Rake
The rake is the raking tool with which you smooth out your marks in the bunker after the shot.
The rake, in everyday bunker language often simply called the rake, is ready at almost every sand bunker. Its job is etiquette in its purest form: after your bunker shot you leave footprints and a crater at the point of impact, which you smooth out with the rake. The next player should find the same conditions you did. Unraked bunkers are among the most common annoyances on the course, because a ball in a deep footprint means a nearly unplayable lie.
Raking itself follows a clear order. An example: you play from the greenside bunker to two meters from the flag. Then you take the rake from the bunker edge, enter the bunker at its lowest point, smooth the point of impact first and then your footprints, and leave the bunker raking backwards. That way none of your own marks are left behind. Afterwards you put the rake back where the club wants it — some facilities want it in the bunker, others outside; the course rules regulate this.
Typical mistakes are leaving the rake in the middle of the bunker and hastily smoothing only the point of impact. Both variants punish the player who follows. Also popular: raking with the feet instead of the tool, which spreads the sand unevenly. From a rules perspective the rake is off limits before the shot: while your ball lies in the bunker you may neither test the sand with it nor improve your lie. Only after the shot does your duty as groundskeeper in your own cause begin.
FAQ
When may you use the rake in the bunker?
Only after your shot. While your ball lies in the sand bunker, you may neither test the sand with the rake nor improve your lie with it. After the bunker shot your duty begins: smooth the point of impact and the footprints so that the next player finds the same conditions you did.
How do you rake the bunker properly?
Enter the bunker at its lowest point, smooth the point of impact first and then your footprints. Leave the bunker raking backwards so that none of your own marks remain behind. Hastily smoothing only the point of impact or raking with your feet spreads the sand unevenly and punishes the player who follows.
Where do you put the rake after raking?
The course rules of the facility decide: some clubs want the rake in the bunker, others outside at the edge. Leaving it in the middle of the bunker is wrong in every case, because there it can itself become an obstruction for the next ball. A look at the notice board or the local rules clarifies the local rule.