Ball marks...

Is there anything more frustrating than your ball hitting a ball mark when it is tracking on a putt?  This is something that should make high and low handicappers alike cringe.  These craters on the face of the green are also very frustrating to the greens keeper as well.  You see, the ball mark is both a breeding ground for disease and invasive plant life, and a problematic issue for the mowers as well.  If left unrepaired on a creeping Bentgrass green, poa annua is allowed to invade, as well as clover, creeping charlie, moss and algae.  All of these invasive species can cause issues in putting green quality, and are very hard to control as very few chemical herbicides can be used on Bentgrass without injury to the Bentgrass occurring.  

As well as being an environment to the invasion of weeds, a raised ball mark will scalp which will incite disease issues.  These issues must be treated with expensive chemicals that we do not wish to use on the course unless absolutely necessary.  5 seconds is all it takes to fix a ball mark, it's amazing that 5 seconds of negligence can possibly cost the golf course thousands of dollars in chemical and man hours.

As well as disease issues, unrepaired ball marks can also cause damage to the intricate reel type mower that keeps our greens cut at 140/1000 of an inch, and lower at some golf courses.  That's almost one eighth of an inch.  Check out a tape measure to see just how low that is.  This raised piece of earth can damage the reel and/or the bed knife which then must be taken apart and sharpened or replaced.  This takes hours of our time to repair, or as I said before 5 seconds of your time to repair your ball mark.

In conclusion, we have the ability to take a few seconds to repair the epidemic that is ball marks, when you do this you make the game more enjoyable for everyone, so fix your marks and one other and enjoy the game every day.