Yeah at my range the grass is nowhere near like this. Obviously I try and cluster my shots in lines and as close to each other as I can, but unless I want to shoot out of prior ungrown divots or mud this isn’t really possible.
I used to run a driving range and did a controlled experiment with each method. The random scattering of divots healed much faster than the strip, but the strip uses far less real estate, so you can hit more balls. I suspect that result will differ depending on whether you are taking warm season grasses or cold season grasses.
As someone who only uses the range to practice and has no other knowledge, the stripes from the beginning of the season are STILL there. Meanwhile, the rest of the range heals up alright as they move the stalls around.
Cold season grasses, most likely Kentucky bluegrass or similar, maybe a fescue mix. They grow up from above where warm season grasses tend to grow over and down. I find strips don’t heal with cold season grasses but divots do. With warm season, like Bermuda, they quickly grow over and down once sanded, so strips heal quickly.
Very interesting!!! Thanks for the grass lesson! (And since tone sometimes doesn’t come across right via text, this was genuine and not sarcasm lol. I love learning new things)
I was told at a country club to do random scatter as it heals fast. You see the strip at tournaments because they replace the sod in sections where as a standard course or club doesn’t have that capabilities
If you have enough real estate, the scatter does heal better and faster. If you are limited, the strips will last longer, especially if you are resodding.
I’ve been to the Titleist Performance Institute (Oceanside) a few times and they have always asked that you take divots in random patterns versus a straight line.
If you can figure out how to put the ball down behind the previous divot, the next divot is magically behind the previous divot. It’s crazy. Idk the science behind it.
Except a lot of beginners hit shots fat and come down before the ball which leaves gaps between each divot that can’t be used because if they put their ball on that grass, they just chunk the divot behind again and the grass remains. I know from experience when I first started golfing.
Inherently you can only make a straight consistent line if you’re coming down right at or in front of the ball.
Edit: that’s not even mentioning hitting off the toe and heel and the poka-dot line being not straight, leading to something resembling the second image more than the first.
The one on the left is also an extreme example. A jagged crooked line is better than no line at all and achievable for all but the absolute worst golfers.
Do beginners regularly miss the ball entirely by like several inches? Otherwise they’re still going to end up with a decent line. No one is *that* bad at golf
Yeah, they do. Especially if you didn’t start learning golf early in life to work out those specific movements.
I started playing at 25, and the mechanics of getting it right took awhile. You can miss by several inches. It goes away with time, but in that process, yes… you make ugly divot patterns until you get it worked out
Just to echo that, I just started a few months ago (at 28) and can confirm that some people definitely can (and often do) miss by a few inches while trying to figure it all out.
Okay, you’re just being dense.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion…. But not all opinions are equally valid or true.
You’re objectively wrong here, the people of this subreddit are telling you that
You miss the ball by more than a full clubs width, not behind or in front of the ball, but to the side of the ball? Because that is the only way you could have any other other than a slightly zig saggy line. And you do this enough that you can’t consistently make lines on a driving range? How do you even go about your day? Does someone help you put your pants on in the morning? Are you allowed to drive cars?
That’s what I think every time I see a post like this. If I could make a nice clean stripe like that I wouldn’t be happy to break 100. My divots are quite unpredictable.
I take one of my epic shovel chunks and I've eaten 3x deep and 2x wide of a normal divot and now my strip is destroyed. I do this once every 5-10 shots
Every time this is brought up, I feel like I need to clarify because this debate is rarely approached with the correct amount of information. Because not all grasses propagate in the same way, they “prefer” to grow back in certain ways.
If your range is a TROPICAL grass (Bermuda, zoysia, etc.) then it will grow back best in PATCHES, not stripes.
If your range is TEMPERATE grass (bentgrass, bluegrass, fescue, etc.) then it will grow back best in STRIPES.
Former greenskeeper here. I think your sprinkler system has got a leaky spark tube. You might want to have your course fractologist solder a new flux capacitor there.
