bunker question

[rgs]

StuartD you are correct Cink stood in the bunker to hit a ball outside the bunker and then proceeded to hit his ball into another bunker-his caddy raked teh bunker and cink should have incurred 2 shot penalty for testing the sand-stupid rule now clarified.

 

[USER1999]

Henry Longhurst always thought that only one rule was needed to play golf. Play it as it lies. Therefore there is no need to rake bunkers (except at the start of the day), get free drops, or make any rules decisions at all. This would make the game much simpler and a whole lot faster (especially for the pros - no more drops from tv cables, stands etc).
Yes, you would get some dodgy lies, but that would become part of the game, rub of the green etc, as it used to be. The game was never designed to be played off a billiard table.

 

[muttleee]

I saw a case in a US Seniour tour event a few years ago where a player hit the ball from the edge of a lake (actually inside the line of the hazard) but although he progressed the ball 100 yards or so, he didn't manage to get it out of the hazard. Because the bank of the lake was pretty steep, he used his club as a walking stick to help him up the slope. You guessed it - he was penalised for grounding his club in a hazard when his ball was still in it. That being so, you would think you would be penalised for smoothing sand in the bunker when your ball was still in it too.

 

[RGuk]

I think the Longhurst idea is cracking.

FWIW, I'd have absolutely no qualm with simply forgetting all the rules about grounding/testing/etc. If I was reinventing golf rules I'd say ground your club wherever/whenever you feel like, if the ball moves, it's your fault, take a penalty. It's a sin to gently sit your SW behind the ball in a bunker but you can endlessly re-sit your club in the rough or fairway, gradually improving the condition of the grass behind the ball.

I think pros will always need drops etc. given the fact that there are crowds/stands/cables where it would normally be a perfectly usable part of the course.

 

[USER1999]

Yes, but they did hit the ball there, and they had plenty of available course to work with. They really should be able to avoid the stands. They are not on the fairway, and not on the green. This is where these boys should be, and the penalty for not being there needs to be more severe.