Rules of Golf Review: You know a rake will stop your ball from going in a bunker. Do you have to move it?
Cliff Hawkins
You've probably seen this or had it happen to you while playing: A struck ball looks like it's going into a bunker, but it gets stopped just short of it by a rake that was left on the edge in the grass.
Assuming it's now in a good lie, congratulations! You caught a break because a rake, according to the Rules of Golf, is a moveable obstruction when it's not being held or carried by you or your caddie (if you're holding it, it's considered part of your equipment). When you hit a moveable obstruction anywhere on the course besides on the putting green, you are free to play the ball as it lies. (If you're on the green and hit an obstruction, you have to replay the stroke.) The only time that wouldn't be the case is if you hit a putt from the putting green and your ball collides with another ball that was on the green before the stroke. That's a two-stroke penalty.
Now here's an interesting wrinkle. What happens when you know in advance the position of a rake can actually help your next shot? Here are a couple of scenarios and how they play out:
The first deals with a player who hits a shot from a bunker onto the green. He rakes the bunker and then puts the rake on the greenside edge. As he reaches his ball on the green, he notices the rake is in position to stop his downhill putt from going in the bunker should it get past the hole.
The second deals with a player who is about to hit a downhill putt and realizes that someone else left a rake on the greenside edge of a bunker, and it would definitely stop his ball from ending up in the sand should he miss the hole.
More Rules Reviews from Golf Digest
Rule 11.2a deals with both situations. The first scenario is absolutely a penalty (two strokes in stroke play/loss of hole in match play). If you're aware that equipment or some other object can deflect or stop your ball, you have to get it out of the way before your stroke. If, however, you're unaware that a rake or something else would stop your putt, it’s not a penalty. Refer above to what to do when a ball hits a moveable obstruction.
What happens in the second scenario might surprise you. If someone else left the rake in a beneficial position and you recognize that before you hit the putt, there is no penalty should the rake stop the ball from going in a bunker (clarification: Rule 11.2a/1).
As a sidebar, there has been a long-standing debate between courses, committees and superintendents about whether rakes should be left in bunkers or left outside of bunkers. This is one of the reasons some opt for leaving them in the sand.