Hi Linda,
Exception #2 to Rule 13-4 states a player at any time may
smooth the sand in a bunker provided it is for the sole purpose of caring for
the course and nothing is done to improve the intended stance or swing.
My question is:
May a player bring a rake into the bunker, drag it behind
her to remove her footprints because she plans on exiting the bunker from the
opposite side (she has no intention of testing the sand, but there was no
rake close to where her ball lay), so to save time she planned on exiting the
bunker closer to where her ball lay—to save time she raked her footprints as
she approached her ball?
I say she can do this as her intention is not to test
the sand but to save time, but my Professional disagrees. (I say, if we had
more rakes, this wouldn’t even come up!) I have read Rule #13 and all the
Decisions, and I still think I am right!
Hope you can clarify this for me. I enjoy
your posts and follow you closely.
Thanks,
Lulu from Naples, Florida
Dear Lulu,
Exception #2 to Rule 13-4 allows players to smooth sand in
the bunker at any time, provided the sole purpose for doing so is to care for
the course, and nothing is done to breach Rule 13-2 with respect to their next
stroke.
One of the reasons this Exception was put in the Rules was to
save time, and it most assuredly allows you (indeed, encourages you) to rake the footprints you make on the way to your
ball when you plan to exit on the other side of the bunker.
The safest way to do this is to rake behind you as you are
walking to your ball, and then lay the rake down when you are in the vicinity
of your ball, perhaps 10 feet away. You don’t want to do any raking near the
ball; you are not permitted to improve the area of your intended stance or
swing or the line of play (this is what is meant by breaching 13-2 with respect
to your next stroke).
I assume you shared the Rule and several related Decisions
with your misinformed club pro. Since the printed word has not swayed him, why
don’t you suggest that he call the USGA and discuss this question with a Rules
official? This is an important concept for a pro to understand.
Linda
Copyright © 2017 Linda Miller. All rights reserved.