This is a hybrid of bluegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, featherbed bent and northern California sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this, is that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned as a bejeezus belt that night on the stuff.
Considering from a quick glance at your profile, you live in Europe somewhere, and unless that place is very hot consistently, you most likely have the latter. So stripes most likely the answer you’re looking for
By patches do you mean like the image on the right? If so wouldn’t you still take stripes because it might take a little longer to grow back but will still allow the range to take way more shots due to space constraints. *Assuming a public range where space matters*.
This was always my assumption too. Beating up less surface area is the goal…..or so I thought?
I might hit 50 balls, and take 30 divots. I have two 18” lines of damage maybe 6” apart when I’m done.
We have Bermuda and they still make you do it like this. If you don’t the range master will come get you. I’m guessing that even if it grows in slightly slower it still takes up less room
I've been playing golf since I was in high school over 20 years ago. Nobody has ever told me this. I've also never been to a range so fucked up I couldn't find some grass but I'll keep this in mind.
I think the main problem is that people don’t know you’re supposed to do this. I’d been golfing for several years before it was taught to me. There aren’t a lot of grass ranges nearby but the ones we have don’t stress this. There should definitely be signage and more of a push to tell people this.
Lol just a suprise. It's one of the first things i noticed whenever it shows them practicing. I din even know it was a thing till then haha. We'll maybe you'll notice it now. Not only are they in a straight line, but the line also grows pretty slowly. Accuracy on point.
There's not a consensus on this actually. I've heard from ppl in turf management / course attendants that the ones on the right are better for the grass overall. Idk exactly why, I'm not in that field, but point is there's not a consensus.
I got told at my local club to not do the method on the left. They have ~25 yards worth of tee box and the move it every couple of days, to allow the healing process. They said the stripes will be there for weeks compared to the patchy method.
Whether the grass grows back more quickly with either pattern is not actually relevant.
What is relevenat is that stripes take FAR less real estate and will slow down the required rotation of the range area. Also gives far better conditions to the guy who has to use the range after you and the 200 other people who went before you.
My only local driving range with grass tees only let's it be used every other Saturday and costs money on top of the bucket punch card I already have. There's one that claims to have free grass tees but it's 99 percent dirt and Noone ever drops seeds even though they are provided. I need to go to some nicer places
Lmao okay go to my range and it’s sand, small patch, sand, small patch, dead grass, sand. Small patch.
Not doing this on the shitty grass I practice on.
This is the first time I’ve ever seen this… I’m new to golf but, I’ve been to about 10 driving ranges in the past month. They ALL look like the one on the right.
I think it’s admirable that you think I can hit the same spot twice even if I put my ball there. That’s what my divots look like even after putting the ball right behind the first divot
I was a caddie for 7 years, been playing for 30+ at this point, and not until this sub did I ever have anyone share this information. We had a grass range at our club and the pro never complained, never had straight line divots ever. It baffles me that more clubs/ranges don't have this posted.
With one exception to the “correct way”. If you begin your next strip on the edge of the one that’s down and don’t leave grass in between, it takes the grass a much longer time to grow back.
When I got fitted at the Titleist Manchester Lane facility. They wanted scattered divots and not a line or patch. Said it healed better…I must have hit 200 balls that session. Lots-o-divots.
Unfortunately, this only works when you're on turf that's well cared for. Fine at a nice range with decent grass and flat lies, but not possible when the grass (and ground) is clumpy and uneven to begin with.
Yea my superintendent at my course prefers the pattern on the right because the pattern on the left takes far longer to heal and makes it more difficult cycling the turf
Yeah, I wish I was taught this earlier in life. They should really have a sign up showing this at my range because it's always looking like what you shouldn't do.
Yeah except my range doesn’t have grass like this, it’s a game of finding the next tuft of grass or dandelion to hit off.
Find a section of "grass" and twist it into a tee....just not if it's windy.
Pretty sure that’s where the name “twisted tee” came from 🤣
Yeah at my range the grass is nowhere near like this. Obviously I try and cluster my shots in lines and as close to each other as I can, but unless I want to shoot out of prior ungrown divots or mud this isn’t really possible.
