Player Sweeps Footprints In Bunker Before Shot: Penalty?

[EmperorPenguin]

A player's ball lies in a greenside bunker.  The lie under the ball is good, but there are unraked, dug-in footprints close by which the player had to stand on before addressing the ball.  The player sweeps away the footprints before taking his stance.  I call that a breach because he improved the area of stance as well as built his stance, but he contends that he was merely digging in his feet just like all of us do in a regular bunker shot, so he should not be penalized.  Who is right?

[rogolf]

From your description, I'd say that the player breached Rule 8.1a(3):

• Creating or eliminating holes, indentations or uneven surfaces

Even though he is allowed a reasonable amount of digging in with the feet in sand.

[WesternRacing]

I agree, penalty.  I was playing with our pro once and asked if I could level a huge footprint to my right that wasn’t directly near my ball or my stance because it was bugging me, and he simply said ‘DO…NOT…TOUCH…THE SAND.’

[Halebopp]

3 hours ago, WesternRacing said:

I agree, penalty.  I was playing with our pro once and asked if I could level a huge footprint to my right that wasn’t directly near my ball or my stance because it was bugging me, and he simply said ‘DO…NOT…TOUCH…THE SAND.’

 

If it wasn't affecting the conditions of your stroke, you could have raked it first. But, if you want to avoid arguments, you might prefer to do it after your stroke. (Rule 12 deals with bunkers.)

[betarhoalphadelta]

14 hours ago, Halebopp said:

 

If it wasn't affecting the conditions of your stroke, you could have raked it first. But, if you want to avoid arguments, you might prefer to do it after your stroke. (Rule 12 deals with bunkers.)

 

Yeah, I'd be REALLY hard pressed to see someone rake a portion of a bunker, before their stroke, as not being a violation of 12.2b regarding it being a case of them doing it to "test the condition of the sand and learn information for your next stroke". 

 

[iacas]

11 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Yeah, I'd be REALLY hard pressed to see someone rake a portion of a bunker, before their stroke, as not being a violation of 12.2b regarding it being a case of them doing it to "test the condition of the sand and learn information for your next stroke". 

 

Caring for the course can excuse a lot of things (if it's legitimate).

 

Edited June 27 by iacas
Clarity

[betarhoalphadelta]

3 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

Caring for the course can excuse a lot of things (if it's legitimate).

 

 

Agreed. But given that 12.2b explicitly prohibits using a rake to test the condition of the sand, the fact that Western was asking about a footprint that was merely "bugging him", and that there's no harm in waiting until after you make a stroke to care for the course... I'm just saying I'd be really hard pressed to take someone's word for it. 

 

Sometimes the safest way to avoid being accused of impropriety is avoiding the appearance of impropriety...

 

[iacas]

47 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Agreed. But given that 12.2b explicitly prohibits using a rake to test the condition of the sand, the fact that Western was asking about a footprint that was merely "bugging him", and that there's no harm in waiting until after you make a stroke to care for the course... I'm just saying I'd be really hard pressed to take someone's word for it. 

 

Sometimes the safest way to avoid being accused of impropriety is avoiding the appearance of impropriety...

 

Keep reading. 😄

 

12.2b(1) is over-ridden by 12.2b(2). That part of the rule reads as if it says "You can't touch the sand with a rake… unless you're caring for the course, BUT you still get the GP if what you're doing affects the CATS."

 

Also… and this is going to blow people's minds, because it blew mine…

 

On 6/23/2025 at 7:02 PM, EmperorPenguin said:

A player's ball lies in a greenside bunker.  The lie under the ball is good, but there are unraked, dug-in footprints close by which the player had to stand on before addressing the ball.  The player sweeps away the footprints before taking his stance.  I call that a breach because he improved the area of stance as well as built his stance, but he contends that he was merely digging in his feet just like all of us do in a regular bunker shot, so he should not be penalized.  Who is right?

 

Turns out… you can do just about anything you want with your feet in a bunker.

 

 

Everything I did in that video is legal (and the video is from only four years ago, so post-2019 revisions). I verified this with several USGA higher-ups, because I thought no way would that have been legal. But it is.

 

Basically: you can do virtually anything with your feet in a bunker that doesn't affect the CATS (conditions affecting the stroke - your lie, your area of stance or swing, etc.) and it's not a penalty. (Which is where the OP's situation gets murky — was the smoothing an entirely separate act? Does it fall under the "do whatever you want in a bunker so long as it's with your feet?" [I'm not suggesting you can shove away the sand behind your ball with your feet or anything like that — let's not get silly.] If he had smoothed and made a little practice swing would that have been legal?)

 

As it relates to our related discussion, @betarhoalphadelta, I could have also raked all of those footprints in my video before playing my shot except those right my ball as the ones near my ball are the only ones that affect the CATS.

