Over the years I have been asked what is the best method to repair divots. The simple answer is that I like to see the remains of the divot replaced and the divot mix added around the sides if needed. Scott Bordner, now the superintendent at Chicago Golf Club, added a nice post on his blog when he was superintendent at Rivercrest. He followed up a few weeks later with some of the results and it's easy to see which repair method looked better.
The initial trail at Rivercrest Golf Club
The same area at Rivercrest two weeks later
The weather was ideal for recovery so the seed had popped on the filled ones. Keeping these seedlings alive and viable is very difficult without constant watering, so replacing the 'sod' divot is better. I do not add seed to the divot soil on the carts for a number of reasons:
- It can germinate in the bottles and once it does so it is not useful for divots as the soil becomes clumpy.
- It ensures that there is no possible way to contaminate the rough if the soil is used there.
- Since LedgeRock is predominantly bentgrass, which creeps, once there is fresh soil available it will cover it over.
- If the seed does germinate, it is very difficult to keep alive, especially during the summer and longer periods of dry weather, so very little of it takes and most of the recovery is from the bentgrass creeping over.
We add seed to the mix the crew use, mainly as we know it is going on the fairways and since it is used right away, it will not go to waste germinating in the containers.
Some courses add a nurse grass like fine fescue or ryegrass to their divot soil to help get them established quicker. Since the fairways at LedgeRock are pure bentgrass I do not want to add any other grass types to them, even if the possibility of the other grass getting a hold is a long shot. We buy a green sand for the tees but all the fairway soil is made in-house. We use some soil amendments to make the sand more nourishing for the seedling and add a product that helps retain moisture to help any seedlings stay alive. We also have a blend of green turf paint that gives us the color we look for.
The following shows how we would like the divots at LedgeRock repaired.
Jarod left me a very nice divot to work with
The divot shattered into three pieces
Patch the pieces back as well as possible
Add the divot soil to bare areas
Remove the excess sand with your foot
This is another sample of a divot that was not replaced and starting to creep over
A lot of times I will see volcanoes of soil like here. This is bad as it does not provide an area for the turf to grow into and it also is not great for the blades on the mowers.
This is how a sand divot should look - the soil should be flush with the surface
Another topic I get questioned on is the best way to repair a ball mark. This video shows how to repair one properly.
The course is still in great shape, especially considering it is the middle of July. We aerated the greens with the Planetair and topdressed on Tuesday and they have recovered beautifully. This is the last big maintenance to them until fall aeration in a little over a month. We have started to mow the brush and fescue so those areas can be sprayed for weeds and so they will be not be too thick to play in the fall. We also had a small hydraulic leak on one of our rollers on 13 green.
The oil on 13 green right after it happened. Since then the darkness of the oil has faded and it is difficult to see
Luckily it only sprayed the fluid so it was a speckled pattern and now can barely be seen. The heat of the oil kills the plant but the oil can contaminate the soil also if there is a lot. Luckily there was only a small amount on 13 and once we aerate in a month it will be gone.
As always, if you have any questions, please email me at alan@ledgerockgolf.com.
