Please use the rake!

Does anybody here not rake the trap after they hit out?  I would love to know why it seems that so few people actually do so anymore.  I found myself in four bunkers today and had to hit out of a footprint three times.  Looking in all the traps, it looks like only about 1 in 4 people actually do rake up their mess. As much as I would like to attribute it to beginners, the evidence showed that most of the offenders got out in one stroke and had used proper technique as best that I could tell.  On top of that, from what I have seen, most beginners rarely even attempt to hit it out of the sand.  So this means that there are an awful lot of golfers who are making a choice not to clean up after themselves. I am really curious as to why so many make this choice.  It's not like the tools aren't readily available.  Is it a matter of not knowing how to properly use the rake?

Yep. This is a big problem. And it happens at higher end clubs as well.

I don't know what to do. We don't play "rake and place" because that's cheating, but it really sucks to hit out of a deep footprint.

I may need to add- hitting out of footprints, to my practice routine.

I always rake, when there is a rake! When there isn't, which is fairly often at some of the dumps I play, I clean up as best I can with my feet. Totally sucks playing out of someone else's crapola.

I'll rake, when the sand isn't hard as concrete. I haven't played anywhere this year that had traps that were even in marginally good shape.

It's prevalent at our course too, especially during the winter months when all the snowbirds are here.  Sometimes it looks like an infantry platoon marched right through the bunker!  I rake every time, even if I have to go to an adjacent bunker to find a rake, just because it's such a pet peeve of mine.  If there doesn't happen to be a rake in a bunker, usually one of our playing partners will go fetch one from another bunker while we're hitting, so there's no time wasted and we don't leave the bunker a mess.

I always rake the bunker, and fill in divot holes.

On top of this, the greens were sanded down one so much I was looking for a rake after putting out. . .

I find it therapeutic.

While I appreciate that my fellow rakers are quick to speak up, I'm still very curious as to why the non-rakers make that choice. Is it:

- I don't really know how to do this, so I won't bother

- They pay people to fix these things

- The rakes aren't close enough

- If I had a caddy, he'd take care of it

- I didn't dig in too deep, it should be fine as it is

- Raking takes too much time

- ???

Yep! I should prolly get one of those zen sand art thingies for my desk.

I played a different course a few days ago with two other guys.  As luck would have it, I found a sand bunker on my approach shot.  I realized on the next hole when I was in another sand bunker that I forgot to rake the first.  Too many bad things happened beforehand and my mind was in a tizzy.  Maybe that is why I was in a funk the rest of the round and seemed to find all the hidden treasures on quite a few of the holes.  I made damn sure I raked the rest and fixed quite a few ball marks that were not mine.

I think that pretty well sums it up.

I hadn't considered that someone might simply forget.  I normally rake immediately after hitting (before I put my club in my bag, mark my ball, anything).  I take the rake in the trap with me and have no choice but to pick it up and rake after the shot.  It is no different than climbing in the driver seat and putting on my seatbelt--it's automatic.  Is this not the norm?

I'd say that is the norm. I walk around the bunker to find the rake, then take it into the trap with me walking through as little of the bunker as possible. Then I rake my way out of the trap.

I do the same - rake goes in the bunker with me and I rake the bunker as I'm walking out of it.