MarkMender Ballmark Repair Tool

"It was a very simple thought and it stuck with me like a bad song that you keep singing. I spent a great deal of time thinking about it and finally, I saw one of my daughter's hair clips on my sink counter and it hit me. I spent several weeks playing in the basement making prototypes and the rest is history."

Cranman provided About.com Golf with several samples of the MarkMender, and we spent a month or so using the newfangled gadgets and showing them around to other golfers.

We found the MarkMender very easy to use, and effective at repairing ballmarks, even on the hard greens at some of the courses we play regularly.

Cranman said that a few customers have commented on what they felt was the bulky size of the MarkMender. We carried the MarkMender in our pocket at all times during multiple rounds, and not once did we feel it was cumbersome or bothersome. However, any golfer who does have that reaction can easily clip the MarkMender onto his belt loop or golf bag.

We also found the idea behind the MarkMender very easy to grasp, even for golfers seeing it the very first time. There's really only one way it can be used: stick it in the ground around the edges of the ballmark, and squeeze.

We had success on our very first try, as did most of the golfers to whom we showed it. A few needed a few tries with it to get the hang of it. The MarkMender is easier to use on softer greens, but it does work fine on firmer greens, too.

The only issue we discovered during use is that some golfers - usually older women or elderly men, or older golfers who have hand ailments or particularly weak hands - had some trouble squeezing the MarkMender on firm greens. We watched one older gentleman strain to use it on firm greens, although he finally managed to repair the ballmark.

Of course, the real test of a new ballmark repair tool is this: Does it help the greens heal faster - or as quickly - as does a properly used traditional tool?

There is not an "official" answer to that question as of this writing. The MarkMender certainly, to the naked eye, repairs ballmarks just as well as the traditional tool, and (for most golfers) more easily and with much less chance for error.

Cranman is working on setting up some independent studies of the MarkMender's efficacy. He is in discussions with turfgrass studies departments at a couple universities. Once an independent study is set in motion, it will likely take months - possibly more than a year, since the testers may want to include different seasons (and therefore different types of turfgrasses) in the study.

Ultimately, the results of such studies will show the future of the MarkMender. After using the MarkMender, it's my guess that if those studies show it to be more effective or as effective as the traditional tool, the MarkMender will become the new tradition in ballmark repair.

If you can find the MarkMender in your pro shop, it should carry a retail price of $6.95. If not, it can be ordered from the company website at $34.95 for a package of four. The MarkMender website is www.markmender.com.