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In an effort to ensure the safety of golfers during the pandemic, many clubs and course operators decided not to put rakes in their bunkers any more – and are leaving them in maintenance barns instead. That way people will not be in danger of picking up or passing on the coronavirus when handling one of those implements.
It seemed a reasonable decision, but nonetheless caused many to complain about the state of the sand in those hazards once the practice became commonplace. But I quite liked the idea and now wonder whether keeping rakes out of bunkers isn’t something we should keep doing even after this crisis abates. Like washing our hands constantly and wearing facemasks in public places.
My thinking on this matter is born mostly from an abiding admiration for Charles Blair Macdonald and the way he approached the game. The first U.S. Amateur champion and the father of golf course design in America, he largely learned golf in St. Andrews, Scotland, where he attended college in the late 19th century, often played rounds on the links there and kept a locker in Old Tom Morris’s shop just off the Old Course. And among the many discoveries Macdonald made during that time was that no one raked the sand in bunkers.
To Macdonald, that made perfect sense. “The object of a bunker or trap is not only to punish a physical mistake, to punish a lack of control, but also to punish pride and egotism,” he once wrote. And rather than being pristinely maintained, he added, tongue only slightly in cheek, they were best prepared for play by running “a troupe of cavalry horses” through them.
After all, Macdonald added, bunkers were hazards.
Now, I like a sweet lie in the sand as much as the next person. But I also enjoy the challenges of having to blast a ball out of footprints, whether made by man or beast. Just as golfers had to do in the old days. I also relish the retro look of a course that is utterly devoid of rakes, and the fact that getting rid of those tools also gives maintenance crews one less thing to deal with each day. And no one has to worry any more about poorly placed rakes – or poorly raked bunkers.
Let’s leave the implements in the barns.
John Steinbreder