Bunker Rakes: In or Out of the Bunker?

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Chunky

I go with the rules wise advantage of having a rake outside the bunker, but what irks me the most is having to step in the bunker grab a rake and then rake your tracks and then go hit your ball and rake again. Two words: SLOW PLAY!

Huh?

Solution: Get the rake wherever it is, take the rake with you, walk to your ball, drop the rake nearby, take your shot, rake your footprints back the way you came in.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chunky

I go with the rules wise advantage of having a rake outside the bunker, but what irks me the most is having to step in the bunker grab a rake and then rake your tracks and then go hit your ball and rake again. Two words: SLOW PLAY!

Huh?

Solution: Get the rake wherever it is, take the rake with you, walk to your ball, drop the rake nearby, take your shot, rake your footprints back the way you came in.

Read it again.  He's talking about if the rake is left IN the bunker, you have to go in, get the rake, then go to wherever your ball is, and then after you play, you have to rake out at least twice as many footprints as you would if the rake was outside of the bunker in the first place.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Read it again.  He's talking about if the rake is left IN the bunker, you have to go in, get the rake, then go to wherever your ball is, and then after you play, you have to rake out at least twice as many footprints as you would if the rake was outside of the bunker in the first place.

I guess that assumes that whoever used the rake prior just dropped it any old place in the bunker instead of raking out his tracks on the way out of the bunker.  If the rake is IN the bunker but NEAR where you would normally enter and leave the bunker (low bank), then I don't see how there would be any more footprints than if the rake were placed OUTSIDE the bunker.

On those very, very rare occasions when I happen to find my ball in a bunker, I will enter the bunker from the low side. If the rake is OUTSIDE the bunker, I will pick it up before I enter.  If it is INSIDE the bunker, I will enter, then walk to the rake, pick it up and walk to my ball. There really is no time lost.

[dsc123]

or the last guy tossed it into the bunker

[Chunky]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

I guess that assumes that whoever used the rake prior just dropped it any old place in the bunker instead of raking out his tracks on the way out of the bunker.  If the rake is IN the bunker but NEAR where you would normally enter and leave the bunker (low bank), then I don't see how there would be any more footprints than if the rake were placed OUTSIDE the bunker.

On those very, very rare occasions when I happen to find my ball in a bunker, I will enter the bunker from the low side. If the rake is OUTSIDE the bunker, I will pick it up before I enter.  If it is INSIDE the bunker, I will enter, then walk to the rake, pick it up and walk to my ball. There really is no time lost.

Actually, the assumption is not that someone else left the rake in the bunker, the working premise is that the golf course groundskeepers put the rakes in the bunker. Sometimes you can reach them with a club and other times you half to step in to get them.

If you are in bunkers on rare occasions, you either don't play golf often or favor courses without traps. The course I play has small greens and a number of them are surrounded by bunkers. Sometimes the best play is in the bunker, but then I can play from sand reasonably well. Even the pros are in the sand some of the time.

[Harmonious]

Originally Posted by Chunky

Actually, the assumption is not that someone else left the rake in the bunker, the working premise is that the golf course groundskeepers put the rakes in the bunker. Sometimes you can reach them with a club and other times you half to step in to get them.

If you are in bunkers on rare occasions, you either don't play golf often or favor courses without traps. The course I play has small greens and a number of them are surrounded by bunkers. Sometimes the best play is in the bunker, but then I can play from sand reasonably well. Even the pros are in the sand some of the time.

I guess my facetious statement about being in bunkers very rarely was taken as serious.  Sorry for that.

But again, if the grounds crew placed a rake in the bunker, it is probably within a step or two of where one would normally enter the bunker, right? Just step in the bunker, pick up the rake and walk to your ball.  Then reverse your steps to get out.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Harmonious

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chunky

Actually, the assumption is not that someone else left the rake in the bunker, the working premise is that the golf course groundskeepers put the rakes in the bunker. Sometimes you can reach them with a club and other times you half to step in to get them.

If you are in bunkers on rare occasions, you either don't play golf often or favor courses without traps. The course I play has small greens and a number of them are surrounded by bunkers. Sometimes the best play is in the bunker, but then I can play from sand reasonably well. Even the pros are in the sand some of the time.

I guess my facetious statement about being in bunkers very rarely was taken as serious.  Sorry for that.

