Why so many golfers are breaking this bunker rule (and how to make sure you’re not one of them)                    

Why so many golfers are breaking this bunker rule

A recent rule change allows golfers to touch the sand in a bunker –but does that mean you can ground your club behind the ball? Here’s what many golfers get wrong and what you need to know to stay on the right side of the rules.

Updates to the Rules of Golf are generally intended to make the game simpler and fairer, but one bunker rule change seems to have caused widespread confusion among amateur golfers.

What changed?

The 2019 update to the Rules of Golf loosened the restrictions around touching the sand in bunkers. The change stated:

“New Rule: Under Rules 12.2a and 12.2b, the player is allowed to touch or move loose impediments in a bunker and is generally allowed to touch the sand with a hand or club.”

This was a welcome update for many golfers who were frustrated by leaves, stones, and debris interfering with bunker shots and potentially damaging their wedges.

The reasoning behind the change was:

“The challenge of playing from a bunker is the need to play out of the sand, not to play with leaves, stones or other loose impediments left in place in the bunker.

“The previous approach created confusion by stating a total prohibition on touching the sand with a hand or club and then recognizing many exceptions.”

The misconception and why golfers are breaking the rules

Before you grab your bucket and spade and start building sandcastles in the Road Hole Bunker, let’s clarify what this rule change actually means.

You are still not allowed to:

• Deliberately touch the sand in a bunker with a hand, club, rake, or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the stroke.
• Touch the sand in a bunker with a club in making a practice swing, in grounding the club right in front of or behind the ball, or in making the backswing for a stroke.

Despite these clear restrictions, many amateur golfers now believe they can freely ground their club behind the ball before making their stroke – just as they would on the fairway. This misunderstanding is leading to plenty of accidental rule violations.

A clubhouse debate

I recently overheard a heated debate in the clubhouse of a prestigious Top 100 course, where a large group of golfers were debating this very rule.

Several players insisted that the new rules allow you to ground your club in a bunker, while one was adamant that doing so would still result in a penalty.

The fact that such a debate occurred at a high-level club highlights how widespread the confusion has become.

How to make sure you’re playing by the rules

If you want to avoid breaking this bunker rule, keep these key points in mind:

1. You can touch the sand in a bunker – but not directly behind or in front of the ball. Placing your club elsewhere in the bunker is fine, but positioning it behind the ball before a shot is still illegal.
2. You cannot make a practice swing that touches the sand. If you like to take a few rehearsal swings, be mindful to keep your club above the sand.
3. Testing the sand is a big no-no. While you can move leaves or pebbles, you can’t dig around or intentionally check the sand’s firmness with your club.

Deliberately testing the condition of the sand with a hand or club continues to be prohibited because:

• Part of the player’s challenge is to assess and predict how the sand may affect the stroke, and also because it is time-consuming and inappropriate for players to dig in the sand with a hand or club for that purpose before every shot.
• Touching the sand with the club right in front of or behind the ball or in the backswing for the stroke continues to be prohibited to make sure the player does nothing to reduce the challenge of playing from the sand; these prohibitions are already well-known and followed by almost all players.
• Touching the sand with a club in taking a practice swing continues to be prohibited both for pace of play and to avoid having large amounts of sand deposited outside bunkers (especially greenside bunkers) as a result of repeated practice swings.

Breaking the rule will result in a two-shot penalty in stroke play or the loss of hole in match play.

Touching the sand during your swing

The only time you’re allowed to make contact with the sand during your swing is at impact. The USGA have an FAQs section which addresses this issue:

Q. May I touch the sand with my club when my ball is in a bunker?

A. Touching the sand with your club immediately in front of or behind your ball, during a practice swing or during your backswing is a penalty (see Rule 12.2b(1)). If you do this, you get a loss of hole penalty in match play or two penalty strokes in stroke play. Other touching of the sand in a bunker is generally ok, as long as you are not deliberately testing the condition of the sand.

A line in the sand

Golf is a game of integrity. I firmly believe that 99.9% of the thousands of rule breaches that happen every day are entirely unintentional. When rules are overly complex or widely misunderstood, confusion and debate are inevitable.

This bunker rule is a perfect example. Personally, I’d love to see the Rules of Golf simplified even further – making them easier to understand, less intimidating to learn, and ultimately, less likely to trip up well-meaning players.

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