Our course staff have done a fantastic job on our putting surfaces this season, and given the COVID-induced restrictions to playing numbers, the less traffic on the greens have them beautiful and soft at the moment. However, with this comes an increase in the likelihood of pitch marks from players approaching the green. This is only going to amplify come the winter months, where the greens are typically wetter and softer.
Not only do they make a green look unsightly and poor quality, pitch marks can affect ball roll and cause a player’s putt to bobble and deviate offline. Given this double negative effect on the putting greens, it is astounding how many pitch marks are left unattended (or incorrectly repaired) by our members each and every day.
A correctly repaired pitch mark will recover in 24 hours. An unrepaired pitch mark left unattended for two hours will take up to two months (or longer) to recover. A pitch mark that is incorrectly repaired can take up to 4 weeks to effectively recover.
Studies have shown that, on average, a golfer will make 8 pitch marks during a round of golf. During one of our regular Saturday competitions, with roughly 230 players, that is approximately 1800 pitch marks made on our greens in one day.
It is essential that all players are diligent in their repair of pitch marks on greens. Many Clubs (and our own Veteran Golfers) have adopted systems and regulations where players are encouraged to repair their own as well as other players pitch marks while playing.
With the 2019 Rule changes, it is allowable – and even encouraged – for golfers to repair almost any damage on the green, such as spike marks, ball-marks, indentations from a club or flagstick, and animal damage. Although you are not permitted to repair aeration holes, natural surface imperfections, or natural wear of the hole.
How to repair a pitch mark
To correctly repair a pitch mark you should take your 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.
You can watch an instructional video here –
This diagram also shows the correct method for repairing a divot:
In summary,
- Take your tool (or a tee) and insert the prongs into the turf at the rim of the depression, rather than the depression itself
- Using a gentle, twisting motion, push the edge of the mark towards the centre
- Flatten by gently tapping the surface using your foot or the sole of your putter
Do not insert a tool and attempt to raise up the depression