QUESTION: Arlene and Mark are playing in a tournament. On the 7th hole, Arlene strokes her ball into a greenside bunker. She goes to her ball and strokes it into another bunker on the other side of the green. She rakes and smoothes the first bunker and then plays out of the second bunker. The ball lands back in the smooth area of the first bunker and comes to rest. Mark says she has incurred a penalty for raking the first bunker. Is he correct?
ANSWER: Arlene did not smooth the footprints when her ball lay in the first bunker. Had she raked the bunker when the ball lay there, a two stroke penalty would have incurred. Mark is incorrect. See USGA Decisions On The Rules of Golf, 2014-2015, 13-4/38.
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