But again, if the grounds crew placed a rake in the bunker, it is probably within a step or two of where one would normally enter the bunker, right? Just step in the bunker, pick up the rake and walk to your ball.  Then reverse your steps to get out.

That may be an assumption where you play,  but I've never seen any logic to the way most staff or players leave rakes.  They just toss them down wherever they use them, and you just have to be thankful that they did rake out their trail.  It's obvious from this thread that there is little training or thought from most players about rake placement, and even course managers don't always follow the most reasonable recommendations.

[Hambone]

I bury them in the sand.

[jetsknicks1]

I little off topic but still related. When finishing up in the bunker, should you leave the rake in or out? I've heard both, that it should be left in so it doesn't stop a ball from going in and that it should be left out so it doesn't interfere with a ball once it enters the bunker. 

 

Just curious.

[CarlSpackler]

1 minute ago, jetsknicks1 said:

I little off topic but still related. When finishing up in the bunker, should you leave the rake in or out? I've heard both, that it should be left in so it doesn't stop a ball from going in and that it should be left out so it doesn't interfere with a ball once it enters the bunker. 

Some courses want it in and other out. CC of Deer Run puts them on the cart so they don't get stolen (yes, that is apparently a problem there) or broken. 

[Groucho Valentine]

It depends on the course. Some might have a local rule that says not to do it. But I'm not aware of anything that says bringing the rake into the bunker with you is against the rules. Unless you have a caddy, most tournaments i play in allow it. 

[iacas]

https://thesandtrap.com/b/rules/bunker_rakes_in_or_out

I think that if you're concerned about the rules, outside of the bunker is best (by a slim margin). But if you're the course and you're concerned about mowing the rough around greens and fairway bunkers… inside makes all the sense in the world.

Note: I think the misc/2 Decision has gone the way of the dodo.

[Golfingdad]

Many courses tell you, oftentimes with a long sticker on the handle of the rakes, what they want you to do.  I don't over-ride that request with my personal preference ... so I answered "it depends."  Whatever the course asks me to do, or whatever is written on the rake, is what I'll do.  Absent both of those, I'll usually lay it down on the outside of the bunker.

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

https://thesandtrap.com/b/rules/bunker_rakes_in_or_out

I agree with this excerpt from your article:

Quote

It's impractical to leave a rake in the middle of the bunker - you'd have to throw it into the bunker after raking your footsteps on your way out, and by throwing the rake you'd undo much of the work you just did in smoothing the bunker. Plus, nobody wants to walk to the middle of a bunker to retrieve a rake, and rake the whole area, when their ball is on the edge.

However, interestingly enough, I know of one course I play frequently that expressly requests you do exactly that.  I think it's silly, but whatevs.

[bkuehn1952]

Depends ... like others I follow the course's instructions, if any.  In the absence of instructions, I leave the rake outside, tines down, parallel to the hole direction.  If all the rakes seem to have collected to one side of a large bunker, when it won't hold things up, I will deposit my rake on the other side in an attempt to void the "Rake Position Principle".  

Rake Position Principle: When one hits into the edge of an extremely large bunker, all rakes will be located at the furthest point from where one's ball is located.

Single Rake Corollary: If a bunker has only one rake, it will be located as far from your ball as possible and it will be broken.

 

[graham57]

This may appear to be sitting on the fence, but I leave the business end of the rake in the sand and try to place the handle on the edge of the bunker in such a way that it protudes over about half its length out of the bunker and is propped up in the air, so the chances of it interfering with a ball rolling along the ground are minimal.

[rehmwa]

16 minutes ago, graham57 said:

This may appear to be sitting on the fence, but I leave the business end of the rake in the sand and try to place the handle on the edge of the bunker in such a way that it protudes over about half its length out of the bunker and is propped up in the air, so the chances of it interfering with a ball rolling along the ground are minimal.

Unless the course has a policy, I'm going to start doing this.  There might be a slight loss of esthetics, but I find this to be the most functional option.

[David in FL]

2 hours ago, CarlSpackler said:

Some courses want it in and other out. CC of Deer Run puts them on the cart so they don't get stolen (yes, that is apparently a problem there) or broken. 

The worst solution imho.   Almost without fail, the first time someone uses a rake, they'll forget that they're supposed to bring it back to the cart and will leave it at the bunker.  Leaving them with no rake for the remainder of the round.

Absent direction from the course, I leave it outside the bunker.

[caniac6]

As long as the people rake the bunker, I don't care where they put the rakes.