From Brent Kelley,
Your Guide to Golf.
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Most good swings on well-struck iron shots produce a divot in the fairway (or tee box). The word "divot" actually refers to two different things: the top layer of turf that is sliced off and sent flying as your iron enters the ground; and the resulting scar, or patch of bare earth, that is left in the fairway.

If you look closely, in the photo above, just to the left and forward of the golfer you can see part of the divot flying away.

Repairing divots is an important duty of golfers who create them. According to the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, a repaired divot can speed up the healing process (meaning: the grass will cover over the scar in the fairway) by a couple weeks, as opposed to an unrepaired divot.

(The fellow in the photo, by the way, is Michael Lamanna, director of instruction at The Academy at La Cantera, part of the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas. This is the 18th hole at the resort's Palmer Course, and the Palmer Course clubhouse in the background.)