How do I use a divot tool?
Still wondering what the heck your golf buddy was using to fix the huge dent that his ball left on the green when it made that beautiful landing from over a hundred yards out? The tool was most likely a popular derivative of a divot tool, something that every golfer should have.
Golf divot tools are one or two-pronged tools that are used to repair golf ball pitch marks on the green that are caused by forceful impacts from long distances out. The farther away a golf ball is hit from, the larger the pitch mark (commonly called a divot) will be.
So how do golfers use golf divot tools to repair their ball marks?
- Insert the prong.
The most common golf divot tools on the market today have two forks, although several divot tools have one prong, which is actually preferred by many golf professionals. Whichever type of divot tool you decide to use, both apparatuses are used by inserting the forked end into the divot or pitch mark at a steep angle, just outside the mark.
- Push inward, not upward.
Many golfers mistakenly push upward when working around a divot, inadvertently killing the surrounding grass by uprooting it. The correct way to repair a pitch mark with a divot tool is to work around the pitch mark while pushing inward toward the center of the divot, not upward.
- Flatten it out with your putter.
The final step is to take your putter and gently tap on top of the repaired pitch mark, flattening out and packing down the newly repaired mark while ensuring that every golfer following you on the course will have an optimal putting surface to play on.
