For the good of the game and as courtesy to the other players you really should fix your ball marks. It only takes a few seconds. I fix mine (if I hit the green that is), and usually 4-5 others on every green.
One problem with standard fork shaped ball mark tools is that they are used incorrectly. Most people stick the fork in and pull up the middle of the mark. All that does is tear the root structure, leaving a brown spot that can take weeks to heal.
The proper way to use the forked too is to pull the edges in from the sides. When done correctly the mark will not leave a brown spot and it will only take a day or two for the mark to heal.
Clearly the best golf tool out there for doing this process right and helping out the greens is the “Mark Mender” from www.markmender.com.
The Mark Mender is a spring loaded dual fork repair tool which fixes marks the right way, from the sides. The forks aren’t long enough to really damage the root structure, just long enough to pull the edges in. And since the action is from two sides, the repair is very even and uniform.
When not in use the mender closes tightly to fit comfortably in your pocket.
Included with your Mark Mender is also a magnetic ball marker. Mark Mender can even do custom print with your logo in the ball marker for you for promotional items or sales at the course.
You can buy a set of two Mark Menders for $19.99 at their web site. Not the cheapest repair tool around but it will be the only one you’ll need or want to use.
More pictures:
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
Well, IMHO, this product isn’t that good. The founder gave me one of these at a golf trade show to use. I used it, and it is very hard to get it to stick into the ground. It needs to be made of steel with sharper tongs, instead of plastic. It makes a great cigar-holder however, and could easily be marketed as such in the correct target-market magazines.
Nothing beats the old-school divot-fixit tool when used properly.
Hmm. The one I have is made out of some kind of metal. I think perhaps aluminum…
“Properly” being the key word in your comment for sure JFB.
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Place your thumb and forefinger on the prongs of the tool and it is easeier to push into the green. the metal is a weapons grade alluminum alloy, polymer version also available.
this tool is the future of pitch mark repair and the end to uneven greens, come on guys lets give our greenkeepers a helping hand.
To JFB. I’m the inventor of the MarkMender golf tool. Please forgive my late reply to your post. I’ve never heard anyone say the tool was hard to press into the green. You must have some rock hard greens. However, there is a metal version available and the prongs are a bit sharper. As far as the old tool goes, your are right in that it works great when used “properly”. But, its been around for over 100 years and the vast majority of the world’s golfers use it “improperly”. That’s in spite of the fact that the instructios for its proper use are hangning somewhere in every locker room at every golf course in the world. Thanks for your comments and I hope you make lot’s of ball marks regardless of the repair tool you choose to use.