Dear Linda
My ball was in a bunker - way ahead of it, in the bunker,
where my ball might land if I fluffed it, were the deep imprints left by last
night's rhinoceros wrestling championships. Or whatever, it was really ugly.
I used the rake as a bulldozer and prettified the area before taking my
stroke and amazing my companions (and myself) with my brilliant bunker
shot.
Was it OK to do this, or should I go down the garden and eat
worms?
Your admirer,
Lou from England
Dear Lou,
You are not permitted to improve your line of play by raking
the sand in front of your ball in the bunker [Rule 13-2]. The penalty is two
strokes (loss of hole in match play). Eating worms is optional.
You are permitted to smooth sand in a bunker prior to making
a stroke, provided your only reason for doing so is to care for the course and the raking does not breach Rule
13-2 for your next stroke [Rule 13-4, Exception 2]. What this means, basically,
is you may not rake the area where you will stand or swing, or your line of
play. However, if you have to retrieve a rake from another part of the bunker,
and your exit from the bunker will not retrace those steps, you may (and
should) rake them.
Please remember that any raking prior to your shot must be solely
for the purpose of caring for the course. If a player is constantly raking
footprints prior to his bunker shots, suspicion that he is trying to gain
knowledge about the condition of the bunker would be reasonable, and the player
would incur a two-stroke penalty under Rule 13-4 for testing the condition of
the hazard [Decision 13-4/9].
Linda
Copyright © 2015 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
