Hi Linda: I just checked out your website for these answers
but it looked as though 2008 was the last time the answer to one of them was
reported.
1) Is it now permissible to move a club or the flagstick,
either one lying on the green, when you are on the green and someone has putted
and that ball may hit either the club or flagstick mentioned above, without a
penalty for the person who moves the club or flagstick?
2) Are you now allowed to rake a bunker BEFORE you stroke
your ball out of it, for ANY reason at all??? I am under the impression that
there is a very new rule that allows you to rake (of course not behind your
ball), but 'somewhere,' in the same bunker for some reason which I can't
remember! And, I'm told you can rake behind you, once you've hit your first
shot in the bunker, even if your ball advances forward but Remains in the
bunker. Correct?
Thank you.
Lulu
Dear Lulu,
The Rules about both matters have changed significantly
since 2008. Here are the 2012 rulings pertinent to your questions.
1. When a player’s ball is in motion, and it appears that it
might strike any player’s equipment (such as a club left on the green), the
equipment may be lifted out of the way by any player. If the flagstick is being
attended or has been removed and is lying on the green, any player may move it
out of the way of a ball in motion. However, if the flagstick is in the hole,
unattended, no one is permitted to run over and pull it out [Rule 24-1b, last
paragraph]. Equipment and flagsticks are the only obstructions that may be
moved while a ball is in motion. If any other obstruction is moved, the player
incurs a two-stroke penalty.
2. A player may smooth sand in a hazard at any time, provided her reason is to care for the course and she
does nothing to improve the area of her stance and swing [Rule 13-4, Exception
2]. She may not fill in footprints from a previous stance if she decides to try
a different shot and has to change her stance.
Once the ball is hit out of the hazard, there is no
restriction on the amount of raking she may do in the first hazard, even if her
ball comes to rest in another hazard.
The biggest advantage to this Rule, from my perspective, is
that a player entering a large bunker who plans to exit at another spot may
rake the footprints behind her as she walks to her ball.
Linda
Copyright © 2012 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