 

Again, as it relates to the OP… it'd come down to IMO whether any smoothing was part of digging in.

 

Edited June 27 by iacas
clarity

[Mr. Bean]

Great video, Erik!

[betarhoalphadelta]

Got it... So for OP and for Western... As long as it's your feet, and it's not CATS, you can smooth out just about anything.

 

That's not how I would have read the rule... But I'm not a referee. 

[iacas]

20 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

Got it... So for OP and for Western... As long as it's your feet, and it's not CATS, you can smooth out just about anything.

 

Kinda, yeah. You can't just do whatever you want with your feet, but you can if you're taking a stance for a practice swing, etc. Even if it's nowhere near the ball (which is also probably not in the CATS).

 

Everything I did in the video is legal.

[betarhoalphadelta]

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

 

Kinda, yeah. You can't just do whatever you want with your feet, but you can if you're taking a stance for a practice swing, etc. Even if it's nowhere near the ball (which is also probably not in the CATS).

 

Everything I did in the video is legal.

 

The other thing you sent me via PM suggested that essentially nothing that you do with your feet can be considered "testing" the sand. 

 

So I took that as you can probably smooth any imperfections you want, anywhere in the bunker not involving CATS, as long as it's with your feet. 

 

There's a weird way this makes sense, actually... By definition your shoes will touch the sand in a bunker. You're going to have to walk from the edge of the bunker to your ball. You're going to have to take steps which will form depressions in the sand, giving you natural information about what the consistency of the bunker is. And some people shuffle their feet more than others when they take steps, so it's not like they can make a shuffle illegal, right? 

 

So if you're crafty, and you see there's a big footprint that you think might distract you addressing the ball, it would be REALLY easy to take a path from the edge of the bunker to your ball that just happens to result in you stepping on and shuffling slightly through that footprint, right? 

 

I assume policing that would be a nightmare, until/unless we get to a point where you can teleport your body into your address position from outside the bunker 😉 

 

I'm guessing that trying to write a rule of what you're allowed to do with your feet in the sand is probably just going to create so many gray areas that they simply want to avoid it, because your feet will naturally interact with the sand in a bunker. Don't change CATS, and you're good. 

[Mr. Bean]

12 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

So if you're crafty, and you see there's a big footprint that you think might distract you addressing the ball, it would be REALLY easy to take a path from the edge of the bunker to your ball that just happens to result in you stepping on and shuffling slightly through that footprint, right? 

 

 

If that distraction involves your CATS then you are in breach. If it is just a mental distraction you are allowed to smooth it. Just don't propose cheating, right..?

[betarhoalphadelta]

Just now, Mr. Bean said:

 

If that distraction involves your CATS then you are in breach. If it is just a mental distraction you are allowed to smooth it. Just don't propose cheating, right..?

 

I said twice in the post that you can't do anything to affect CATS. So I don't know why you selectively quoted a paragraph and tried to turn this into a charge that I'm advocating for affecting CATS. 

 

I think we have a word for that... It's an argumentation strategy that comes from underneath a bridge...

 

[Mr. Bean]

15 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

I said twice in the post that you can't do anything to affect CATS. So I don't know why you selectively quoted a paragraph and tried to turn this into a charge that I'm advocating for affecting CATS. 

 

I think we have a word for that... It's an argumentation strategy that comes from underneath a bridge...

 

 

The wording in that paragraph sure sounded like proposing to cheat. Can't help it.

[betarhoalphadelta]

58 minutes ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

The wording in that paragraph sure sounded like proposing to cheat. Can't help it.

 

No, the point was that trying to create a rule that would clearly and objectively delineate between innocent behavior and cheating is... difficult. 

 

That paragraph couldn't be read as encouraging cheating when read within the context the preceding paragraph, and the following paragraph, provides.  

[antip]

3 hours ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

The other thing you sent me via PM suggested that essentially nothing that you do with your feet can be considered "testing" the sand. 

 

So I took that as you can probably smooth any imperfections you want, anywhere in the bunker not involving CATS, as long as it's with your feet. 

 

 

Hold the horses, these are not correct, it is possible to cross the lines. The key issue in Erik's video, which legitimises the actions, is he is digging in to take stance for practice swings. You cannot dig in feet purely to learn something about the sand, for example, very close to your ball, other than in digging in to take a stance for a practice swing or for the stroke.

Also, you cannot improve other physical conditions (eg smooth or rake sand) to help where you consider your ball may come to rest after the next or a future stroke unless the action is to deliberately care for the course (see Rule 8.2).

[Mr. Bean]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

No, the point was that trying to create a rule that would clearly and objectively delineate between innocent behavior and cheating is... difficult. 

