Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Ask Linda #1551-Rake issues

Linda-
If a player is in a greenside bunker and places the rake outside and on the slope adjacent to that bunker, and then makes his shot and the ball does not reach the green, rather rolls down the slope and (Scenario 1) he can't get to the rake in time to move it, and the rake stops his ball, what is the ruling?
(Scenario 2) If he moves the rake, is this considered interfering with his line of play or not?
Many thanks.
Lou from British Columbia, Canada

Dear Lou,

Scenario 1: There is no penalty if the ball in motion is stopped by the stationary rake. The ball must be played as it lies.

Scenario 2: If the player moves the rake out of the path of his moving ball, he has breached Rule 24-1 (last paragraph before the Note). The penalty is two strokes in stroke play, loss of hole in match play.

Linda
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