How-To Divot Repair

With the busy golfing season in full swing, this is a good opportunity to discuss divot repair and how we can all do our part daily to keep Gull Lake C.C. in pristine condition. Filling divots in fairways and tees is very simple and only takes a couple seconds, with very minimal impact on your round of golf. The grounds team spends a fair amount of time each week filling divots in fairways, while divots on tees are repaired everyday throughout the golfing season. We have provided some tips below on getting your divots filled properly depending on the extent of the damage to the turf and what condition the divot piece remains in.

(1)

Large Divot With Soil Still Attached- 

When a divot is taken from a fairway or a tee box and the soil is still attached like the picture above, the divot should be placed back into the hole and in the same shape it was removed from. When soil remains attached with some root structure in tact, the divot will continue to grow without drying out. When there is minimal soil attached or it's blown apart like the picture below, the divot will simply not survive and will ultimately be removed and re-filled by the grounds staff... Delaying its recovery tremendously!

(2)

Small Divot Blown Apart In Pieces-

When your divot is small or maybe blown apart into a bunch of small pieces, this is when you grab the provided green sand bottle for repair. The small pieces, even replaced very neatly will not survive, due to the lack of root structure and ability to stay moist for reestablishment. When repairing your divot with green sand, please fill the damaged area completely so that the sand is flush with the surrounding turf and tap down with your shoe. The pictures below show divots that were repaired with green sand and recovering very nicely from the outside edges in, while plants also establish inside the damaged area for full recovery of the divot location.

Take Home Message

Properly repaired divots will heal up much faster than a divot that's either left unreparied, or simply sprinkled with green sand like salt on a steak. We have provided extra green sand bottles for you at the Pro Shop and by #10 tee, for those that need to reload at the turn. By all doing our part to repair divots and ball marks properly, the course will remain in better shape and the damaged areas will be repaired sooner.