Practice swings that take up chunks of turf ???

[Blue in Munich]

I remember being told ages ago that you shouldn't replace divots on tees in case someone has one under their foot when they can slip or something. Don't know how much truth there is in it.
On tee shots I always go off the side or back of the tee for a practice swing.

It's true; I've lost my trailing foot on one, and seen others do it. At least with a seeded divot you can see it & choose to tee up elsewhere. Probably more relevant on tees because you'll often be hitting driver & swinging a bit harder.

 

[HeftyHacker]

Took the boy out on Sunday for his first time playing at my club. (He's played on municipals before).

2 practice swings on the first tee and two big gouges in the turf ?. All this in from of the pro shop. I told him to replace the divots in an animated way so those watching saw I was 'educating' him.

No harm done and an education to boot.

This reminded me of a tale on a podcast I listened to recently where Sean St Ledger, the ex PNE defender, turned up to a golf day at Fairhaven with his team mates. He'd never played golf before and didn't have any equipment so, apparently being quite flashy anyway, he spent about 3 grand in the pro shop beforehand getting kitted out.

When he was called onto the tee by the starter he proceeded to take 3 massive divots, missing the ball each time.

After the third the starter said "I'm sorry Mr St Ledger, I'm afraid I can't let you out on course". So he had to pack away his brand new kit into his car and go home having not even played a hole.

 

[sweaty sock]

Divots on the tee should not be replaced as the seeded sand repairs better and faster. Its not reasonable outside of Augusta to expect the greenkerpers to seed/sand every divot on the course, but its easy enough to manage on the 12 feet between 2 markers on a tee, so dont replace divots on the tee, let the green keeper take care of that. Everywhere else though, do your best, something is better than nothing...

 

[clubchamp98]

We have seed boxes on our tees to repair any divots.
I was told you should not replace divots on the tee for safety reasons.
If it’s replaced well you can’t see it but it can slip if you shift your weight on it.
But it depends where you play as well .
In some hot countries it’s better to seed divots as the turf dries to quickly and dies.

 

[sunshine]

How big are these divots that are causing a safety hazard? Sounds like some people are playing golf with a spade!

 

[clubchamp98]

How big are these divots that are causing a safety hazard? Sounds like some people are playing golf with a spade!

They don’t have to be that big.
The very shallow ones are the worst.
Golf shoes are designed to grip the grass.
But if your standing on a divot that will move first not your spikes.
Mainly with golfers hitting irons off the tees on longer holes now.

 

[srixon 1]

We have a guy in our swindle that takes a divot with his driver when hitting off a tee peg. He probably has as much negative angle of attack with his driver as I do with a wedge.

 

[DanFST]

5 seconds X 100 shots is around 8 minutes per round. 8 minutes of me wanting to snap their clubs in half. Golf is hard enough without 8 minutes of this torture.

No one ever mentions anything tho so I just go along as if it’s ok. I can’t go on like this anymore.

Please tell me this is not normal

I do it, I won't take a divot tho unless it's a really funky lie.