I say...lets not rake bunkers. They are hazards and the best way to not worry about it is to avoid them. If you don't, you should accept the lie. Not sure when this idea of raking bunkers came from but I know that it is a "new" concept (20th century). I think it's cheating and should be illegal by improving the lie of fellow competitors...similar to using your ball as a backstop for a fellow competitor on the putting surface. Replacing divots on the fairway could be argued to violate the same rule, I wouldn't agree since that isn't improving a lie in a hazard. How to speed up play and return golf to it's classical roots? STOP raking bunkers and change the culture of golf (both amateur and pro) in expecting a manicured service when hitting into a "hazard"!

Much of this goes back to the question, "How were you introduced to the game"? If someone taught you properly, that would have included the etiquette (fixing ball marks, raking bunkers, replacing / repairing divots, pace of play, respect for other golfers, and reducing the foul language / keeping it at a low volume. Also, how to properly use a motorized cart to NOT slow down the pace of play) My parents taught me and my siblings ALL of these things before they ever took us out to a regulation 18 hole course. ALL professional golf instruction, and golf instructors, should make these mandatory lessons a part of their curriculum - teach respect for the course and the game - along with swing lessons. The opposite is this: Let's go out to the course with some alcohol and spend 5-6 hours drinking and driving in a cart while abusing an expensively maintained playing field, and ruining the day for everyone behind us while cursing loudly, playing horrible music (also loudly), and then tell everyone we went golfing.

I agree, rake the bunkers! But I have played at many courses (actually most of them I've played at) that don't really have sand in them, in fact raking them makes them worse (hard pan, rocks etc). It says a lot about the quality of courses I've played, I guess, especially municipal courses, but still...

We just rake and replace the ball if we land in a trap with issues. Playing is the fun. Screw idiots.

I managed a semi-private golf course where a local rule was put in place that made it fair for everyone, and lowered the expense of daily raking. The solution was simple. Within the bunker, all players are permitted to lift their ball, rake the bunker, and replace their ball, without penalty. Lift, rake and place. After some time, even the golf purists agreed that it was a fair and reasonable solution.

While we're on the subject of raking bunkers, people also need to understand the proper way to rake a bunker. Always rake the sand up towards the sides so that any excess sand falls downwards towards the middle. Never pull the sand in a downward direction away from the sides. That's how a bunker gets washed out.

Most of the inconsiderate golfers that do not rake the bunkers, are the same ones that move the ball in the bunker if their ball is in a bad mark or depression. Also annoying is the courses in a residential area that have kids building sand castles or jumping, or the local dogs foot prints. One course I play allows raking the bunker prior to hitting due to animal tracks, deer, goose and the like. Like on the green, fix your ball mark and at least one other, if your in a bunker, rake your tracks and any other left by rude golfers.

I congratulate this course on their decision. Anyone who leaves a course worse than the way the found it doesn't deserve the right to play. They are just lazy and disrespectful!

It would be a good policy but then the course would have no players. Since most people do not rake the traps my suggestion is to have a Recreational Golf Rule that provides for no rakes and no raking but if a player finds himself or herself in an unraked portion of a trap, he or she can move the ball to a raked area and play the shot. This recognizes reality and would speed up play.

Yes, if they don't know golf educate they don't belong on the course