6/7/2020 10:06 AM
What if every golfer was required to carry his or her own golf rake in their own bag? During these times many courses have removed bunker rakes from the field of play due to a additional touch point to spread germs and bacteria. Going forward why not remove them completely from play then being left at the edge of a bunker, in a bunker, half in half out of a bunker, submerged in the ground in a valve box at certain high end places, or launched in a pond from vandals or to a green for that matter. Courses could easily pass out there existing inventory of rakes on a first come first serve basis and additional golfers would either buy their own from a golf course supplier or rent a clean and sanitized one from the pro shop at a low daily rate. Whether a golfer uses his or her own rake would still rely on the golfer but why have the added nuisance to mowing around bunkers and wasting man hours on and off the machine to move a rake, or fixing broken rakes, or even effecting the occasional golf shot for that matter when the solution could be so simple. Would love the GCSAA and the USGA to work on this together to make this a reality. A bunker rake is just an added cost, nuisance, and obstacle on the course that doesn’t need to be there and whether it is there or not doesn’t guarantee whether it is used or not anyway. Hopefully have each person carry their own they would be more inclined to use it because why not if you are required to use one and the excuse of there wasn’t one near my shot is completely out the window. Would love to hear some other opinions on the matter.