Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

You can tell I have too much time on my hands in retirement if I find time to deal with issues in this blog headline – rakes in bunkers in golf.

But time is not at a premium these days.  I have enough of it.

So:

It turns out that the United States Golf Association (USGA) does not have a formal rule DICTATING where bunker rakes should be placed.

However, it does recommend placing rakes outside the bunker and parallel to the line of play to prevent them from interfering with a rolling ball or leaving bad lies.

Further, during play:

• Moving the Rake:  If your ball rests against a rake, the rake is treated as a movable obstruction.  You can remove it, but if the ball moves, you must replace it on its original spot.
• Testing Conditions: You are allowed to use a rake to smooth footprints, but you can never DELIBERATELY touch the sand to test its condition or improve your lie before your stroke, though raking, in any case, could give you more information on the sand before you hit your shot.
• Etiquette: You may step in and out of the bunker to rake it to care for the course, provided you do not improve the area of your stance or swing.

I add there that if you find the time and want to read an incredibly stupid rule in golf, just read Rule 12.  It deals with bunkers and you will be surprise what you find there in.

Because there is not a universal mandate on rake position in bunkers, local club committees and superintendents decide whether rakes stay inside or outside for daily maintenance and mowing purposes.

At the club where I am a member in Salem, Oregon, Illahe Hills Country Club, there also is not a hard-and-fast rule.  The advice is labeled “tee-boning,” which means that you place the tongs of the rake inside the bunker but leave a few inches of the handle outside the bunker, so a golfer can pick up the rake without placing a foot in the sand.

Plus, this approach does not much interfere with power mowers as they skirt their way around bunkers.

As for the best approach to raking bunkers after play, the USGA advises that it is best to use long, smooth motions, avoid leaving footprints, and use the back of the rake to smooth large holes. 

The proper raking technique:

• Enter and exit on the low side of the bunker for safety and to keep from breaking down steep edges.
• Use long, smooth strokes instead of quick, jerky pulls or dragging the teeth aggressively.
• Use the back of the rake to level out deep footprints, big bumps, or holes before smoothing over the top with the teeth.
• Do not pull sand out of the bunker or leave piles of sand clumped near the grass edges. 

So, aren’t you glad you now all this?

If you don’t like this, my long-held premise has been this:  Place most of the rake inside the bunker, so if your golf ball strikes it and it is kicked outside the bunker, good.  If the rake was outside the bunker and your golf ball hit it ricocheting it into the bunker, bad.

Thus, the advice at Illahe – “tee-boning” – makes good sense.