[024engine]

If you can't rake the traps, stay home. Many people here play for money, so if I lie in a bunker divit that wasn't raked, you are messing with my money. Learn the rules. PERIOD

[tophcfa]

If you are responsible for making an impression in a bunker, then it becomes your responsibility to rake it so that the bunker again becomes the way it was before your presence. Very simple. I know, responsibility seems to be something that many people have forgotten??

[SRQWillie]

Originally Posted by stanley

Raking bunkers is still optional

Stanley...sorry. Don't be that lazy guy. Just rake. It's the right thing to do.
Don't get me started with this Covid crap either.

[SRQWillie]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

If you are responsible for making an impression in a bunker, then it becomes your responsibility to rake it so that the bunker again becomes the way it was before your presence. Very simple. I know, responsibility seems to be something that many people have forgotten??

Well said....

[sfryzel]

No I took New to Golf classes at Sarasota.

[Tennisnut]

Originally Posted by stanley

Just as an FYI this is still in effect as per USGA and is listed under "Temporary Posting under Covid Modifications" in The Villages "Golf The Villages"

Golf The Villages

"BUNKERS AND BUNKER RAKES

It is a normal part of the game to place a responsibility on all players to smooth sand in a bunker from which they have played. Committees have many options as to how to treat bunkers, which are largely dependent on the resources available.

In some cases, a committee may decide their best option is to remove all bunker rakes from the course. When this is done, it is possible for a player’s ball to come to rest in an unmaintained area of sand.
At minimum, it would be advisable to encourage players to try their best to smooth the disturbed area with a foot or a club after playing their ball from a bunker.
If you require cart use or most players at your course use a golf cart, the best approach might be to assign a rake to every golf cart, allowing players to operate as normal.
An additional option includes changing the status of bunkers to be part of the general area. This would give players additional options under multiple relief rules (Rules 16 and 19) and would remove the restrictions normally in effect under Rule 12.
Ground under repair could be used in two different manners. The first being to declare all bunkers to be ground under repair and treat them as part of the general area. This would allow players the option to take free relief outside the bunker under Rule 16.1. The second is to treat disturbed areas only as ground under repair. This would still allow a player free relief from such areas, but would require such relief to be taken elsewhere within the bunker.
As a last resort, a committee may add a preferred lies Local Rule that would allow a player to place the ball elsewhere in a bunker without penalty (such as within one club-length of where the ball came to rest). While that may seem like a good option in that it requires players to play from the bunker, there will be times when no effective relief would be available to a player, such as when a bunker is frequently played from and large areas are unraked. It would be recommended that the other options, such as those listed above, are considered first, noting that using the ground under repair options above ensure a player will get full relief and, when dropping from knee height, balls very rarely plug.
If a committee wishes for bunkers to be maintained, additional options include:
Make golf carts mandatory and supply a bunker rake to every player. The bunker rake handle must be cleansed prior to use on the golf cart. Each player may then use that rake after playing a stroke from a bunker.
Have one person walk with every group who is dedicated to raking bunkers for the group. This individual would be the only person who uses the bunker rake.
Leave all rakes on the course and provide every player with liquid sanitizer or cleansing wipes that would be used to disinfect the rake prior to and after each use, or alternatively, have players sanitize their hands after touching a bunker rake and before touching anything else (such as their golf club, bag or face).
If a committee takes any of the above actions, it is at the discretion of the committee whether scores would be acceptable for handicap purposes."

No more from me on this, deal with it

Thank you for posting so that others are aware of the rules during these times. I will start raking sometime next summer. Until then, I will follow these guidelines since I do not want that Covid crap!

[Bob in Fishers]

Due to covid raking bunker is discouraged. Usga confirms this

[JoeinFL]

Originally Posted by Two Bills

Glad to hear it.
Been a lot of theft in TV lately!

I took a bunker once. It was days before I got all the sand out of my car.

[EviesGP]

The last I read, TV only encouraged raking, not required it? And like what others have experienced here, I have been in a bunker, took a rake with me, and upon walking back, I discovered there were so many foot prints/divots, that I couldn't keep track of mine?! As for the Ambassadors(former here), we don't rake bunkers, we only realign them the way JohnW showed. Which I found different than up north? Some placed inside, some outside, but most of them emphasized lining the stick with the direction of play, so it did not impede a golf shot(i.e. stopping the roll), which affected their lie? Here they merely want them straight in from the edge.

[gdennis317]

Not required right now under “ Local Rule”. Your group should allow you to rake and drop, or drop in a smoothed area in bunker.

[Joanne19335]

Originally Posted by stanley

Raking bunkers is still optional

If raking is optional, why put the rakes out at all? If there is a rake in the bunker, you are expected to use it.

[justjim]

While COVID is still around we are operating under different rules and that has been made clear in this thread. My personal pet peeve is people who don’t fix ball marks on the greens. I always fix mine and usually a couple more if pace of play allows. Fore!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by justjim

While COVID is still around we are operating under different rules and that has been made clear in this thread. My personal pet peeve is people who don’t fix ball marks on the greens. I always fix mine and usually a couple more if pace of play allows. Fore!

Pet peeves? I have a whole list of them:

People who put one end or the other of their putter into the hole and chew up the edge---if you can bend over and put a tee in the ground to start a hole, you can bend over and carefully remove your ball from the cup at the end of the hole.

People who step within 6 inches of the cup over and over----recipe from creating the "lumpy donut"

People with RA tags who drive on the fringe, or between traps, or park in front of the green. They are usually the last to leave and then spend time just parked there

People who start to leave a green and halfway to the edge have a conversation

People who leave the green, but stay next to it fussing with their bag or clubs or scorecard for a minute. Doesn't seem like much but multiply it by 18 and you see the result

People who clearly hit a ball into a penalty area where even if found there is no chance of hitting it, but spend 3-5 minutes looking. Just take your penalty drop and move on.

People in a foursome with 4 carts, but all move in a group to the first ball, and then the second.......

And I can go on

The best may have been yesterday 4 women playing Egret 8 from the green tees. The hole is 236 yards, uphill, and was into a 2 club wind. Yet none of them teed off until the green was clear! There are only a handful of LPGA touring pros that could reach that green under those circumstances. Needless to say, the best drive among them was less than halfway to the green. Pretty optimistic assessment of their driving distances in my opinion.

If anyone disagrees that these are all unacceptable behaviors, please feel free to attend good golf school.

[Number 10 GI]

Tell me again how much fun golf is.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Joanne19335

If raking is optional, why put the rakes out at all? If there is a rake in the bunker, you are expected to use it.

100% Wrong.
Read the notifications.