Linda, thank you for this forum and your clear discussions
of the rules… Here is a situation that occurred the other day and I think a
rule was broken but not 100% sure. Tried to find it and could not…
Player A comes up short on 2nd shot on par 4 and is right
behind a trap (stroke play). He has to hit over the trap to get to the green
and pin. Before he hits the shot he goes into the trap and rakes the trap of
the footprints and blast holes from a previous golfer. The footprints, etc., were
on a direct line to the pin. I told the guy I thought it was OK to rake the
trap in an area away from his shot but not on the line of play of his shot but
was not sure. Can you please help me understand this rule better?
Thanks from Lou in North Carolina
Dear Lou,
Sure can, Lou.
When a player’s ball is behind a bunker, he is not permitted
to walk forward and rake footprints in the bunker that are on his line of play
[Decision 13-2/28]. This would be a breach of Rule 13-2, which prohibits a
player from improving his line of play. The penalty is two strokes (loss of
hole in match play).
Linda
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