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Rule question: Ball in unrepaired deep footprint in bunker ...

inthehole

inthehole

Holly Sonders Caddie
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Feb 5, 2012
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Location
Pocono's PA
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GHIN 11.5
I play public muni courses and often people either don't know or don't care about properly fixing footprints in bunkers. It finally happened last time out ... my ball wound up in a 4 inch deep footprint. Someone didn't even make an attempt to rake their footprints. Simply no humanly way possible to get the ball reliably out from that kind of lie. Now, I know we have to play it as it lies, but comon, why should I be penalized for someone else's carelessness ? I moved the ball a few inches over on the flat sand ... no way I was gonna let somebody else's carelessness potentially ruin my round (that lie was so bad I could realistically see it costing me several strokes that I shouldn't have had to lose). Those footprints were so deep it took me a couple minutes to rake it all out properly so the next guy wouldn't have to deal with it.

If this has ever happened to you, do you just chock it up laddy as the rub of the green or better your lie ?
 
Yeah, you're supposed to play it as it lies. But if you rake it nice and drop the ball I don't care.
 
I would do what you did.
 
Smallville said:
Yeah, you're supposed to play it as it lies. But if you rake it nice and drop the ball I don't care.
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Smalls summed up my view as well.

If you're in a competitive round, obviously the rules have to be followed and it's plays as it lies. If you're not in a competition, rake that all day long.
 
In a casual round, do whatever you want, but by the rules, you have to play it as it lies. Play it as if it's a horribly buried lie. You also have the option of declaring it unplayable and dropping:
1) Within 2 club lengths, no closer, within the bunker
2) Anywhere on a line behind the ball within the bunker, keeping the flag in-line,
3) Where the last shot was played from

Of course you take a stroke penalty for doing so, but if the lie is so horrible you fear you might not get it out at all, it may be worth the penalty.
 
Correct me if I am wrong but I've heard that you can pick your ball up, rake the footprint and then make one yourself that is similar and then drop your ball and play it from there.
 
Z.Furiak said:
Correct me if I am wrong but I've heard that you can pick your ball up, rake the footprint and then make one yourself that is similar and then drop your ball and play it from there.
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Look it up in the rules and report back here. I don't think you will find that one though.
 
Z.Furiak said:
Correct me if I am wrong but I've heard that you can pick your ball up, rake the footprint and then make one yourself that is similar and then drop your ball and play it from there.
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Not sure where that one came from, but no.
 
Golf Ghost said:
Smalls summed up my view as well.

If you're in a competitive round, obviously the rules have to be followed and it's plays as it lies. If you're not in a competition, rake that all day long.
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Pretty much. I hate people that don't rake bunkers.
 
Z.Furiak said:
I don't remember exactly where I heard this but I'm glad you both cleared it up for me
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Well, like I said earlier, if we're playing a regular round and you run into that, rake the trap and drop the ball. No biggie to me.
 
I don't aim for bunkers. So I don't know what to do when in them.
 
I played at a private course recently as a guest where there is a local rule regarding this problem. Because of the ignorance or arrogance of the other members the rule states that if your ball rests in an unraked footprint then you can lift, rake and place.

To me it is a joke. Such a fiercely private course with immaculate prepared surfaces and the members can't even be bothered to rake their footprints.
 
At the end of the day, even if you're keeping a handicap, it's a reflection of the type of golfer you are.. In competition, that sucker would either need to be dropped for penalty or played as it lies. On a casual day when the only thing that counts is your own score, I say dig that thing out and get a fair lie. Most days, unless I've got a heck of a round going or am playing in a match of some sort, I'd do exactly that.
 
If its a round during revision season I will play it as it lies because that's the rules we are supposed to follow. Doesn't mean I like it.

Chipped via Tapatalk, never chutted.
 
At some of the courses around here I am surprised when it isn't in a footprint.
 
This actually happened to me last weekend at True Blue... I played it where it was, but I wasn't real happy!
 
Z.Furiak said:
Correct me if I am wrong but I've heard that you can pick your ball up, rake the footprint and then make one yourself that is similar and then drop your ball and play it from there.
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I agree! My footprints are easier to hit out of than yours... :laughing: actually in a competitive round I would just hit it as it lies. But in a casual round I would just move the ball, rake and then replace. If its not a competitive round then it's practice for me. I need to learn some shots and my practice area doesn't have a practice pit.
 
This is one thing that grinds my gears!! I usually play it as it lies, but anger makes it impossible to hit a good shot.
 
BIGBALL said:
This actually happened to me last weekend at True Blue... I played it where it was, but I wasn't real happy!
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Was it a bunker or the waste area they let you drive in?
 
I'd have played it as it lay, or taken the penalty drop under Rule 28 for an unplayable lie. It sucks, but that's just how it is. On my home course in Colorado we get deer, elk, coyotes, and the ubiquitous geese tracking through the bunkers all the time, as well as those inconsiderate golfers who don't rake the bunkers. I just deal with it. If it's too deep to hit, then I take the penalty - if I can play some sort of a shot, then I treat it like a fried egg. It's worst when it's in a fairway bunker 140 yards from the green and all you can do is dig it out for about 30 feet with a sand wedge.
 
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It happens to me more times than I'd like to think. I say most of the time I try to hit it out even if I know it's not possible. I do move it out sometimes though and do exactly what you did.
 
This is a problem at my home course. We have a large number of lazy golfers who think they don't have to rake bunkers. I dislike the rule in this situation but play it as it lies.
 
take a picture of the footprint and post up a wanted sign in the clubhouse. that's what i'd do...
 
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