Every morning when I walk the golf course, this is a common site. Many deep divots taken from a fairway, often laying within 10 feet from where the ball was hit. Instead of replacing the divot, the golfer decided to ignore it and fill the void with sand. Having sand on golf carts gives most golfers the idea that sand is the best practice for repairing divots. It's not, however. On cool season grasses, replacing the divot is far superior to using sand. In order for that divot to fully recover by filling it with sand, will take weeks! Bentgrass does not have the aggressive growth characteristics as Bermudagrass, which heals rapidly. With the amount of play we continually push at Highlands CC, our fairways become unplayable in areas because of the concentration of divots- most all are not repaired correctly, exacerbating the problem. This is the one thing that golfers can do to take pride in your golf course and help keep the condition of the golf course where it needs to be. The best practice is to replace your divot, firmly step it down to ensure good root to soil contact and if you want to take it a further step, lightly topdress the seams of the divot with the sand on your cart. If you divot were to 'explode,' and nothing was left of it, this is the only scenario where filling the void with sand is acceptable. However, on Bentgrass fairways, this is rarely the case. Most divots are small pieces of sod that fit back in the void like a puzzle piece. I hope you'll share this information with others in your golf groups and together, we can improve the condition of your fairways by putting forth a little more effort by correctly repairing divots. Thank you!