What do the rules say about testing the depth of a bunker with a tee before hitting?
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The Rules of Golf Are Complicated! Thankfully, we have the teacher. Our rules guy knows the book inside out. Have a question? He has all the answers.
Our course has several refurbished bunkers built with an Astroturf base and decorative piled Astroturf faces. Some of the bunkers only have a thin layer of sand, which can produce sharp shots when the bounce of the wedge hits the Astroturf base. I know the new rules don’t allow you to test the surface with your hand or stick, but what about checking the depth of the sand with a long tip? — Jim Cumberbatch, via e-mail
Stacked Astroturf … looks like the club hired Old Tom Morris as architect and Sanford & Son as contractor! In fact, the rule number – 12.2b (1) — may have changed, but this Rule has not, that is, players are prohibited from touching the sand in a bunker to gather information about it for the next shot. No hand, no stick, no pick, no rake, no garden spade.
The penalty also remains the same – the overall penalty of two strokes in stroke play and forfeiting the hole in match play. More often than not, if you come across a bunker with little or no unsettled sand under repair, you can: play two balls, one in lieu and one in relief, and get a decision later from the committee (play only stroke); play under and distance, playing from the previous spot with a one-stroke penalty; or, under the new unplayable ball rule, step out of the bunker, using relief back in line, for two penalty strokes. Also, if they replace the greens with shag carpets, find a new course.
For more bunkering instructions from our tutor, read on…
Rules Guy
A local course designer here on Vancouver Island wanted to be the next Pete Dye – he built a huge bunker with steep railroad ties on the face and two separate entry and exit stairs built into the ties. Naturally, my ball came to rest on one of the steps, which were so steep that no shot could be played. Since it was a tournament, there was a rules guy in attendance who said I got free relief out of the bunker, treating the ties and ladders like I was stuck on a grass face. Was this correct? —Mike Marshall, Nanoose Bay, BC, Canada
Was this a rules guy who called himself the “Rules Guy”? If so, our lawyers would like to speak to him…
Regardless, he did not judge the case as if the ball was embedded; he treated railroad ties and steps as what they are, namely immovable obstacles.
