Linda,
Hi. I’m new to golf and I’m learning a lot of rules as I
go.
But the other day I was given relief in a bunker from a very
deep footprint (about 6" deep) that a golfer had not repaired. I was told
to rake the place where the ball was and replace the ball.
I thought that would be improving my lie. But I was told
that it was not my fault and a bunker should not be left in that condition.
I did what my marker told me to do and moved on. But it just
did not sit well with me.
Please explain.
Thanks.
Lou from Adelaide, Australia
Dear Lou,
It doesn’t sit well with me either, Lou. While players are
expected to care for the course, which would include careful raking as they
exit a bunker, the players who follow must play the bunker as they find it. If
your ball has the bad luck of settling in a footprint left behind for you by
some “numpty” (thank you, reader from Scotland, for that addition to my
vocabulary), you must play it as it lies or declare it unplayable. If you
decide the ball is unplayable, drop
it in the bunker (within two club-lengths, not closer to the hole; or straight
back from the hole), or drop it where you played your last shot [please read
Rule 28, “Unplayable Ball”]. This drop will add one penalty stroke to your
score.
If you improve your lie in the bunker, you incur a penalty
of two strokes for a breach of Rule 13-2. While you are permitted to smooth
sand in a bunker at any time to care for the course, you may not do so if the
smoothing improves the lie, stance, swing, or line of play for your stroke
[Rule 13-4, Exception 2].
Linda
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