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Where should rakes be placed

JB said:
Played 2 courses today and one asked for rakes inside the bunker and the other asked for them outside.
My favorite is still the course I played where around the bunkers were small (6" x 18") boxes and you step on them and the rakes come out of the ground vertically. Makes all the sense in the world.
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Can you get some video of that the next time you play there? (Or was it a one time play?)
 
Smallville said:
What do you do when you drop off Bill at his shot 100 yards out (or just on this side of the no carts allowed sign) and he says he's going to walk on up to the green from there. You drive off to your shot on the other side, about 50 yards up. Bill tops his ball into the bunker just ahead of where his ball was. Then you have to drive back with the rake? That would be a pain. Especially if you saw him swing but you don't know where it went, so you hit and drive up to the green. Then you realize he needs a rake. You couldn't tell because there are mounds, or possibly you left him over in a spot where he was completely hidden by a hill and you never even saw him swing?

Or you left him the rake because you didn't think you were in a trap, and he walks up to the green with the rake, but you are in a bunker on the other side?
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It really isn't a big deal. Just a little getting accustom to it..
 
fastbasser said:
It really isn't a big deal. Just a little getting accustom to it..
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I know it probably isn't, and how often would something like I said happen? Not often enough for it to be a huge deal. Just thinking out loud.
 
TripleBogieTim said:
I hit one yesterday that hit the rake in the air on the top lip of the bunker and went back in...without the rake it hits and bounces onto the green
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That is the previous player's fault, not a fault of the policy. The rake was left in a stupid position - should have been placed to the side of the bunker. Tell me this, would you feel that it was right if you deliberately played a low runner from about 200 yards out with the intent of running through the bunker, only to have the ball stopped at the leading lip of the bunker (leaving you with a downhill lie at best and maybe no swing at all with your ball right in front of the lip) because some fool left the rake there? Everyone who has ever played golf can come up with an incident which resulted in a bad break. The point of the USGA recommendation to leave them outside is that it is the least likely place to cause a problem during play, not because it will never cause a problem. There is no way that a rake will never give you a bad bounce as long as they exist.

As players we can do our best to minimize the likelihood of a rake causing a bad bounce by properly placing them after use. If the course requires that they be in the bunker in spite of common sense, place them in such away that a ball entering the bunker will not be stopped in an unfair location.
 
I gotta add I think leaving the rakes IN the bunker as our courses do sucks. I have seen a bunch of shots get stuck behind the rake and leave a very nasty shot..... There are at least two rakes in every bunker.. They are left one on each side.

JMHO
 
The only perfect solution I know of is at Bandon. The best I remember (not that I was in many bunkers HAH!) The rakes are out of sight and out of play, after you hit from a bunker, the caddie gets the rake, rakes the sand, and puts the rake back in its hiding place.

In my previous thoughts, I said tines up, I'm thinking about not tripping over the handle. Tines down, you guys say thinking about stepping on the rake. I don't guess either way is very good.

Oh yeah, I played some course that had an iron stake maybe three feet high that held the rake in a vertical position. They were behind the bunkers so that wasn't so bad. I don't remember where that was though. I do remember their bunkers were pretty crappy, poor drainage, washed out, etc but the rakes were out of the way.
 
I very rarely have seen rakes placed inside of bunkers
 
I have been burned by the rake in the bunker where they lay it on the edge and stops ball right on the lip. This is about only time I have seen them put in the bunker so put sour test in my mouth. Off all the rounds I have played with them out of bunker have had only a couple of times caused a issue. I vote out
 
I remember playing at the Heron Bay in Florida, and they had, at that time, the rakes in the carts. One rake per cart, no rakes in the bunkers.
 
I have been told by a few supers that the only reason rakes are requested to be placed in the bunker is so the mowers dont hit them.

