Hi Linda,
The Cink bunker rule really gives you pause in terms of doing almost anything on the course!
A question came up with a couple of members of our club concerning entering and re-entering bunkers. Is it within the rules to enter a bunker (with or without a club), take your stance (digging in), and then decide to change clubs? Is it allowable to leave the bunker and re-enter with another club? Would that be considered testing the conditions? Also, is it allowable to enter another part of a bunker, take your stance, and then simulate a swing before taking your stance where the ball lies? Would this be considered testing the condition of the bunker?
Dear Lulu,
I am particularly pleased that you asked these questions, since there is a new decision this year (13-4/0.5) regarding these exact issues that should be of interest to all golfers. Some of the procedures you asked about were prohibited in the past, but are now permissible in 2008.
Here are your answers:
1. You are permitted to enter a bunker with or without a club, dig in to take your stance, and then decide to change clubs. You are allowed to exit the bunker to select another club and then re-enter. However, when you return with the new club, if you should decide to take a different stance, then you may not fill in the footprints from your first stance. Filling in those footprints would constitute testing the condition of the hazard.
2. You are allowed to enter another part of the bunker that may be a good distance away from your ball, dig in, simulate a swing (or take a practice swing with a club – just don’t touch the sand with the club), leave the bunker, get a club, and then proceed to your ball. However, you may not rake those footprints prior to hitting your ball, so please don’t forget to rake ALL your footprints after your ball is out of the hazard. (If one of your playing partners offers to rake, and his ball is not in the hazard, that would be permissible.)
I discussed this last ruling with a rules official at the USGA a couple of days ago. He explained that the reason you are now permitted to take a stance in the hazard away from where your ball lies is that it was decided that you are not gaining any additional information about the hazard by doing so.
Here are some additional activities that are permissible in a hazard:
• placing a rake or a selection of clubs in the hazard (you can take your whole bag in with you, if you wish);
• leaning on a rake in a hazard (but you may NOT lean on your club);
• marking your ball with a tee if you are proceeding under a rule that requires you to lift your ball (e.g., lifting a ball that interferes with another player’s shot);
• tripping and falling in a hazard, or touching the hazard to prevent falling;
• taking practice swings and hitting the sand in the bunker AFTER you hit your ball OUT of the bunker.
None of these activities would be considered testing the condition of the hazard.
Here are some examples of actions that WOULD constitute testing the condition of the hazard, and would therefore be PROHIBITED:
• digging in with your feet more than necessary to take your stance;
• filling in footprints from a previous stance (if you worsen the bunker, you are not permitted to restore it);
• jamming a rake into the sand (e.g., to stand it up);
• smoothing the bunker with your club or a rake prior to your shot (but please, please, please rake the bunker after you hit your ball out, including any nearby footprints carelessly left by other golfers);
• kicking the sand;
• touching the sand with a club during a practice swing prior to hitting the ball.
Note: It is permissible to touch an obstruction in a hazard. This explains why you are allowed to ground your club on a bridge that crosses a hazard. You may also touch the bridge during a practice swing; however, you may not remove any loose impediments lying on the bridge.
Here are some other fun rulings about playing in the sand:
1. If you have to stand in a bunker to hit a ball that lies outside the bunker, you are allowed to touch the sand on your backswing.
2. If a player takes several practice swings in a bunker before he hits his shot, and he hits the sand during each of those practice swings, the total penalty is two strokes. All of those swings together are viewed as one infraction.
3. If a player accidentally kicks a pine cone (or any other loose impediment) into a bunker on his way in, he is not permitted to remove it. The penalty would be two strokes (loss of hole in match play).
4. You are permitted by rule (believe it or not, there’s actually a decision about this) to swat away an insect in a hazard – just don’t swat your ball in the process.
5. If your ball is in a hazard, and another player hits a ball and knocks a divot near your ball, you are permitted to remove it. The reason is that you are always entitled to the lie that your stroke gave you. On the other hand, if a pine cone falls out of a tree and lands behind your ball, you may not remove it. The distinction between these two rulings is that the divot landing near your ball was caused by another player; the pine cone falling behind your ball was caused by Mother Nature.
6. If you casually throw a rake into the bunker, rather than place it, there is no penalty.
7. If you hit your ball and fail to extricate it from the bunker, you may rake the area around your first shot provided nothing is done to improve the lie for your next shot. However, if your next shot caroms off the side of the bunker and lands in that smoothed area, you would be penalized two strokes (loss of hole).
8. You are not permitted to touch a loose impediment during your backswing – that would include twigs, leaves, and the oft-mentioned pine cone. And that detached branch that is lying right behind your ball? Don’t even think about tossing it out of the bunker. If you suspect you can’t hit your ball without touching those loose impediments during your backswing, or that branch is preventing you from hitting any golf shot known to man, then it’s best to take your medicine and declare that ball unplayable [see Rules #3-Unplayable Ball, posted in March]. Taking relief for an unplayable ball will cost you one stroke; hitting that pine cone on your backswing or removing that branch will cost you two strokes.
9. You are permitted to touch anything growing in the hazard; plants, shrubs, and trees are not loose impediments.
I believe I’ve given you enough bunker rules to think about for now, Lulu. Have fun playing in the sand!
Linda
Copyright © 2008 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
