h
h
GOLF ACCESSORIES
DIVOT TOOLS, BALL MARKERS & BAG GEAR — DESIGNED IN THE USA
Golf accessories are the small items that live in the bag and get used every round — divot tools, ball markers, tees and the bits that clip to a strap. They cost the least and get lost the most, which makes them the easiest gap to fill in a golfer's setup. Heavy Strokes accessories are designed in the USA. The range is below, with a guide to what each item does and the rules that actually govern it.
How to choose
- A divot tool with a magnetic ball marker in the handle solves two problems with one item and one pocket. It is the single most useful accessory purchase for most golfers.
- Two prongs or four is preference, not performance. How you use the tool matters far more than which one you own — see the FAQ below.
- Buy a marker you can identify at a glance. The reason people lose them is that a plain disc looks like every coin in the pocket. Keep it small and flat, roughly the size of a coin, so it is easy to place accurately.
- If it clips to a bag strap, check the clip is a carabiner and not an open split ring. Split rings work loose over a season.
- Buying for someone else? These are the safest golf items to buy blind. No sizing, no fitting, no brand loyalty, and every golfer needs replacements.
Accessory types compared
| Item | What it does | Where it lives | How often it's lost | Typical price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Divot tool | Repairs ball marks on the green | Pocket or bag strap | Often | $10 – $25 |
| Ball marker | Marks your ball's spot on the green | Divot tool, hat brim, pocket | Constantly | $5 – $15 |
| Combo tool | Both, magnetically joined | One pocket | Less — two items, one thing to lose | $15 – $30 |
| Bag towel | Cleans grooves and grips | Clipped to the bag | Rarely, if clipped | $27.99 – $30.99 |
Ball marking — what the rules actually say
| Situation | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Marker placed right behind or right next to the ball | Correct. In front or to the side is also allowed, as long as it is right next to the ball |
| Ball lifted without marking it first | One penalty stroke |
| Putting without lifting the marker first | One penalty stroke |
| Ball replaced in the wrong spot and played | Two penalty strokes (loss of hole in match play) |
| Marker accidentally moved while marking or lifting | No penalty — just replace it |
| Marker moved by wind or rain | No penalty — replace as close to the original spot as possible |
Frequently asked questions
What is a divot tool?
A divot tool is a small two- or four-pronged tool used to repair the crater a golf ball leaves when it lands on a green. Most modern versions hold a magnetic ball marker in the handle. Despite the name it is not for fairway divots — those get the turf plug stamped back down, or filled with the sand mix from the cart, depending on the course.
How do you use a divot tool properly?
Insert the prongs at the edge of the ball mark, angled slightly inward, and push the surrounding turf toward the centre. Work around the mark doing that. Then tap the surface flat with the sole of your putter. The mistake almost everyone makes is levering the centre upward — that tears the roots underneath and kills the grass, which leaves a worse scar than doing nothing. A mark repaired properly and straight away recovers in roughly a day. One left open, or pried up, can take weeks.
Where exactly do you place a ball marker?
Right behind or right next to the ball, then lift the ball. Marking to the side or even in front is permitted under the Rules of Golf, so long as it is right next to the ball — behind is simply the convention and the least ambiguous. What matters is replacing the ball on its original spot. Get that wrong and play the ball and it is two strokes in stroke play, or loss of hole in match play.
Can you just use a coin as a ball marker?
Yes. A coin, a tee, even a hat clip is fine — the marker just has to be an artificial object, so a leaf or a pebble does not qualify. Keep it small and flat, roughly coin-sized, because the whole job is replacing the ball accurately and a large object makes that harder. The practical case for a purpose-made marker is not the rules; it is that you can spot it in the grass and pick it out of a pocket full of tees and change.
What if your marker is on someone else's putting line?
Move it. Pick a fixed reference point in the distance, then move the marker one or more clubhead-lengths to the side — not closer to the hole. When it is your turn, reverse the process using the same reference point before you replace the ball. The reference point is the part people skip, and it is the reason balls end up back in roughly the right place rather than exactly it.
Do you have to repair your own ball mark, or any ball mark?
Yours, always. Beyond that it is convention rather than a rule, but the widely held standard is to fix your own and one other while you are down there. Greens staff cannot keep up with unrepaired marks, and an untouched one leaves a brown scar for weeks. It costs you about ten seconds a hole.
What accessories does every golfer actually need?
A bag towel, a divot tool, a ball marker, and more tees than you think you need. Everything past that is preference or gadgetry. Those four get used every round regardless of handicap, which is also why they are the safest things to buy for a golfer whose setup you do not know.
Are accessories a good gift on their own, or too small?
Honest answer: a single ball marker under $20 reads as a stocking filler rather than a gift. That is not a problem if that is what you want. If you need it to feel like a proper present, pair a divot tool with a bag towel and you are at a real gift for under $50, with nothing to size and nothing to guess at.