Rules Guy: Can you practice from a different bunker than the one you’re in?

The Rules of Golf are tricky! Thankfully, we’ve got the guru. Our Rules Guy knows the book front to back. Got a question? He’s got all the answers.

I’ve heard that if your ball is in a bunker, you can go into another bunker to take practice swings that touch the sand. But I interpret Rule 12.2b as meaning that all bunkers are equally relevant. True? — Roy Shin, via email

Rules Guy is firmly of the opinion that “going bunker to bunker” should strictly refer to one’s terrible sand play rather than hopscotching between traps to test the surface. But neither of us make the rules, Roy, we just must play by them.

While there was a time when there was a clause specific to testing “similar hazards,” that restriction and terminology have gone the way of the hickory shaft.

Rule 12.2b applies to the bunker in which the ball lies, so nothing in the rules prevents one from taking practice swings in a nearby, similar bunker — except the annoyance of one’s fellow players and course maintenance workers.

For more bunker guidance from our guru, read on …

Rules

My ball in a greenside bunker was held by a rake so that it didn’t roll down the slope into the bottom of the bunker. I suggested to my playing partners that I lift the rake, which would let the ball to roll down into the bottom of the bunker. After all, that’s what it would have done so if the rake had not been there. Thoughts? — Bruce Gardner, Springs, South Africa

Sounds reasonable, Bruce … only it’s not the proper procedure.

There’s no penalty for removing the rake and causing the ball to move in the process. Nonetheless, you are required to replace the ball on its original spot, per Rules 15.2 and 9.4. If the ball won’t stay at rest on the spot after trying twice, then under Rule 14.2e you would find the nearest spot where it would stay at rest, no nearer the hole and in the same bunker.

The rules of gravity and the Rules of Golf aren’t always one and the same.

Need help unriddling the greens at your home course? Pick up a custom Green Book from Golf Logix.

Got a question about the Rules? Ask the Rules Guy! Send your queries, confusions and comments to rulesguy@golf.com. We promise he won’t throw the book at you.