How does relief from a rake work in a bunker/hazard ? If a rake is placed outside the bunker and no inline with green from a fairway shot I'm good. Not much different that hitting a sprinkler head and getting a bad bounce. If you go fairway to green then you have no issues :)
 
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hammer84 said:
I have been told by a few supers that the only reason rakes are requested to be placed in the bunker is so the mowers dont hit them.

How does relief from a rake work in a bunker/hazard ? If a rake is placed outside the bunker and no inline with green from a fairway shot I'm good. Not much different that hitting a sprinkler head and getting a bad bounce. If go fairway to green then you have no issues :)
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http://www.usga.org/rulesfaq/rules_answer.asp?FAQidx=169&Rule=24

Rule 24-1
Ball Lying Against Rake in Bunker
Q. My ball lies against a rake in a bunker, am I entitled to relief?
A. Yes. A bunker rake is a movable obstruction (see Definition of "Obstuctions") which the player may remove in accordance with Rule 24-1.

If the ball is touching the sand in the bunker (or another part of the course) then the rake may be removed in accordance with Rule 24-1a.

If the ball is resting solely on the rake (i.e. not also touching a part of the course) then Rule 24-1b permits the player to lift the ball, remove the rake, and drop the ball as nearly as possible to the spot directly beneath where the ball lay on the rake (but not nearer the hole).

You may also wish to refer to Decisions 13/5, 20-3d/2, and Misc./2.

Also in Rule 24-1:

a. If the ball does not lie in or on the obstruction, the obstruction may be removed. If the ball moves, it must be replaced, and there is no penalty, provided that the movement of the ball is directly attributable to the removal of the obstruction. Otherwise, Rule 18-2a applies.

b. If the ball lies in or on the obstruction, the ball may be lifted and the obstruction removed. The ball must through the green or in a hazard be dropped, or on the putting green be placed, as near as possible to the spot directly under the place where the ball lay in or on the obstruction, but not nearer the hole.

The ball may be cleaned when lifted under this Rule.
 
My club says rakes outside the bunker, but I think that the rake heads should be in with handles sticking out.
 
Epic said:
My club says rakes outside the bunker, but I think that the rake heads should be in with handles sticking out.
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Why? What possible logic can you have for that? Now you have put the handle in a position close to the bunker where it will have the best chance to deflect the ball into the bunker, and you have the business end where it will stop a ball in the worst possible lie in the bunker. You have also made it harder on both the mowers AND the bunker grooming crew because the rake will interfere with both jobs. Nothing about that makes any sense at all.
 
StupidLester said:
Im in the group that thinks they should be outside the bunker. I hate seeing rakes inside a bunker near the back lip. This causes balls to get stuck against the rake and unable to roll down to the bottom of the bunker where they would normally end up. Leaving you right against the lip with a near impossible shot. I cant think of any situation with the rake outside the bunker that you would end up penalized in this manner. I feel if you must leave the rake in the bunker at least don't leave it right against the lip.

Solution!!! Players pack their own rakes and then there is no need to leave them laying anywhere. :D
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I have seen this somewhere. I think it was at Crandon Golf in Florida. Each cart had a rake mounted to the club carrier. I think mine only lasted 2 bunkers until I forgot that it went on the cart and left it in a bunker, OOPS.
 
SaskeyInWash said:
I have seen this somewhere. I think it was at Crandon Golf in Florida. Each cart had a rake mounted to the club carrier. I think mine only lasted 2 bunkers until I forgot that it went on the cart and left it in a bunker, OOPS.
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I think this would happen a lot. Especially with the non-regulars of a course.
 
Fourputt said:
Why? What possible logic can you have for that? Now you have put the handle in a position close to the bunker where it will have the best chance to deflect the ball into the bunker, and you have the business end where it will stop a ball in the worst possible lie in the bunker. You have also made it harder on both the mowers AND the bunker grooming crew because the rake will interfere with both jobs. Nothing about that makes any sense at all.
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I agree with this ^

I say just leave them out of the bunker.


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