 

That paragraph couldn't be read as encouraging cheating when read within the context the preceding paragraph, and the following paragraph, provides.  

 

I agree, sometimes it is difficult. That is why the most important concept is integrity, everywhere on the course and always.

[Mr. Bean]

1 minute ago, antip said:

Hold the horses, these are not correct, it is possible to cross the lines. The key issue in Erik's video, which legitimises the actions, is he is digging in to take stance for practice swings. You cannot dig in feet purely to learn something about the sand, for example, very close to your ball, other than in digging in to take a stance for a practice swing or for the stroke.

 

And here we come to integrity (again). Taking an actual stance to simulate a stroke with that particular intent is okay but "faking" that action in order to gain information about the sand is a breach. Only the player himself can tell the difference.

[antip]

9 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

And here we come to integrity (again). Taking an actual stance to simulate a stroke with that particular intent is okay but "faking" that action in order to gain information about the sand is a breach. Only the player himself can tell the difference.

Don't disagree with what you are saying but the alert, rules-aware player can take practice swings and learn about sand conditions simultaneously. This is comparable to smoothing the ground in the bunker where you think there is a good chance you will finish after your next stroke. Providing you are muttering "caring for the course" you are good to go. 

It's the way the RBs have set up these rules.

[davep043]

10 hours ago, antip said:

You cannot dig in feet purely to learn something about the sand, for example, very close to your ball, other than in digging in to take a stance for a practice swing or for the stroke.

This isn't entirely clear.  12.2b(1) says you may not:

"Deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the next stroke"

That doesn't mention feet, nor should it, as you have no choice but to touch the sand with your feet.

 

Then 12.2b(2) says:

"Except as covered by (1), this Rule does not prohibit the player from touching sand in the bunker in any other way, including:
Digging in with the feet to take a stance for a practice swing or the stroke,"

 

Digging in with your feet is specifically allowed when taking a stance, yes.  But the list of "allowed touching" is a list of examples, its not every acceptable way of touching the sand.  To me, pretty much anything you do with your feet is allowed, unless it Improves the CATS.

[antip]

27 minutes ago, davep043 said:

This isn't entirely clear.  12.2b(1) says you may not:

"Deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the next stroke"

That doesn't mention feet, nor should it, as you have no choice but to touch the sand with your feet.

 

Then 12.2b(2) says:

"Except as covered by (1), this Rule does not prohibit the player from touching sand in the bunker in any other way, including:
Digging in with the feet to take a stance for a practice swing or the stroke,"

 

Digging in with your feet is specifically allowed when taking a stance, yes.  But the list of "allowed touching" is a list of examples, its not every acceptable way of touching the sand.  To me, pretty much anything you do with your feet is allowed, unless it Improves the CATS.

I understand the view. But if RBs have decided any action with feet is okay, I can see no reason for the words "to take a stance for a practice swing or the stroke" in the first bullet of 12.2b(2). Indeed, it seems misleading to print those words if digging in with the feet is always okay - other than "excess" action that is considered to build a stance. Much clearer drafting options would be available.
 

Edited June 28 by antip

[iacas]

13 minutes ago, antip said:

I understand the view. But if RBs have decided any action with feet is okay, I can see no reason for the words "to take a stance for a practice swing or the stroke" in the first bullet of 12.2b(2). Indeed, it seems misleading to print those words if digging in with the feet is always okay - other than "excess" action that is considered to build a stance. Much clearer drafting options would be available.

 

As was made clear to me, almost anything you do with your feet as long as it doesn't affect the CATS is fine.

 

Building a stance affects the CATS. Just like how you can fairly take your stance in a bush, but you can't move a bunch of stuff out of the way, bend stuff, step on a bunch of things…

[betarhoalphadelta]

12 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

And here we come to integrity (again). Taking an actual stance to simulate a stroke with that particular intent is okay but "faking" that action in order to gain information about the sand is a breach. Only the player himself can tell the difference.

 

But as @iacas points out, apparently testing the condition of the sand with your feet is NOT illegal. The only illegal activity with your feet in the bunker would be changing the CATS. 

 

[Mr. Bean]

10 minutes ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

But as @iacas points out, apparently testing the condition of the sand with your feet is NOT illegal. The only illegal activity with your feet in the bunker would be changing the CATS. 

 

 

I would be very careful with that statement as nowhere in the Rules that is said, nor did it come up wrt Erik's video.

 

The way I see it digging your feet into the sand is part of you taking the stance and the motive is NOT testing the condition of the sand, IMHO. You simply take a feel how much you need to dig your feet in in order to have a good balance. Let us not forget either that Rule 8.1b(6) says:

 

"Firmly place the feet in taking a stance, including a reasonable amount of digging in with the feet in sand or loose soil."

