Ask the Ref: Could I be penalised for raking a bunker?

Could this scenario where a player rakes a bunker end up with them being penalised? Women & Golf’s rules expert Sheila Waltham explains.

My ball lies at one end of a bunker.  Whilst waiting for another player to play their stroke, I entered the opposite end of the bunker to retrieve the rake. On exiting, I smoothed the sand behind me. I play my stroke. Unfortunately, it hits the bunker face and ends up in the area I have just raked. Do I get penalised?

No. When you raked the bunker, it was for the purpose of care for the course. It did nothing to improve conditions affecting the stroke about to be made. The fact that your ball now lands in a nicely raked area for the next stroke is your good fortune. (Rule 12.2b(2)).

Sheila Waltham

Golf Rules Referee

Sheila Waltham has been a qualified rules official for over 15 years and joined the England Golf Tournament Panel of Referees in 2019. A keen golfer since 1995, Sheila’s interest in the Rules was born out of the realisation that a lot of the information she received as a novice golfer was incorrect. So, she took matters into her own hands!