August 3
Hello Linda,
Recently, as I played my 2nd shot from the side of the green at a par 3 hole, I noticed the rake had been placed previously outside the bunker and directly across it. Instead of chipping over the bunker from a bare lie, I putted the ball at the rake handle and this then jumped the ball over the bunker to within a foot of the hole. It was a shot in a thousand and as it was only a social round of golf it mattered little as to if it was a legal shot. This situation may never again arise, but what would be the ruling if it did?
Lou Lou
Dear Lou Lou,
There is nothing in the Rules to prohibit you from intentionally caroming a shot off a movable obstruction. The Rules state that you may take relief from a movable obstruction (such as a rake), but not that you must. Your action was as legal as it was unusual.
Linda
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