The Most Luxurious Way to Fix a Ball Mark

Go beyond bogeys and birdies, and golf is full of principles and routines that give it texture. Integrity is expressed through self-enforced rules and honest tallying of one’s score. Decorum is maintained by remaining silent during a partner’s shot, and respect is shown by helping an opponent locate their ball.

Then there’s the concept of collective investment. The idea that no single act is crucial on its own, but when done in unison it becomes something greater. Small courtesies like raking a bunker, fixing a divot or repairing a ball mark can seem trivial in isolation, but they’re embedded into the fabric of the game the same way a ball lodges into saturated turf.

Just as a new putter once made practicing four footers exciting, a sterling-silver divot tool might motivate golfers to leave no ball mark behind. That’s exactly what Redan, the new members-only golf brand from Jon Buscemi, has designed along with legendary jeweler Tiffany & Co. The limited-edition item—hand-forged in sterling silver—is stamped with both the Redan logo and Tiffany’s hallmark, making it feel equal parts a keepsake and a tool. But make no mistake: the Redan divot tool is intended to be used, not displayed.

“I take it as a badge of honor that I even hit the green. I’m out there hunting for my divot like a truffle pig.”

“When we were developing our divot tool with the team at Tiffany & Co., we didn’t want to create a sterling-silver Redan souvenir,” says Redan’s Daniel Libman, a screenwriter based in Los Angeles. “We wanted to encourage our members to use it rather than saving it ‘for best.’ Over time, we know it’ll develop its own unique patina—a sign of a well-loved keepsake and a frequently used functional item.”

Of course, if the balance tips too far toward the precious, even a tool can end up as a display piece. But Buscemi reminds us that Tiffany divot tools already have precedent in golf, and that Redan’s philosophy centers on nostalgia for the new age.

“This divot tool is sterling silver, so it’ll patina and darken if you don’t polish it,” he tells us. “But fifty years from now, someone could find it on a desk or in a vintage store and it’ll still look incredible. That’s what I love—creating something that feels destined to become vintage.”

There’s another layer to divot fixing that only comes with experience. It takes landing the ball on the green (with a well-struck, towering iron) to create one in the first place. In that sense, repairing one’s ball mark becomes an act of pride, a physical expression of something that otherwise lives in metrics like ball speed, apex and spin rate. Provided you beat the caddie to the green, of course.

“I actually hate when the caddie fixes my ball marks,” we admit. “I want to do it myself.”

“Same here,” Buscemi says. “I take it as a badge of honor that I even hit the green. I’m out there hunting for my divot like a truffle pig.”