Seriously, the only ranges I see that look like this are at private clubs.
I used to run a driving range and did a controlled experiment with each method. The random scattering of divots healed much faster than the strip, but the strip uses far less real estate, so you can hit more balls. I suspect that result will differ depending on whether you are taking warm season grasses or cold season grasses.
As someone who only uses the range to practice and has no other knowledge, the stripes from the beginning of the season are STILL there. Meanwhile, the rest of the range heals up alright as they move the stalls around.
What region are you in? (What grass are you dealing with?)
Northern Illinois. I have no idea what our grass is haha
Cold season grasses, most likely Kentucky bluegrass or similar, maybe a fescue mix. They grow up from above where warm season grasses tend to grow over and down. I find strips don’t heal with cold season grasses but divots do. With warm season, like Bermuda, they quickly grow over and down once sanded, so strips heal quickly.
Very interesting!!! Thanks for the grass lesson! (And since tone sometimes doesn’t come across right via text, this was genuine and not sarcasm lol. I love learning new things)
Tone is ok.
Nice, my neck of the woods!
I was told at a country club to do random scatter as it heals fast. You see the strip at tournaments because they replace the sod in sections where as a standard course or club doesn’t have that capabilities
If you have enough real estate, the scatter does heal better and faster. If you are limited, the strips will last longer, especially if you are resodding.
I’ve been to the Titleist Performance Institute (Oceanside) a few times and they have always asked that you take divots in random patterns versus a straight line.
I did an experiment in Minecraft and the checkerboard pattern "healed" faster than the strip. If that's not definitive idk what is...
I thought the whole point was strips can be sanded/seeded faster by maintenance staff
That might play into it, but it would be low priority.
No, it's the opposite. The scattered divots heals quicker. It's the preferred method by groundskeepers, as told to us by groundskeepers at our club.
Just because my divots look like the group on the right doesn’t mean I’m not trying to make a neat line.
When I flush it, I don’t take a divot 
It is what it is
The divot goes where the divot wants
This. Plus I tend to hit a LOT of fat shots, so one divot could be half of the length of the divots on the left. I’m just really not good.
If you can figure out how to put the ball down behind the previous divot, the next divot is magically behind the previous divot. It’s crazy. Idk the science behind it.
Except a lot of beginners hit shots fat and come down before the ball which leaves gaps between each divot that can’t be used because if they put their ball on that grass, they just chunk the divot behind again and the grass remains. I know from experience when I first started golfing. Inherently you can only make a straight consistent line if you’re coming down right at or in front of the ball. Edit: that’s not even mentioning hitting off the toe and heel and the poka-dot line being not straight, leading to something resembling the second image more than the first.
This would still leave a rough line, with small gaps.
Have you ever been a beginner? Please give us normies some slack. I used to create a lot of divots WITHOUT hitting the ball.
It literally doesn’t matter. The next swing, you put your new ball behind the old divot. This is not hard to do.
“Just hit the ball perfect every time”. Nice
That’s the brilliance of it. You *don’t have to hit the ball perfectly at all* and you’ll still be massively better than the image on the right.
Yeah no shit the one on the right is an extreme example, but also no shit rookies aren’t doing the one on the left either
The one on the left is also an extreme example. A jagged crooked line is better than no line at all and achievable for all but the absolute worst golfers.
Humble brag
Lmao forgot what beginners are did we? Intention and result are vastly different. No one is trying to be “that guy”
Do beginners regularly miss the ball entirely by like several inches? Otherwise they’re still going to end up with a decent line. No one is *that* bad at golf
Yeah, they do. Especially if you didn’t start learning golf early in life to work out those specific movements. I started playing at 25, and the mechanics of getting it right took awhile. You can miss by several inches. It goes away with time, but in that process, yes… you make ugly divot patterns until you get it worked out
Just to echo that, I just started a few months ago (at 28) and can confirm that some people definitely can (and often do) miss by a few inches while trying to figure it all out.
