I would consider myself to have been rather privileged to have been able to enjoy some of the best golf courses that mainland Britain and Europe have to offer.
Enjoying courses that have hosted the Ryder Cup, British Open and Solhiem Cups and as good as these courses are there is always a little thing that can ruin the enjoyment of such venues.
A tiny blemish that can alter the fortunes of golfers should have no place on a golf course, but they are there, just as the golfers playing the course.
You may be trying to figure out what I mean, but truthfully I think you already know.
The dirty little pitch mark.
Possibly the ugliest thing you will see on a golf course, the pitch mark can reduce the finest golf courses to a mere shadow in the mind of a golfer.
They are common on every single course, there is yet to be a course where I have not seen at least a dozen on a green.
But the problem is not the inability of the green staff to ensure pristine putting surfaces, they do a grand job of providing golfers with near perfect putting surfaces it is the laziness of golfers themselves.
Having worked within an environment directed more to the travelling golfer rather than members I have seen firsthand how so many gofers disregard their obligation to repair a pitch mark.
And it is this disregard for their fellow golfer and more so the incredibly hard working green staff that battle daily to present the course in the best possible condition.
Now there are golfers that repair at least their own pitch mark, if not a number of pitch marks, but they can also be to blame for the ugly scars left on the green. Why? Because they repair them badly, causing as much or more damage to the grass root than the initial pitch mark they made did.
It is this that is the biggest cause of blemishes on the greens.
So how do you repair a pitch mark correctly?
You must first find it, which is not as simple as you may initially think, a pitch mark can be caused by any ball that has come down through the air and landed on the green, even a short chip can do some damage.
Once found you must be educated correctly on how to repair the pitch mark.
Take your pitch fork (pitch mark repairer) and push the back of the pitch mark (the highest part of the displaced grass) back towards the center. Now work your way around the outside of the pitch mark pushing the turf back into the middle. NEVER LIFT THE PITCH MARK UP as this damages the roots nad causes those horrid brown or even black scars.
When you have completed the process gently tap down the grass to smooth it out, using your putter.
This pitch mark if repaired within a few hours of being made will recover in a matter of days.
It is your obligation as a golfer to repair pitch marks, make sure you do it for the enjoyment of everyone that plays the game.
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