[Photo: Mike Mulholland]
There is, evidently, a right and wrong way to rake bunkers. And let me just say this now, especially to those of you who may have taken up golf in the year, I don’t know, let’s call it 2020: doing it at all is a great first step. It’s depressing to say that, but there are golfers who’ve played this game for decades that don’t even do the bare minimum. Hit into a big fairway bunker at any public track in the country and you’ll see just how little respect everyday golfers have for not only the course but their fellow golfers.
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That said, just a simple once-over rake job sort of doesn’t cut it, especially for greenside traps. Not saying you shouldn’t take care in fairway bunkers, but the greenside traps require your full attention. That’s where you’re digging in the most, that’s where the most foot traffic occurs, and that’s where you’re most likely to screw someone over in a group behind by not giving it the proper attention.
Rule No.1: never, ever enter or exit from the highest point of a bunker. Always find the low point, regardless of where you ball sits, so as to not damage the grass on the edge of the bunker’s high points or the faces of the bunker. And because you’re not playing on tour, you can bring the rake with you to make the job easier, just don’t test the sand with it before playing your shot.
After you’ve played your shot, grab your rake, teeth side down, and begin “pushing” and “pulling” over the spot you’ve played the shot from as well as where your stance (and the rake) were. This will smooth out all the imperfections, as opposed to just raking in one direction. This may seem like it’s taking forever, but it’s the proper way to do it, and the group behind you, the one behind them, and so on and so forth, will thank you for it. Maybe not literally, but in spirit. Using “pace of play” as an excuse to not take care of the course is off the mark, and if a group behind is angry that you are taking too long to rake a bunker, then they are simply a casual who does not know golf etiquette, and they should be shamed for it.
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Lastly, as you’re doing your final pushing and pulling when you exit the bunker, flip the rake over and push and pull with the smooth side to smooth the edges. This is a move straight from the caddies of the PGA Tour, who are pro bunker-rakers. As Lowell Miller, teaching professional at Rockaway River Country Club in New Jersey, points out in this great instructional video (view on Miller’s Instagram here), this will allow balls to roll more towards the centre/low points of the bunkers and not get caught up around the edges, making for unfair, even impossible, shots.
Of course, the more woke golf nerds out there will tell you that bunkers should be true hazards again, and that rakes should be banned. I don’t totally disagree, but that’s more an argument for the highest levels of golf. For private clubs and public courses everyday golfers play on, rakes aren’t going anywhere. And as long as they are here, you should use them properly – with the golfers behind you in mind.