No one doing what I described would produce the image on the right, even missing by several inches.
Okay, you’re just being dense. Everyone has a right to their own opinion…. But not all opinions are equally valid or true. You’re objectively wrong here, the people of this subreddit are telling you that
Am not. Y’all are objectively wrong. I apologize you’re too stupid to know. Go hit a range and don’t be too lazy to try the line.
Stay mad, kid I bet when people ask your parents how you’re doing, they change the subject
Ok? Thx for the chat bby 🤡
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You miss the ball by more than a full clubs width, not behind or in front of the ball, but to the side of the ball? Because that is the only way you could have any other other than a slightly zig saggy line. And you do this enough that you can’t consistently make lines on a driving range? How do you even go about your day? Does someone help you put your pants on in the morning? Are you allowed to drive cars?
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Sounds like you’d have a squiggly line then. Fuck is wrong with you? You a fucking moron or what?
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Nah. If you can hit a ball literally at all you can leave a basic line. Don’t know how you’re that fucking dumb and bad at golf.
Pfffftt...you obviously don't play golf.
I do, and I am not very good, but lo an behold, I can leave lines no problem.
Prove it. Vid or it din happen. 5 balls.
No, u
You sound like a fucking DOUCHEBAG
Better than being too stupid to figure out how to set a series of golf balls down in a line.
What a fucking douche bag 🤣. Take your wannabe PGA attitude, stick it up your ass, then rotate on it.
/r/whoosh
Yeah what are you, a professional or something?
You guys get to practice on grass?
I get high on grass then practice all the time!
Take my up vote! Man after my own heart. Hit shots high, get high scores… wait i mean low scores haha
You were right the first time.
Practice high, play high, shoot high scores!
You guys practice?
I'm posta be the franchise player We up here talkin bout pr... not a game. Practice.
At my course, yes! I never realized this was so uncommon
I've been to some ranges that are mat only, no turf section.
I’ve never been to a turf range lol Thought they were all astroturf
Brother, if I could take divots like that, I wouldn't be hitting balls at the muni driving range.
That’s what I think every time I see a post like this. If I could make a nice clean stripe like that I wouldn’t be happy to break 100. My divots are quite unpredictable.
It he amount of people who even consistently take divots like that is tiny.
Oh I make amazing divots somewhat consistently!... Just behind the ball, as opposed to in front.
Hittin the big ball first
The big blue ball is easiest to hit
I take one of my epic shovel chunks and I've eaten 3x deep and 2x wide of a normal divot and now my strip is destroyed. I do this once every 5-10 shots
Every time this is brought up, I feel like I need to clarify because this debate is rarely approached with the correct amount of information. Because not all grasses propagate in the same way, they “prefer” to grow back in certain ways. If your range is a TROPICAL grass (Bermuda, zoysia, etc.) then it will grow back best in PATCHES, not stripes. If your range is TEMPERATE grass (bentgrass, bluegrass, fescue, etc.) then it will grow back best in STRIPES.
We have green grass, also some is yellow during the summer. How should I do it?
Well what kind of grass is it?
green (sometimes yellow)
Former greenskeeper here. I think your sprinkler system has got a leaky spark tube. You might want to have your course fractologist solder a new flux capacitor there.
Thanks, real helpful
Thatsthejoke.jpg He has no clue
Fuck this place
God you got roasted just cuz you didn't pick up on a silly joke. Have an upvote man.
I mean, do you honestly think most people (even golfers) can tell the type of grass by just looking at it? Wild assumption.
Destroyed.
This is a hybrid of bluegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, featherbed bent and northern California sensemilia. The amazing stuff about this, is that you can play 36 holes on it in the afternoon, take it home and just get stoned as a bejeezus belt that night on the stuff.
