How to play out of a deep divot

If your ball comes to rest in a deep divot or one that points off your target line then you are faced with a serious problem. It is hard to know how exactly the ball will react so you have to play the shot with the most margin for error.

Playing alone the line of the divot is usually the best option. You must strike down sharply into the bottom of the ball and expect a very low ball flight with plenty of run. Finding your ball in a divot is very frustrating especially if you have hit a perfect drive straight down the middle an is usually the result of someone's thoughtlessness.

If you create a divot then put the grass back into the divot as the turf will start to recover quickly and fully. It is also one less divot for your ball to land in and if we all replace our divots then we will never have this problem again. One point is that birds will often turn over replaced divots looking for food so it is not always golfers that leave the exposed divots.