We All Have A Role in Taking Care of the Course
Great course conditions are one thing that we all love about Sharon Country Club and that sets it apart from many other courses. True lies in the fairways, a clean lie in a bunker, and putts that run true are expected on every hole. Paul Doherty and his crew deserve the lion’s share of the credit for making our course what it is. But every member also has a share of the responsibility and can take a measure of pride in the conditions.
At Sharon Country Club, there are no caddies to fix ball marks and no extra summer staff filling divots and raking traps after a group has finished playing a hole. Taking a few seconds to do these small course maintenance tasks is the responsibility of each of us as members.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do each of these repairs. Please take a moment to make sure you know the right way by reading the information and watching the videos from the USGA below.
How to Repair A Divot
Divot mix is provided in every golf cart for members who are riding. For members who are walking, there are tubes of divot mix at the 1st tee and by the cart barn that you can carried or hung from your bag or push cart.
The seed in the divot mix that is provided is for use on the Tees and Fairways only. Please do not use the mix to fill divots you may take in the rough. It's a different grass and will fill in without our help.
Large divots that are intact and include soil must be replaced in the divot hole and tamped down with your foot. Holes left from divots that are shattered into pieces and/or do not include soil and root structure should be filled with divot mix to a level even with the fairway surface.
USGA video on how to repair divots
How To Repair A Ball Mark
From years back in the USGA Journal, “If a ball mark on the green is fixed within 15 minutes, it will repair itself in one hour. If it is left unrepaired for one hour, it will take two weeks to repair itself."
The most important thing to understand when fixing a ball mark is to know what not to do. DO NOT lift or pry up the depression made by the ball. Doing that will tear the roots and leave a dead spot. Instead, use a tee or repair tool to work from the outside of the depression pulling and stretching the turf surface in toward the center until the depression is gone.
Can’t find your ball mark? Often they are easier to see if you go to your ball and look back along the line it traveled.
USGA video on how to repair ball marks
How To Rake A Bunker
Dropping your approach into a bunker is bad enough. Having your ball come to rest at the bottom of a hole left by somebody’s size 12 just isn’t right.
Do’s and Don’ts for bunkers. Enter and leave from the low side of a bunker so as not to cave in the walls of the bunker. Use the flat side of the rake to level the surface and then lightly rake with the tines on the other side to leave a consistent surface. Leave the rake outside of the bunker with the handle in line with the direction of play.