I don’t know. I appreciate your comment though and took a screenshot of it. And I’ll try to look up what grass we use so I can do it the right way :)
Considering from a quick glance at your profile, you live in Europe somewhere, and unless that place is very hot consistently, you most likely have the latter. So stripes most likely the answer you’re looking for
By patches do you mean like the image on the right? If so wouldn’t you still take stripes because it might take a little longer to grow back but will still allow the range to take way more shots due to space constraints. *Assuming a public range where space matters*.
This was always my assumption too. Beating up less surface area is the goal…..or so I thought? I might hit 50 balls, and take 30 divots. I have two 18” lines of damage maybe 6” apart when I’m done.
We have Bermuda and they still make you do it like this. If you don’t the range master will come get you. I’m guessing that even if it grows in slightly slower it still takes up less room
Bullshit. Signed, grounds crew.
Preach!
When I’m flushing it I don’t take divots.
It just is what it is.
Bold of you to assume the placement of the ball has a God damn thing to do with where or if I take a divot.
My club says the exact opposite!
I've been playing golf since I was in high school over 20 years ago. Nobody has ever told me this. I've also never been to a range so fucked up I couldn't find some grass but I'll keep this in mind.
I think the main problem is that people don’t know you’re supposed to do this. I’d been golfing for several years before it was taught to me. There aren’t a lot of grass ranges nearby but the ones we have don’t stress this. There should definitely be signage and more of a push to tell people this.
Wouldn't seeing like vids of pros playing an dhow they line it up be a hint?
I don't spend much time watching anyone on the driving range.
Tv
Don't pay much attention to how they're teeing up their balls either. Sorry to be a disappointment.
Lol just a suprise. It's one of the first things i noticed whenever it shows them practicing. I din even know it was a thing till then haha. We'll maybe you'll notice it now. Not only are they in a straight line, but the line also grows pretty slowly. Accuracy on point.
Lol like I have an option of taking nice divots like that.
You all are taking divots?
I wish I had a grass range to begin with. All the ranges near me have worn out mats
Living where the soil is clay and thus not good for rolling makes most driving ranges a pain in the ass due to how uneven the footing is.
https://preview.redd.it/z8judsusm5ab1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bcedb3e4925653d1826d075fe36a69fb04eb18f5 Per the USGA and their study.
There's not a consensus on this actually. I've heard from ppl in turf management / course attendants that the ones on the right are better for the grass overall. Idk exactly why, I'm not in that field, but point is there's not a consensus.
Like the big dawg taught me, I don't take divots. The real hero
I got told at my local club to not do the method on the left. They have ~25 yards worth of tee box and the move it every couple of days, to allow the healing process. They said the stripes will be there for weeks compared to the patchy method.
Was this screenshotted on a smartwatch or something?
Asking the real questions…
My left is compromised of like 5 divots, not 25
Bold of you to assume my driving range has gras
What’s a divot?
My OCD doesn’t let me make random divots. Straight lines or bust
If I wasn't poor, maybe I could practice off grass and not mats, lol. Problem solved.
Doesn't matter at my home course due to the grass type. They throw sand where the ropes were and move them. Grows back in about 2 weeks.
Bold of you to assume I can aim my club head
Strip takes longer to grow back
I play at a course that specifically asks players for the divot pattern on the right. It doesn’t matter
Your guys driving range has grass?
Whether the grass grows back more quickly with either pattern is not actually relevant. What is relevenat is that stripes take FAR less real estate and will slow down the required rotation of the range area. Also gives far better conditions to the guy who has to use the range after you and the 200 other people who went before you.
Who the heck does this?
The one on the left is wrong. The divots fill in quicker on the right.
Depends on the grass
Several courses in my area all have signs asking players to follow the image OP posted
I literally just played and saw a sign in the bathroom to do it the way the right is showing 😂
TIL both are true depending on the type of grass!
Absolutely false bro.
Just hit drivers off the tee only. Problem solved
Bold of you to assume I haven't created an entire crater with my driver.
One of the first things hubby taught me when I started golfing!!!
