Originally Posted by Pturner

One day last week DH and I were golfing at Tierra Del Sol and recieved a very pleasant surprise.

No, it wasn't a hole in one. An Ambassador came up to us on about the 6th hole and said, "I have 'caught' both of you fixing your divots and other divots around you. Thank you. I'm going to give you a reward." He handed us both a perforated card. One side was to enter a drawing for a free priority membership. The other side included discount offers at any of the pro shops.

How cool is that! The Ambassadors might not be able to scold golfers, but it turns out they can reward good golf citizenship.

Treat the courses like you own them! (You do.) You never know when you might get "caught" doing the right thing.

That is a nice surprise; We were playing at Havana and when we turned the corner was told we was 2 minutes behind. On 18 we were given the same card because we were ahead of the clock. I was totally shocked but what a great tool to empower them with.

[English Ivy]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

Another note: If I'm not mistaken TV requests that you do NOT replace a divot but rather just use the sand bottle. Anyone confirm this?

Correct ... that's what page 8 of the Good Golf Guide states. I've heard it has something to do with the type of grass on our courses. Supposedly doesn't grow back if you replace and tap it down the way it does on courses up north.

[iaudit]

Originally Posted by NJblue

Ahhh, so that's the problem - too many good golfers in TV. Will you at least acknowledge that use of a tee minimizes the divot? In watching the Masters this weekend, I don't recall that many divots when they teed off from the par 3s. Perhaps I just missed it.

The only club that is designed to hit with a tee is the driver. The face has relatively little loft (usually 9.5 to 10.5 degrees). All other clubs have higher loft with the intent for the ball to ride up the face. The leading edge of these clubs (the bottoms) have thick soles that help to dig into the turf. If you tee the ball high on the par threes you will hit the ball high on the club face, thereby reducing both spin and distance, like hitting something with a glancing blow. The reason most golfer "skull" shots is because they try to scoop the ball off the turf instead of hitting down into it. Sorry, tees do not minimize damage if a golf ball is hit correctly on par three's.

[GatbTester]

I agree, it is the responsibility of each golfer to be as kind to our golf courses as we can. This will only result in them lasting longer, stay in better condition, and be better for those who come to play after us. If we ignore repairing problems ourselves, and gently reminding those around of the same we are continuing the best habits that make our lives here more fun on the courses.

[jeffy]

Me thinks that there are too many here that think that your average executive golfer is a really good golfer. I would have to disagree that the use of a tee does not help keep the tee boxes in better shape.

I am more of an average golfer . Handicap of 16 . I golf with my neighbors every week. 24 of us go out every sunday (couples). And I can say that 80% of our players are trying NOT to take a divot on the drive on the exec courses. That includes myself. Again , that may not be the best way to hit an iron off a tee, but I am talking reality of the skill of your average exec player, not what your best golfers actually do. Some of our ladies even tee it up in the fairway and in the sand trap.

jeffy

[bluedog103]

Originally Posted by jeffy

Me thinks that there are too many here that think that your average executive golfer is a really good golfer. I would have to disagree that the use of a tee does not help keep the tee boxes in better shape.

I am more of an average golfer . Handicap of 16 . I golf with my neighbors every week. 24 of us go out every sunday (couples). And I can say that 80% of our players are trying NOT to take a divot on the drive on the exec courses. That includes myself. Again , that may not be the best way to hit an iron off a tee, but I am talking reality of the skill of your average exec player, not what your best golfers actually do. Some of our ladies even tee it up in the fairway and in the sand trap.

jeffy

If you're a 16 handicap, you're way better than either me or the guys I normally play with. If anyone of us tee'd up an a par three the other's would think we'd lost our minds.
By teeing up, you're completely missing the sweet spot of the club, unless the tee is at ground level. In that case you'll take a divot anyway because you have to hit down on the ball to get it up.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by bluedog103

If you're a 16 handicap, you're way better than either me or the guys I normally play with. If anyone of us tee'd up an a par three the other's would think we'd lost our minds.
By teeing up, you're completely missing the sweet spot of the club, unless the tee is at ground level. In that case you'll take a divot anyway because you have to hit down on the ball to get it up.

Exactly. I'll bet 99% of pros and scratch golfers use a tee on all teeing grounds. And yes for a short club the tee would be all the way down. I had one pro (during a lesson) tell me "always put a peg under it if they let you, keeps the ball in a perfect lie" So if a pro does it so is this 10 handicapper!

[zcaveman]

To all - I am only addressing the executive courses. So far I have seen three posts about golfers that actually take a divot on a par 3. I have been playing for 8 years down here in TV and the number of golfers that I play with that take a divot are in the minority. Actually when we take a divot we call it hitting the big ball (mother earth) before the little ball.

I would say that 90% if the golfers want to have a clean cut off of the tee. Most of us are not strong enough to have the power to drive through the ball or knowledgeable enough to know how to control their club when taking a divot. I would also bet that those same people do not take divots on the second shot on a par 4. If fact a lot of players use woods or hybrids off of the tee - on 100 yard long holes.

So what I am saying is that all of these posts about how the pros and low handicapped players play par 3s is lost on us non-handicapped players.