I caught too much ball coming out of a green-side bunker, and my ball sailed well over the green. I quickly raked the bunker and went to find my ball. It turns out that my ball went out of bounds. I was pretty sure that I had to drop in the bunker, but I thought maybe I could take relief on the line behind the bunker. I wasn't sure, so I dropped in the bunker. It didn't occur to me until well after the round that there could be a penalty for having raked the bunker.
There are a couple of rules in play here, so let's take a look....
If you're taking a stroke and distance penalty, you have to drop in the same area of the course (ie in the bunker). This is Rule #14.6b. If it's on the green, you can place it, otherwise you have to drop it. You get a club-length from the original spot, no closer to the hole.
But was I allowed to rake the bunker? Rule #12.2c(3) explicitly says that you are allowed to rake the bunker if you will be taking a stroke and distance penalty. The same rule also says that you cannot rake the bunker if your shot does not get out of the bunker. Similarly, if you are taking relief outside the bunker per Rule #19.3b (two strokes), then you cannot rake the bunker if it is in your line of intended play (which it probably is).
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