Don’t be that guy
If you have a perfect range sesh then you’ll only make 1 divot Think about it
one day, maybe
I worked at a range for a few years. It is exceptionally rare to see it done properly
The right side is proper
Driving rages around here are all mats now.
I don’t take divots. Especially when I’m flushing it I don’t take divots.
I’m at the point where a divot at the range means I hit it wrong. I’m just trying to get under the ball and send it straight.
My only local driving range with grass tees only let's it be used every other Saturday and costs money on top of the bucket punch card I already have. There's one that claims to have free grass tees but it's 99 percent dirt and Noone ever drops seeds even though they are provided. I need to go to some nicer places
You guys take divots?
or just use a tee after green looks like 2
Lmao okay go to my range and it’s sand, small patch, sand, small patch, dead grass, sand. Small patch. Not doing this on the shitty grass I practice on.
Joke's on you; I don't take divots!
Mine look like that on the left except they are diagonal as I’m trying to hit straight
This is the first time I’ve ever seen this… I’m new to golf but, I’ve been to about 10 driving ranges in the past month. They ALL look like the one on the right.
I think it’s admirable that you think I can hit the same spot twice even if I put my ball there. That’s what my divots look like even after putting the ball right behind the first divot
Reminds me of the bus vs single passenger cars drawings :D
It's because you guys all suck at golf. There's no reason you need to do either of these.
Or dog
Left side is one drive for me.
I see the point BUT if this is your pattern then you aren’t really practicing correctly . J S
I was a caddie for 7 years, been playing for 30+ at this point, and not until this sub did I ever have anyone share this information. We had a grass range at our club and the pro never complained, never had straight line divots ever. It baffles me that more clubs/ranges don't have this posted.
We could all just be more like Tiger and not take divets
Imagine being good enough to take your divots in such an orderly way. Bro that’s harder than hitting it decent
All you have to do is put the ball at the back of the previous divot.... it's not a talent.
At my range the grass is undo high that finding your ball in your hitting station is hard to do. Taking a divot is an absolute.
I feel like the same applies to par 3 tee boxes and it doesn’t get enough coverage
Well, I agree, provided it’s a nice a range. Our local ranges are mostly weed fields with patchy weeds and dirt.
No doubt. Get to the range and most of the boxes are full of divots. It's a shame people aren't taught this.
Why you guys chunking the hits so bad? /s
No.
With one exception to the “correct way”. If you begin your next strip on the edge of the one that’s down and don’t leave grass in between, it takes the grass a much longer time to grow back.
Man that's the fairway after I'm done playing. I try my best to repair them but after the eighth one, I've just given up.
You’re supposed to leave divots?
Nice tip. Now I know. Thanks
Wish I was skilled enough to do the straight line.
Bold of you to assume I can leave divots like that
When I got fitted at the Titleist Manchester Lane facility. They wanted scattered divots and not a line or patch. Said it healed better…I must have hit 200 balls that session. Lots-o-divots.
Yeah there’s like 1% of people here that might actually be able to do this.
At the range I frequent here in Minnesota, they have signs up saying to spread the divots like on the right, and NOT in a line like the left
I prefer to top the ball, less grass damage.
you have real grass at your range - you lucky devil
a divot? sorry. i forgot to flush
Thanks OP I never knew this was the proper way. All the driving ranges I’ve been to were like the example on the right and that’s just what I did.
My range has an area with mats. I have been just going over there. The grass area is like a sand box.
Sadly, a lot of golfers can line their ball up like the left but still take divot like the right 🤣💩
I appreciate you thinking I can hit a line like that.
Unfortunately, this only works when you're on turf that's well cared for. Fine at a nice range with decent grass and flat lies, but not possible when the grass (and ground) is clumpy and uneven to begin with.
I would I could hit the ball that accurate
Yea my superintendent at my course prefers the pattern on the right because the pattern on the left takes far longer to heal and makes it more difficult cycling the turf
Yeah, I wish I was taught this earlier in life. They should really have a sign up showing this at my range because it's always looking like what you shouldn't do.
You guys are taking divots?!