Anyone whose golf course has a public right of way within it will be nodding their heads at this emailer’s woe…
“Is it possible to take relief from bunkers that have been trampled in by dog walkers? Do they not become abnormal conditions, or can I rake the bunker, place or drop my ball? I have asked my golf committee why we can’t we have a local rule, but they say they can’t.”
I’ve heard all sorts over the years. Children with buckets and spades in a trap. Animals running wild and using them as impromptu toilets. But is there anything you can do under the Rules?
Ball in footprint in bunker: What do the rules say?
Sadly, you’re going to have make the best of it, or you’re going to pay a price with a penalty.
While it’s utterly irritating, this is not an abnormal course condition. Those are ground under repair, animal holes, immovable obstructions, and temporary water.
Footprints don’t count and neither do the paw prints of an excited mutt, so Rule 16 isn’t coming to your rescue. If a dog was hunkered down in the bunker and you seriously feared for your shins, you might try and convince your playing partners you were facing a dangerous animal condition. But that’s not what we’re dealing with here.
And while an outside influence has definitely caused this kerfuffle, it hasn’t lifted, moved, or deflected the ball. You’ve just landed in the middle of their mayhem.
You’re not allowed to improve the conditions affecting the stroke, so raking the area of your lie, area of intended swing and stance or line of play would be breaching Rule 8.1a.
If the ball is unplayable then you can declare it as such. But it’ll cost you either one stroke and you’ll have to take lateral or back-on-the-line relief while staying in the bunker, or two strokes if you want to take back-on-the-line relief outside whatever sandy mess you’re facing.
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You’d like to hope your fellow players might notice a bother in a bunker and see fit to perform some routine housekeeping before it has the chance to affect another golfer. That’s certainly what I always try to do.
But if you’ve landed in a mess, even if it’s not of your making there’s no leeway in the rules to get you out of trouble.
Got a question for our expert?
Despite the changes to the Rules of Golf in 2019 and 2023, there are still some that leave us scratching our heads. I’ll try to help by featuring the best of your queries in this column.
What do you think of these ball in footprint in bunker rules? Let me you what you think, and send me your own rules questions, by emailing me at s.carroll@nationalclubgolfer.com or by leaving us a comment below, or on X.
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