Another rules question

[RC]

Just for fun...

Assume you are in a bunker and have done everything correctly, hovering the club above the ball, etc. Then you make your swing. On the backswing, the club head touches a few grains of sand, but this does not improve the lie of the ball nor test the conditions of the bunker. It is during the stroke, and the player himself has no way of knowing he has done this. He is in the middle of the bunker on a flat lie. Only someone standing sideways and watching intently would notice the clubhead made miscule contact with the sand during the stroke, but on the backswing. The sand in the bunker is not considered an loose impediment, the sand is the hazard. What is the ruling?

[Jay-Bird]

Decision 13-4/31 Touching Sand in Bunker During Backswing
Q. A player playing a shot in a bunker accidentally touched the sand when making his backswing. What is the ruling?

A. The player was in breach of Rule 13-4b when he touched the ground in the bunker with his club before making the stroke — see Definition of "Stroke."

[Ignorant]

  RC said:

Just for fun...

Do note that backswing is not part of a stroke:

'A “stroke’’ is the forward movement of the club made with the intention of striking at and moving the ball, but if a player checks his downswing voluntarily before the clubhead reaches the ball he has not made a stroke.' Thus touching the sand in backswing is a breach of Rule 13-4, just as Jay-Bird described with a Decision.

[RC]

Correct... But not all understand this. All that other stuff about not improving lie, etc., means nothing. Touching the sand in the bunker on the backswing is the same as grounding your club any other time except during the forward stroke when actually hitting out of the bunker.