16-02-2025
Golf course bunker rakes are there for a reason. Let Fluff show you how to use them
Golf course bunker rakes are there for a reason. Let Fluff show you how to use them
Ever wonder how much a bunker rake weighs? Try picking one up.
It used to be a hallmark of a good golfer to rake a bunker. Forget the scorecard, I mean good as in conscientious. As in sophisticated. As in not a dullard. It might take you three swings and an underhanded toss to extract yourself from a nasty trap, but you could take solace in returning that patch of sand to a better state than which your hapless Noodle found it.
It also helped that if you didn't rake a trap, you would receive a similar reception upon reaching the green as some jackwad opening a can of tuna on a 7-hour flight. Players were kicked out of private clubs for such infractions, and good riddance.
Much changed for the worse during COVID. Pool noodles were inserted into cups so golfers wouldn't have to reach down and possibly contact the virus, and players were advised to skip the rake job so as to not touch the tool's handle. The pool noodles quickly vanished way back in 2020, but many players apparently are still too worried about the disease to pick up a rake. Either that, or they're just too lazy.
There's a fair debate about whether bunkers should even be raked, as they are intended to be a hazard. That's a different matter. If the course operators put a rake out there, they mean for you to use it. Even if you are fortunate enough to be playing somewhere with a caddie and find your ball in a bunker, but said caddie is off tending to somebody else's mishap, just pick up the rake and tidy things up. If all this sounds like rocket surgery to you, then reread the start of this sentence and know that if you can't identify the non-raking dolt on the golf course, it might be you.
For a primer on care of traps, the PGA Tour Champions offers up the following lesson from legendary caddie Fluff Cowan, master of the rake and destroyer of footprints. The 77-year-old maestro returned to work this week and clearly isn't afraid of picking up a rake even after recent hip surgery. All hail Fluff.
It's not just dog-patch munis where the laziness has taken hold. I've played high-end resort courses and elite private clubs where too many greenside traps appear to have been visited by a troupe of third-graders making sand angels. Just a few months ago, a starter at a $400-a-round Midwest bucket-list course advised me that the bunkers tend to get sloppy by mid-day, so I should just kick the ball around until I find a nice, comfy spot in the sand. Blasphemy. Such coddling of the lowest common denominators among us leads to crap conditions at premium pricing.
You want to impress a membership committee at a high-end club, or earn that coveted invite to a great member-guest? Three things: Rake bunkers, fix your pitch marks on the green, and replace your divots or fill them with sand, depending on the surface on which you're playing. That's it. People will notice, and hopefully some will follow your lead. Fight the good fight.
