Repair your divots, or else

        Golf course owners, greens superintendents and golf course starters and rangers try everything to get players to replace (or fill) their divots and repair their ball marks on greens.  They are largely unsuccessful, especially at public facilities where the infrequent player feels no vested interest in maintaining course conditions.

        Course operators try everything.  Some fairly lecture the players in the pro shop or at the first tee about repairing divots.  Some supply free divot tools, and others post messages in the golf carts.  Short of these prods and reminders, there is not much else to do, except maybe threaten.

        The sign below, we trust tongue in cheek, was posted on the way to

the 9^th tee at Owl’s Nest Resort and Golf Club in Campton, NH, a golf course and community I will review (quite favorably) in the coming week or two after a short visit and round of golf I played there earlier this week.  Although I appreciate the sentiment of the sign, I can say from the experience on the excellent Owl’s Nest golf course that threats work about as well with golfers as they do with teenage kids, which is to say not.  The greens were smooth and pretty fast, in substantially excellent shape except for pitch marks here and there that had not been repaired.  Although an attempt had been made at fixing most of them, clearly the golfers that preceded me could use a lesson in repair technique.

         I suppose we should be grateful they at least made the attempt, something that cannot be said for a few of their playing partners.