When you’re new to golf, your brain is usually working at 100 mph. You’re trying to remember your grip, keep your head down, avoid the water hazard, and somehow get the ball airborne.
With all that mental chaos, it’s easy to overlook what happens after you hit the ball.
You smash a wedge out of the fairway, leaving a massive scar of mud in the grass. Or, you hit a beautiful, towering shot that lands directly on the green with a satisfying thud, leaving a deep crater in the turf.
If you just pack up your clubs and walk away, you are breaking the ultimate golden rule of golf etiquette.
Let’s be honest: no one expects a beginner to shoot par. But every single golfer on the planet expects you to leave the course exactly how you found it. Here is the straight-talking guide on why repairing pitchmarks and replacing divots is non-negotiable, and exactly how to do it properly.
1. Pitchmarks: The Potholes of the Putting Green
A pitchmark (or ball mark) is the little crater left behind when a golf ball descends from the sky and smashes into the soft, manicured grass of the putting green.
Why it matters:
Think of an unrepaired pitchmark as a pothole on a motorway. If a golfer behind you hits a perfect putt, but their ball rolls over your crater, it will bobble, bounce off-line, and miss the cup completely. It ruins the game for everyone else.
More importantly, it ruins the grass. According to master greenkeepers, a pitchmark repaired immediately heals within 24 hours. If it’s left unrepaired for just one day, it takes three to four weeks to recover, leaving an ugly, dead brown scar that opens the green up to disease.
How to fix it (The Right Way):
Most beginners get a pitchmark repair tool, stick it in the ground, and pry upward to lift the dirt. Do not do this. Prying upwards snaps the grass roots and guarantees a dead brown spot.
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Insert: Take your repair tool (or a standard golf tee if you don’t have one) and insert the prongs at an angle into the turf just behind the crater.
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Push, Don’t Twist: Gently push the tool forward and inward toward the center of the hole. Work your way around the edges, easing the surrounding grass back together.
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Flatten: Once the hole is filled, take the flat bottom of your putter head and gently tap the surface down until it’s perfectly smooth.
2. Divots: The Fairway Scars
A divot is the chunk of turf that flies through the air when your iron cuts through the grass beneath the ball. Taking a divot is completely normal—even pros do it on almost every swing. The crime is leaving the scar open.
Why it matters:
If you don’t repair your divot, the next golfer’s ball could land directly in your muddy hole. Hitting a ball out of someone else’s unrepaired divot is one of the most frustrating experiences in golf. Furthermore, open divot scars take months to naturally regrow, leaving the fairway looking like a battlefield.
How to fix it:
Depending on the golf course you are playing, you will use one of two methods:
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The Replace Method: Look for the chunk of grass that flew off your club. If it’s still intact with soil on the bottom, pick it up, drop it back into the hole like a puzzle piece (pointing the same way it came out), and stomp on it firmly with your foot. This re-establishes root contact so the grass can survive.
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The Fill Method: If the chunk of turf completely exploded into a million pieces, it won’t survive. Instead, look at the side of your golf buggy or trolley—most courses provide a bottle filled with a sand and seed mixture. Pour the mix into the hole until it is level with the rest of the grass, and smooth it down with your foot.
Show Up with the Right Attitude
At the end of the day, golf is a game built entirely on mutual respect and radical accountability. Nobody cares if you slice a shot into the trees. But everyone cares if you leave the course in worse shape than you found it.
Carrying a pitchmark tool and actively scanning the green for marks to repair shows your playing partners that you are a real golfer who respects the game.
At GolfThing, we believe looking and acting the part shouldn’t cost a fortune or feel like a chore. Our mission is to keep things simple, practical, and highly functional. That’s why we designed our GolfThing Stretch Chinos with deep, accessible pockets explicitly built to hold your tees, balls, and pitchmark repair tools comfortably, all while giving you the unrestricted stretch you need to make those perfect divot-taking swings.
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Over to You
Beginners: Do you currently carry a pitchmark repair tool in your pocket? Seasoned players: What’s the golden rule you wish every new golfer knew before stepping onto the first tee? Let’s chat in the comments!