Linda, I play on a public golf course in Perth. We have a ladies’
club one day a week playing competition.
Occasionally, if a workman is in the bunker he will throw
out a wayward ball that has entered the bunker. There is no GUR sign up. We
have asked for GUR signs to be put up if workmen don't want us playing out of
the bunker when they are working in them, but being a public course this does
not always happen. Usually the worker moves out of the way as we approach.
Should the owner of the ball replace it with a drop in the
bunker at the closest spot where she thought it was, or do you treat it as a
Bunker with GUR and continue play under Rule 25 -1b (i)?
We wish to let our club members know the correct procedure
before the start of the 2013 season.
Many thanks,
Lulu from Australia
Dear Lulu,
Grounds crew members working in bunkers is not an unusual
occurrence on a golf course. The presence of a worker in a bunker is not
sufficient cause to declare a bunker “ground under repair.”
For the safety of the workers, they should be encouraged to
either watch golfers hitting in the vicinity or vacate the bunker when golfers
approach (preferably the latter). The crew chief should instruct the workers
not to touch balls that are hit into bunkers. I would be surprised to learn
that an experienced member of the grounds crew was tossing balls out of a
bunker that arrived after he did.
Nonetheless, mistakes are made, and the first thing you
suggest is the right idea. The worker is an outside agency. When a ball at rest
is moved by an outside agency, there is no penalty and it must be replaced
[Rule 18-1]. It should prove fairly simple to figure out where the ball originally
lay in the bunker. You may also ask the worker where it landed. Watching you
replace it may help him understand that he should not pick it up the next time.
Linda
Copyright © 2013 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
