IslaG
Member
Our club is debating changing from rakes just lying in or by bunkers to standing them upright in tube holders beside the bunker. Pros and cons of each option appreciated please.
Rake position- pros and cons
- Thread starter IslaG
- Start date
drdel
Tour Rookie
People are lazy, will the rakes get put back in the tubes?
D
Deleted member 29109
Guest
Many people don’t bother using them in the first place so they certainly won’t be put back in a holder.
I really don’t see a problem with just resting them on the side of the bunker.
Some people have too much time on their hands if they are worrying about where to put bunker rakes.
IslaG
Member
Surprised you say people don’t use the rakes. I can honestly say I don’t recall ever seeing anyone not raking a bunker post shot at our club. My question was really whether there are advantages of either method I know the correct position on pro tours is out of the bunker to the upward side by a couple of metres. But that would be expecting too much of even our well behaved members!
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Think its wasted time and effort. People may rake the bunker and indeed put them in the holder for a week or so but then they'll get lazy especially if the holder is the other side of the bunker from where they played. I imagine the holders will also get damaged by members forcing the rakes in and so will need replacing. Stick to leaving them in the bunkers
Foxholer
Blackballed
There is nowhere that doesn't have the potential to cause a problem. That's why pro tours tend to have them outside and sufficiently past the bunker that ball doesn't deflect back into it. Their 'priority' is slightly different to that of clubs though. I've played at 1 place that had the rakes in holders as per the OP (but can't remember where). Discussion amongst the group I played with was mixed about the benefits/issues. The main argument against tubes was that bunkers seemed to get raked less than when they were in the bunker. On that basis, I'd stay with leaving in the bunker.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
…which is a real problem at my place as we have steep reverted surrounds and faces to all our bunkers. Rest a rake against the side of the bunker and most often it is standing up near vertical with the head of the rake lying parallel with and close to a face - often less than a foot, with risk of trapping a players ball close to the face and making a backswing impossible and often v difficult to get ball out in ANY direction. Likewise if a rake is put into a bunker near to a face and with handle running parallel with a face. Impossible.
Stupidly and thoughtlessly positioned rakes is my 2nd biggest bugbear (#1 is pitch marks not repaired)…I‘m forever sorting any stupidly positioned rake for the players coming behind. I wouldn’t want to be trapped by a rake against a face.
My club simply asks that all players place the rake in the middle of the bunker with the head end closest to the green and handle pointing at flag. The greens team place them there every morning, and all we need to do is put them back where we find them.
A club should simply state where they want rakes positioned - whether Out, In or in a ‘pipe stand‘ to the side. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s consistent and players do their bit to keep it that way - and sort others thoughtlessness.
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Members are lazy (pitch marks prove this) so it doesn't matter what your club asks, members (and guests) will do what they want and you'll never get the rakes in the ideal place during play for the day
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I know ? which is why I do my bit for players following by moving any stupidly placed rakes I see…
Neilds
Assistant Pro
How are you expected to rake the bunker after you have placed the rake in the centre of the bunker? I suspect a lot of players would end up chucking the rake into the bunker and hope it ends up in roughly the right place?
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
Some of our bunkers are large so how do you rake the footsteps back to the edge and then leave the bunker in the centre?
rulefan
Tour Winner
The R&A and USGA recommended leaving them well away outside the bunker: primarily because of the potential of getting a penalty if the ball is trapped between a rake and a steep sloped edge at the back of the bunker.
phillarrow
Well-known member
Get rid and make it mandatory for every golfer to carry their own rake. 
doublebogey7
Head Pro
I would warn against introducing tubes to a bunker. They will be immovable obstructions (unless deemed otherwise by LR), and therefore players will be entitled to relief if they impeed stance or swing which in principle is not a huge problem. However in my experience, green keepers prefer to site then on the edge of the bunker furthest from the hole meaning there is often nowhere to take relief within the bunker.
wjemather
Well-known member
Rakes are basically there to reduce the effectiveness of bunkers as problems to be avoided - just get rid of them.
Taking it one step further, many courses would benefit from simply getting rid of most of their bunkers. They are often purely decorative, badly placed or otherwise poorly designed. Incongruously, too often they prevent balls from going into worse trouble or provide less of a challenge than the surrounding area, especially for better players.
Taking it one step further, many courses would benefit from simply getting rid of most of their bunkers. They are often purely decorative, badly placed or otherwise poorly designed. Incongruously, too often they prevent balls from going into worse trouble or provide less of a challenge than the surrounding area, especially for better players.
Crow
Crow Person
Sounds like a potential injury claim to me, someone of shorter stature not seeing the rake and walking into it, getting a face full of rake prongs.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Our bunkers are shallow front to back and it’s easy to throw the rake in to land pretty flat. Plus our sand is quite firm on top so no great holes caused by a rake being gently throw back in. So a ball stopping against a rake is generally not in a depression caused by it being put back in, and as the rake is in middle of the bunker then so is the ball.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
Why we ask for them to be put back into the middle of the bunker with handle pointing towards the flag.
upsidedown
Tour Winner
When I was on the greens committee at Rangiora , just north of Christchurch , where we had 11 bunkers I put in the tubes for the rakes to be upright . Also put a stopper in the bottom of the tube so the handle of the rake was held up off the bottom so not wet . Worked well for the 2 years before we came back to UK , not sure if they still use that method know
HomerJSimpson
Hall of Famer
But what about the bigger bunkers. We have some large ones and its a decent toss to get it to the middle. Inevitably it would makes a dent or potentially damage the rake, arguably wouldn't get to the intended spot, and golfers being lazy will inevitably rake where the ball is, leave the rake in the middle and not bother with their footprints out so the rake can be in the "right" place.
