By USGA Green Section
Whether it’s warming up before a round or trying a new swing technique, hitting balls on the range is a great way to improve your game and have fun. That practice, however, can be tough on grass practice tees – and the maintenance team can only do so much to help. Filling divots and rotating the hitting stations mitigates the damage, but most range tees just aren’t big enough to handle all the use. As a result, golfers may struggle to find good areas of grass and end up hitting from artificial mats more often than they’d like.
Maintenance teams are doing all they can to keep grass tees in good condition, but a little help from golfers can go a long way. When using a grass practice tee, it’s better to take divots in a linear pattern (aka “bacon strips”) rather than scattering them or creating a large bare area. Hitting each shot from immediately behind the previous divot minimizes the total area of damaged grass. Creating narrow lines of divots and spacing them a few inches apart also accelerates recovery, because stems and roots from the adjacent grass can creep in to help the lines heal. The opportunity to recover from the edges is limited if instead divots create a large bare spot.
The bottom line: Taking linear practice divots can improve conditions on a grass tee and keep it open for use more often. It also makes life easier for members of the maintenance staff. Don’t worry if your lines of divots aren’t perfectly straight; trying your level best will make a difference.
