Ball was rolling past bunker but hit rake and bounced INTO the bunker. Put rakes IN bunkers or carry your own.
Ball was rolling past bunker but hit rake and bounced INTO the bunker. Put rakes IN bunkers or carry your own.
You just know the 'average' golfer will not smooth out his/her footprints after digging in to hit a shot. Not gonna happen, and not fair to those following the rest of the day.
Keep it simple. Expect all golfers to repair a bunker after use. Place rakes thoughtfully outside bunkers.
Oh, trust me, I've been "raked" many, many times. In my area (N. San Diego County, CA) the most popular rake placement for golfers left on their own seems to be in the bunker, parallel to the edge and tucked right up against it, preferably directly opposite the flag, so as to make it as impossible as possible to recover when the ball inevitably gets trapped there at the top of a down slope. Interestingly, I'm pretty sure most of them are blissfully unaware of the rules regarding the ball moving when the rake is removed and have no problem letting it roll to a flatter area and playing from there. The rest of us are left to deal with the whole time consuming proper procedure: move the rake, watch the ball roll away, go fetch the ball, drop it, watch it roll away, go fetch it again, drop it again, go fetch it again, find the nearest point not closer to the hole where it will stay (not always easy, and sometimes next to impossible), place it (no pushing it in to make it stay, either!), make the shot, and then rake all the areas you traipsed through in the process.
At our men's club at Pala Mesa Resort we came up with the solution of placing rakes in the bunker, away from any severe slopes, at a 90 deg. angle with the end just barely outside the bunker. This makes it easy to find and pick up a rake to take into the bunker where it's needed and avoids other problems (redirecting balls, breaking rakes, and creating extra work for crews).
I remember playing at a course (Southern California) which had a 4 inch spike on the head of the rake in line with the handle.
Brilliant idea.
Few if any deflections, easy to spot, fun to point at your annoying playing partner.
Spike, Spike, Spike
So many great ideas here but it comes down to the lazy inconsiderate player to manage rake placements. My biggest problem is leaving the rake up against the inside edge of the bunker thus trapping my ball mere inches from edge & its happened several times - LLLL I've even seen the rake in the fairway thrown by a very frustrated individual I presume that I busted out laughing so much I hosed up my next shot! I replaced it next to as I was taught in the direction of play. Bottom line is no matter what governing body rules we r still dealing with immature inconsiderate slobs who don't respect game or other players.
Another comment, I remember playing in Florida where a rake was attached to each cart. Just bring it with you when needed then return it to the cart when the hole has been completed.
Rakes should be in a flat section of the sand bunker. Rakes placed in the sand on slopes or close to edges just begs for unfair lies when the rake stops a ball. Most courses are trying to maximize labor efficiency so they should not be outside of the bunker. You cannot do away with rakes . All that does is give an unfair advantage to the early groups .
If you do away with rakes, the early groups will play out of a bunker that's is in the same condition as the last group had the previous evening. They will not have an advantage at all.
Our greenskeeper asks that the rakes be placed in the bunker, so that it's easier for them to mow around the bunker!
While I think that the rakes should rest just outside of the bunker, in the end I don't think it matters what I say. The rakes are going to end up either in or out of the bunker regardless of what the course rule or suggestion is. Even if the USGA declares that a rake should be left inside/outside of the bunker, it's not going to influence some players be they novice or just inconsiderate.
So many people don't even use the rake after their bunker shot. It's truly frustrating to see footprints in and out of the trap exiting close to where the rake lies. In some cases, the footprint is inches deep creating an unfair disadvantage for an ensuing golfer that's unlucky enough to land in such an abyss.
Rake the trap and leave the rake on the border of the trap for easy access.