Ball mark seeding

Every golfer knows about ball marks. They know they are supposed to fix them each time one is made and most golfers know how to fix a ball mark properly. However, as any golfer or Superintendent can tell you, the number of people who fix their ball mark is far less than the people who know they should. As a result, the Grounds department tries to aid in ball mark repair.

If we are out doing maintenance on the greens and we see fresh ball marks, we repair them. This is much more difficult in the summer months when our time is stretched thin already. Spending time scouring the greens looking for every ball mark that needs to be repaired is not our best use of time. If we can spot two or three per green as we work, we are making a difference.

However, in the spring and fall, when we save time by not managing the Bermuda grass, we can spend more time on fixing ball marks. We continue to fix marks that are fresh and easily repaired, but we also spend time adding a sand and seed mixture to those pitch marks that can no longer be repaired. We recently bought a tool designed specifically for this task. It is a small tube that the sand/seed mix is loaded into. Placing one end over a ball mark on the green, we push and release the top of the tube and a small amount of our mixture is released into the ball mark. We smooth out the pile in the ball mark so our mowers don’t hit it and we move on to the next mark. It is quick and easy.

We use bent grass seed in the sand and seed mix for two reasons. First, we have two types of grass on our greens: bent grass and annual bluegrass. Annual bluegrass is not available for purchase, so that leaves us with bent grass only! More importantly though, even if we could buy annual bluegrass seed we would still buy bent grass because it is a superior grass species for putting greens. Bent grass is more disease tolerant, more drought tolerant, and an overall more preferred putting surface. So, the great thing about adding the bent grass seed to our ball mark fixing program is the addition of more bent grass into the greens. While, we are nowhere near changing all of the grass on the greens over to bent grass, any more that we can add will slowly help the greens.

While we are excited about the opportunity to continue to add bent grass to the greens, we realize that not every ball mark that we seed will germinate perfectly and fill in as 100% bent grass. Under normal putting green management, it is very difficult to get seed to germinate, grow, and survive in the same circumstances as mature turf. Regular mowing, infrequent watering, low fertility, and regular golfer traffic are all factors working against the seedlings. If we were trying to get all of the seed to germinate and mature, we would have to mow less, water much more often, fertilize, and manage play either by closing a section of a green or an entire green. None of these steps are necessary simply for ball mark healing. However, the sand portion of our sand and seed mix is important also. When the seed does not work out, the sand still fills in the depression of the ball mark, which provides a smoother putting

surface. Also, having the sand in the ball mark makes it easier for the surrounding grass to grow into that area and heal itself. Over time, our greens heal ball marks effectively without any help from us; otherwise there would be ball marks everywhere, which isn’t the case. But, having the ability to add some seed can only help.

Last week, we finished seeding ball marks on the entire course. Over two days, we spent about 7 hours to fill every one we could find. We plan on doing this 1-2 more times this fall/early winter. It has served as a great visual reminder of how many ball marks there are that go unrepaired. We will continue our maintenance of ball marks, but any help from players only benefits their putting.

Etiquette Reminder of the Month

Please leave bunker rakes inside the bunkers when you are finished.

Note: Starting in November, through February, posts will be reduced to once per month. Thank you.

See you on the course!

Joe

jvillegas@bwrc.org