Unusual golf rules

You asked a question and got a written reply from the USGA in precisely 10 minutes. Gotta be impressed with that! But I'm afraid there are no refunds if you don't like the answer.

I love the reply, I'm just a bit shocked by it as ive seen pga tour rulings given in the opposite direction in the past. The common sense was a joke in response to others trying to justify cheating on a different thread...
 
That's a good rule to know as I regularly play on new courses and the bunkers vary hugely between them. (y)
You also risk a significant backlash from other players, before yesterday if someone tried that i would absolutely expect a penalty to be applied. Live and learn, but I'll not be taking advantage of this rule !
 
You also risk a significant backlash from other players, before yesterday if someone tried that i would absolutely expect a penalty to be applied. Live and learn, but I'll not be taking advantage of this rule !

So, when a rule goes against us, it is entirely our responsibility to know the rule and apply it, even if there is some degree of ambiguity in the way the rule is written?
But when a rule allows us to do something, we shouldn't do it, just in case others we are playing with don't know the rules?
What a funny sport! :LOL:
 
So, when a rule goes against us, it is entirely our responsibility to know the rule and apply it, even if there is some degree of ambiguity in the way the rule is written?
But when a rule allows us to do something, we shouldn't do it, just in case others we are playing with don't know the rules?
What a funny sport! :LOL:

I think the requirement is to know the rules as best you can, and in places of uncertainty, I err on the side of caution...

Taking practice swings in bunkers doesnt sit well with my morales, and as I'm not breaking any rules by enforcing that on myself theres nothing to stop me...
 
I think the requirement is to know the rules as best you can, and in places of uncertainty, I err on the side of caution...

Taking practice swings in bunkers doesnt sit well with my morales, and as I'm not breaking any rules by enforcing that on myself theres nothing to stop me...
To be fair, the very topic of this thread is "Unusual Golf Rules". So, by definition, if any scenario presented itself in reality, you'd expect most golfers to question what is going on. So, if the opportunity presented itself, and the golfer decided to have a few practice swings in another bunker and it was within the rules, then morally they are playing within the spirit of the rules of golf (although see my comment below about course maintenance). Of course, you'd need to be prepared to explain yourself for the inevitable questions.

However, as mentioned, it is probably not an opportunity that would present itself frequently. You'd probably need to bunkers pretty close together, and enough time to make those practice swings, and rake the practice bunker. The other issue, related to course maintenance, is it would probably be frowned upon if you started blasting sand out of the practice bunker. Imagine a player taking 5 or 6 practice swings and sand being thrown out of the bunker each time.
 
And another practical issue - for me at any rate. I hope to keep my ball out of bunkers for the obvious reasons but increasingly, as I age, to avoid the physical effort of climbing in an out of them. There's no way I'm going to struggle into and out of another one in order to practise shovelling sand.
 
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