 

A reasonable amount of digging, not just anything you feel like would be nice. What is reasonable is for the Committee / referees to decide.

[Mr. Bean]

2 hours ago, davep043 said:

 To me, pretty much anything you do with your feet is allowed, unless it Improves the CATS.

 

That is not in line with R8.1b(6):

 

 

 Firmly place the feet in taking a stance, including a reasonable amount of digging in with the feet in sand or loose soil.

[betarhoalphadelta]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

I would be very careful with that statement as nowhere in the Rules that is said, nor did it come up wrt Erik's video.

 

The way I see it digging your feet into the sand is part of you taking the stance and the motive is NOT testing the condition of the sand, IMHO. You simply take a feel how much you need to dig your feet in in order to have a good balance. Let us not forget either that Rule 8.1b(6) says:

 

"Firmly place the feet in taking a stance, including a reasonable amount of digging in with the feet in sand or loose soil."

 

A reasonable amount of digging, not just anything you feel like would be nice. What is reasonable is for the Committee / referees to decide.

 

Apparently Erik has, on two different occasions, been told by the USGA that you're allowed to test the sand with your feet (1), and that what you do with your feet is not treated as testing by the rules (2). 

 

It seems weird to me, but that was from the USGA. 

 

And therefore smoothing a footprint, as long as it is done with your foot and as long as it's not changing the CATS, is legal. For OP, the player he refers to might be in a gray area because if what he did was "building" a stance, that's changing CATS. For WesternRacing, the footprint that was merely "bugging him" but not in the area of his stance or ball could be smoothed without any penalty--with his foot. 

 

[Mr. Bean]

1 hour ago, betarhoalphadelta said:

 

Apparently Erik has, on two different occasions, been told by the USGA that you're allowed to test the sand with your feet (1), and that what you do with your feet is not treated as testing by the rules (2). 

 

It seems weird to me, but that was from the USGA. 

 

 

I believe it as soon as I see a written statement from USGA on an official webpage or in USGA FB group. Until then I rather trust the text in the Rules. If you are allowed to test the condition of the sand with your feet then why is that not directly said in the relevant Rules? Instead R8.1b(6) says things quite differently and rather limits digging with your feet to be included in taking a stance and may be done only in reasonable amounts, not to any amount at player's will..

 

I'll wait to see an official statement over the issue. 

[iacas]

4 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

I believe it as soon as I see a written statement from USGA on an official webpage or in USGA FB group. Until then I rather trust the text in the Rules. If you are allowed to test the condition of the sand with your feet then why is that not directly said in the relevant Rules? Instead R8.1b(6) says things quite differently and rather limits digging with your feet to be included in taking a stance and may be done only in reasonable amounts, not to any amount at player's will..

 

I'll wait to see an official statement over the issue. 

 

You're probably going to be waiting for awhile. I was as surprised as anyone that my video was deemed legal by SEVERAL people within the USGA, including several even you would recognize by name, even being overseas.

 

You're reading it backward. The prohibited actions list is pretty definitive, while the exceptions list is open-ended.

(1) When Touching Sand Results in Penalty. Before making a stroke at a ball in a bunker, a player must not:

• Deliberately touch sand in the bunker with a hand, club, rake or other object to test the condition of the sand to learn information for the next stroke, or

• Touch sand in the bunker with a club:

  • In the area right in front of or right behind the ball (except as allowed under Rule 7.1a in fairly searching for a ball or under Rule 12.2a in removing a loose impediment or movable obstruction),

  • In making a practice swing, or

  • In making the backswing for a stroke.

I specifically asked several individuals within the USGA if the word "object" could include a foot, and was explicitly told several times that a foot is not an "object" and that you can do almost whatever you like in a bunker with your foot so long as it doesn't affect the CATS (which is why you continuing to bring up 8.1 is beside the point — almost everyone has taken pains to mention the CATS stuff).

 

The list above is definitive — a hand, a club, or an "object" (which doesn't include feet). The list of exceptions is NOT definitive:

(2) When Touching Sand Does Not Result in Penalty. Except as covered by (1), this Rule does not prohibit the player from touching sand in the bunker in any other way, including:

"Including" means "including but not limited to:"

 

Then the language includes a reminder that you can't do these things and affect the CATS.

 

Edited June 28 by iacas
removed all the links

[davep043]

6 hours ago, Mr. Bean said:

 

That is not in line with R8.1b(6):

 

 

 Firmly place the feet in taking a stance, including a reasonable amount of digging in with the feet in sand or loose soil.

But 8.1 deals exclusively with improving your CATS.  If you don't improve your CATS, you can break branches, level out the ground, etc.  so the only prohibition to leveling sand could be in 12.2b, and using your foot isn't prohibited, unless it improves the CATS.