a trend i've been seeing

Exactly, stay out of the bunker.

Golf was never meant to be fair. As long as all players are treated equally, that's all the fairness required. That means that you might get a good break, you might get a bad break... over time it all evens out.

exactly.

Why would you want to go through a game of golf as fast as you can? DOn't you want to enjoy it? lol

Yes it is, because all players have the same chance of landing in that footprint. Just because they don't all land there doesn't make it unfair, any more than it's unfair that they don't all land behind a certain tree, or all hit the same patch of deep rough. One guy hits into a water hazard and gets a perfect lie, while his buddy is 2 feet away and unplayable. What's fair about that? But they had an equal chance of their positions being reversed, or both being playable, or both being unplayable.

Except you are assuming that only one footprint will remain in the bunker all day. But that won't happen. Without rakes, the first foursome of the day will get a raked bunker, and the one that comes through at 2 p.m. will have to deal with 100 footprints, 50 splash holes, etc.

You're absolutely right. That's why I never fix divots or ball marks. Everybody playing behind me has an equal chance of avoiding the damage I leave so it's all fair.

Easy solution: Have a different slope and rating for the course depending on the time of day it is played.

I hope your joking. If not read this

I thought my sarcasm was obvious. I guess not.

I have never played Pine Valley, but I don't believe the bunkers with out rakes are the same as the bunkers most of you are talking about. I played a course, The Dunes Club, where some sand had rakes and some did not. If the sand did not have a rake, than it was NOT considered a hazard and you were allowed to ground your club. If the trap had a rake, than it was considered a hazard and you could not ground your club. (Most greenside bunkers had rakes and thus were considered hazards)

These traps, though, that were not considered hazards, were not your typically fairway bunkers that you see on most courses. They are very large and were really part of the fairway. On a par three, there really wasn't any grass between you and the green. Only sand and some overgrown fescue that you would walk through to get to the green. On par 4's and 5's, these traps would cover the entire width of the hole, from one side to the other, and would be as long as 70 yards. (You never had to play out of these bunkers if you played the hole correctly, but they were there to try and make you play the hole a certain way)

Here is a picture I found of a par three at the Dunes club. This picture is taken from the back of the green, facing the tee box's. (The Dunes Club only has 9 greens but has two sets of tee boxes to hit from, one for the front 9 and one for the back. So this picture shows one tee box on the left and one on the right) As you can see, there is sand, and there would not be a rake in this sand, but would you really call it a sand trap? I wouldn't. It's really the fairway between the tee and the green.

While I haven't played Pine Valley, I have seen pictures of it and I believe it is the same set up as The Dunes Club.

For your typically fairway bunker, there will always be a rake, as it should be.