Golf Etiquette: Care of the Course

I'm liking the Tuesday Tips focusing on golf etiquette lately.  Seems like etiquette is being forgotten a bit.  Today's subject is "care of the course." It is extremely irritating to hit a ball in the fairway, only to end up in a big fat divot that hasn't been repaired.  No fun.  Or how about when your ball finds a deep foot print in a bunker?  There's a guaranteed bogey or worse.  And the worst thing ever, is seeing damage to a green like when someone gets mad and takes a divot out of the putting surface. Bunkers Unless a bunker is a waste area (one without rakes), rake the bunker.  All footprints, ball marks and of course the divot you take out of the sand should be raked. USGA's advice on bunkers:

Before leaving a bunker, players should carefully fill up and smooth over all holes and footprints made by them and any nearby made by others. If a rake is within reasonable proximity of the bunker, the rake should be used for this purpose.

Divots, Ball Marks, Other Damage Try to avoid excessive divot taking during practice swings.  If you do take a divot in any fashion, repair or replace it.  Some courses provide divot mix (dirt/sand/seed in a bottle) and prefer divots be filled with that.  Some courses ask you to replace the divot.  Either way, fixing those divots keeps the course in better condition and makes play more fun for everyone. Avoid swinging clubs in anger at the ground, especially the green. Greens ALWAYS repair your ball mark and several others.  I suggest using a Frogger HOP! Green Repair Tool of course.  When I'm on the green, I try to repair at least five ball marks, and 10 if I can find them. Avoid walking too close to the hole and don't put your putter head in the hole to get the ball out.  This can cause damage to the edges of the hole. USGA's advice on the greens:

Players should ensure that no damage is done to the putting green when putting down bags or the flagstick. In order to avoid damaging the hole, players and caddies should not stand too close to the hole and should take care during the handling of the flagstick and the removal of a ball from the hole. The head of a club should not be used to remove a ball from the hole. Players should not lean on their clubs when on the putting green, particularly when removing the ball from the hole. The flagstick should be properly replaced in the hole before players leave the putting green.

Common Sense Simple common sense is best.  If you cause any damage, repair it.  If all golfers did that, we'd have no divots to go into and no ball marks to knock our putts off line!