Divot - to replace or not?

[guyinottawa]

So what is your opinion? Put your divot back or just leave it bare and let the course put new seed down? If you put it back, isn't it just going to die?

[Colby]

So what is your opinion? Put your divot back or just leave it bare and let the course put new seed down? If you put it back, isn't it just going to die?

In April this year, Greyhawk had a member's cleanup day. What we essentially did was some members wandered up the fairway picking up dead divots while others filled divot holes with mix. Some courses, like Greyhawk, have grass in the fairway that is very aggressive and will fill small areas if there is fill there to cover. If you look closely at older divots at the course, you will see that the grass is indeed growing to cover the area.

With a divot, if the divot is deep enough, the roots of the grass should re-attach if it is put back and tamped down. The watering of the fairway later will assist in this process. Some will die, but it is better than nothing, and the ones that die can be filled later. If you take out a really thin piece of divot, one where you can see all or most of the roots, you should fill that with mix as the grass will come back through the fill and it helps keep the fairway even without little holes everywhere.

[jvincent]

So what is your opinion? Put your divot back or just leave it bare and let the course put new seed down? If you put it back, isn't it just going to die?

If it has any soil attached to it, put it back. If it's what I call a grass divot, just roots and leaves, don't bother.

[LongHitta]

I ALWAYS replace divots, it bothers me when I'm standing in someone's divot, plus, it just takes away from the condition of the course. If you replace the grass, it should fix itself within a few weeks or less, if not, it takes months to fix.

[guyinottawa]

ok makes sense to me. Wanted to clarify as I have been out with those who I get paired up with and they were saying - don't bother with it... it will just die anyway...