped pattern might be the ticket.

"There's no money in doing less." -- Joe Hancock, 11/25/2010
"Rankings are silly and subjective..." -- Tom Doak, 3/12/2016

Keith Phillips

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #14 on: August 01, 2012, 11:05:16 AM »
This is becoming a humorous thread - I actually love 'Super blogs' as I find them incredibly educational and a great service to membership.  With respect to ideal practice divot patterns, I'm with Garland...at Montclair Golf Club we have 12% of the grass tee deck area recommended by the USGA (I forget the arithmetic but that is the number...)  We now use the grass tee decks Friday-Sunday, and hit off mats the rest of the time.  We haven't really arrived at what might be the optimal recommended approach (patch vs. stripes vs. random), but we are focused on it.

Carl Nichols

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #15 on: August 01, 2012, 11:11:07 AM »
IMHO, the problem isn't the choice between strips and a tight square patch.  Instead, the problem is the guy who hits 100 balls and takes huge divots, none of which is right next to the other -- which seems both to increase the amount of grass that gets dug up and leaves the area looking like a war zone.  If encouraging strips is a method to prevent that behavior, I'm all for it.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #16 on: August 01, 2012, 11:22:36 AM »
IMHO, the problem isn't the choice between strips and a tight square patch.  Instead, the problem is the guy who hits 100 balls and takes huge divots, none of which is right next to the other -- which seems both to increase the amount of grass that gets dug up and leaves the area looking like a war zone.  If encouraging strips is a method to prevent that behavior, I'm all for it.

Yep Carl, it's simple math. I estimate I take 5 shots in the length of one of my typical divots (I'm a digger with I suppose a relatively steep swing). That means I do as much damage with 100 balls as the guy next to me doing 20 balls all on a fresh section of grass.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #17 on: August 01, 2012, 11:26:13 AM »
The number one issue on the range needs to be safety.  How far behind you should you allow someone to stand and hit balls? What is the angle of a cold shank?  I promise you that I will not allow some hack who thinks he is emulating VJ stand more than two feet behind me at a ten foot spacing.  Has anyone thought this out?  Next thing you know private clubs will be forced to install front and back ropes like at the muni's.  Yech.

Oh yea, and Garland.  How much does a 22 handicap really practice?

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #18 on: August 01, 2012, 11:31:20 AM »
The number one issue on the range needs to be safety.  How far behind you should you allow someone to stand and hit balls? What is the angle of a cold shank?  I promise you that I will not allow some hack who thinks he is emulating VJ stand more than two feet behind me at a ten foot spacing.  Has anyone thought this out?  Next thing you know private clubs will be forced to install front and back ropes like at the muni's.  Yech. You're such a spoiled baby. ;) Many, many private clubs have front and back ropes. Chambers Bay has front and back ropes.

Oh yea, and Garland.  How much does a 22 handicap really practice? Much more than my 9 handicap partner.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #19 on: August 01, 2012, 11:36:47 AM »
The only private clubs that have front and back ropes have either members or guests that are idiots, of course this can be superseded by a super who just thinks his members or guests are idiots.  When did Chambers Bay go private?

Carl Nichols

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #20 on: August 01, 2012, 11:44:10 AM »
John:
You know this of course, but nothing requires the stripper to use only one strip. 

JMEvensky

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #21 on: August 01, 2012, 11:45:39 AM »
John:
You know this of course, but nothing requires the stripper to use only one strip. 

Leave him alone--he's on a roll.

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #22 on: August 01, 2012, 11:47:18 AM »
The only private clubs that have front and back ropes have either members or guests that are idiots, of course this can be superseded by a super who just thinks his members or guests are idiots.  When did Chambers Bay go private?

So you enjoy calling people idiots? Is that what it takes to make you feel good?
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Garland Bayley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #23 on: August 01, 2012, 11:48:19 AM »
John:
You know this of course, but nothing requires the stripper to use only one strip. 

LOL. Good one Carl.
"I enjoy a course where the challenges are contained WITHIN it, and recovery is part of the game  not a course where the challenge is to stay ON it." Jeff Warne

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: (ot?) How to take divots on the range
« Reply #24 on: August 01, 2012, 12:07:20 PM »
I can't resist posting this as a follow-up to Joe's comment....enjoy!!  ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exOxUAntx8I

P.S.  I would agree with the previous comments, I'm just trying to focus on hitting the ball straight on the range, much less worry about my divot pattern.
« Last Edit: August 01, 2012, 12:10:00 PM by Kalen Braley »