By Mike May
As a golf writer who gets a chance to play a wide variety of courses around the country, I have come to the conclusion that golf courses are true national treasures, which should be cherished and preserved. To that end, one of my goals, when I play golf, is to make sure that I replace every divot I make, as well as, repair ball marks on the green.
While in the fairway, I also take the time to replace a few other neglected and unrepaired divots. I make it a habit to replace several times more divots than I make and usually run out of sand by the time I reach the turn. I make sure to reload with enough sand to fill in divots on the back nine, as well.
I am the self-proclaimed ‘Divot King.’
To draw attention to this issue of replacing divots, I recently visited two Pete Dye designed golf courses in central Indiana, Maple Creek Golf & Country Club in Indianapolis and Plum Creek Golf Club in Carmel, with the sole purpose of filling as many divots as possible.
Approximately three hours were spent at ach course and they welcomed me with open arms, while secretly wondering why someone would want to spend several hours filling divots. They offered to pay me for my time, but I assured them that I simply wanted to give back to the course and help them maintain a quality golf experience for the next golfer.
While Maple Creek and Plum Creek are very well-maintained, they would be in even better shape if everyone made it a priority to fill their own divots, plus a couple more, for good measure.
The tally for total divots repaired at the two courses came to over 1,100, which is a sad commentary on the behavior and playing habits of golfers.
Fixing divots is not just a problem in Indiana. I see similar patterns at golf courses in other states, as well.
I hope the next time you make it out to a golf course, you better understand the importance of filling old divots, so the superintendent and his staff aren’t required to spend an inordinate amount of time doing that rather mundane task.
Next time that you play in a competitive match where rolling the ball in the fairways is prohibited, you’ll understand what I mean when your ball stops in a divot.
While I may be the ‘Divot King,’ I welcome everyone, scratch golfer to high handicapper, to join my team to help preserve our golf courses and make them better for the next golfer.
I’m sure, the late, great Pete Dye, as well as, other golf course architects, would appreciate it
